Excel Entertainment’s Mirzapur The Movie has already translated a much-loved franchise into a big-screen crowd-puller. Now producer Ritesh Sidhwani has shared one of the quieter creative choices behind the film: director Gurmmeet Singh deliberately looked to Amar Akbar Anthony while shaping its leads.
A classic trio, echoed in three Mirzapur pillars
The parallel is structural, not a scene-by-scene remake. Just as Amar Akbar Anthony placed three leading men at the centre of its story, Mirzapur The Movie builds its big-screen version around three faces the franchise had already made iconic:
- Pankaj Tripathi as Kaleen Bhaiya
- Divyenndu as Munna Bhaiya
- Ali Fazal as Guddu Bhaiya
Sidhwani says the nod was intentional, and came from growing up on the films that shaped a generation of makers. As he puts it:
“There are certain references that Guru (Gurmmeet Singh) has put in Mirzapur from Amar Akbar Anthony. So yeah, we’ve grown up watching those films and adding references from it was iconic.”
Why the homage matters for fans
The gag doesn’t change the plot, but it changes the experience of rewatching. Hindi cinema has a long tradition of filmmakers quoting other films, and Mirzapur The Movie now sits inside that tradition. The reference rewards viewers who know the older film, without denying anything to viewers who don’t.
Callbacks like these have become a quiet currency in Hindi cinema: they let a sequel or adaptation acknowledge its lineage while still selling itself to a new audience. For Mirzapur, whose characters already have a dedicated following, the Amar Akbar Anthony echo links its gritty world to a classic that was itself built on star power and melodrama.
That matters because the film is already being received as a hit, with the source describing “massive crowds” and an ensemble led by Tripathi, Fazal and Divyenndu. A deliberate classic reference adds a second layer to the spectacle: it is a new film speaking the language of older Bollywood while the franchise retains its own identity.
The big-screen bet keeps paying off
Excel Entertainment has a record of turning familiar material into theatrical success. Mirzapur The Movie, the film version of the hit franchise, continues that run. The Amar Akbar Anthony tribute is not only fan service; it is a signal of what kind of filmmaker Gurmmeet Singh is — one who borrows from the past without copying it.
For our readers, the takeaway is simple: when you rewatch the film, keep an eye on the trio. The structure is the reference.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com