The Element of Religion in Amar, Akbar, Anthony- Amit Kang
Secularism a defining characteristic of the film Amar, Akbar, Anthony. The era in which this movie was made was a time of a lot of political disturbances especially after Indira Gandhi declared India to be in a state of emergency and established temporary dictatorship. She was also assassinated by her two bodyguards who were Sikhs and post this assassination there were a lot of atrocities inflicted on the Sikh community especially in the New Delhi area.
Filmmakers were tempted to make films that would promote religious tolerance and coexistence. Therefore, the entire concept of the three brothers growing up with different faiths and then coming together in the end as a family is exemplary of religious coexistence.
The film propagates the idea of secularism and religious coexistence by the means of establishing fictive kinship between the three brothers and then reaches its climax when the three of them realize that they are actually brothers by blood. Factors such as religion become trivial and hence the film proves that love and human bonding transcends boundaries created by society since they are mere social constructs.
Filed by Amit Kang at March 29th, 2013 under Uncategorized