My Name is Anthony Gonsalves

Rating : 5/10
Running Time : NA
Release Date : 11th Jan ‘08
Director : E. Niwas ; Writer : Mayur Puri / Lajan Oomen Joseph ; Music : Pritam
Starring : Nikhil Dwivedi, Pawan Mallhotra, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Lillete Dubey, Mithun Chakraborty.

Very predictable, yet better than expected. This tells the story of a wannabe actor, Anthony Gonsalves, and his desire to make it to the top with most of the twists coming from a intertwined storyline about some Mumbai gangsters, including one who has brought up the orphaned Anthony and now employs him in his nightclub.

There is very little substance or anything new in the movie, but it manages to keep you engaged. Nikhil is decent, i thought he carried off being a 'sweet tapori' fairly well. He may struggle, with his looks, to carry off other characters and may well have to take up 'friend' type roles with the A level celebs in future films. Amrita Rao was decent as the love interest / eye candy, looks every part the pretty girl next door but should avoid trying to look the sexy seductress (was laughably attempted in one song). Lillete Dubey, Mithun and Anupam Kher were good, as expected. Star performer of the movie though was definitely Pawan Mallhotra - he was very very good as a Mumbai gangster, exuding menace and intimidation yet displaying a lighter side, some integrity and the stereotypical heart of gold.

For me, this was a good example of a time-pass movie – some non-slapstick laughs (the 'Kaalia' sequence was great), some thrills and spills, all in a very light-hearted vein and you leave the hall after 3 hours with nothing major lost or gained...