Producer: Elahe Hiptoola, Rahul Pari, Subhash Ghai
Director: E Niwas
Cast: Nikhil Dwivedi, Amrita Rao, D Santosh, Lilette Dubey, Pawan Malhotra, Mukesh Tiwari, Daya Shanker Pandey, Javed Sheikh, Anupam Kher, Ishteyak, Saurabh Shukla, Hrishita Bhatt, Kunal Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Manoj Pahwa
Music: Pritam Chakraborty, Sachin-Jiggar, Himesh Reshammiya 

‘My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves’ fleetly draws its title from the seventies classic flick ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ that had stirred the nation with its all time enigmatic and peppy number with the same name. But does having such a popular title as such sail the film to its victory? Well that’s hard to tell!

The rushes of the film are somewhat confusing or misleading to be precise that does not give away the genre of the film instantly and we have to wait for the reels to unfurl to know what Anthony Gonsalves is exactly all about.

But sadly when the film opens, all the excitement and keenness gives away to sheer monotony, as the film tends to elongate to the utmost. And this is what murders its interest.

Another failing of the flick is its incapacity to keep the audience glued to the screen during the first hour, as the story seems to stagnate. However, the second hour brings in some relief as E. Niwas pushes hard to conceal the flaws. But credit should be given to this National Award winning director who successfully and impressively handles a few scenes that leaves a lasting impression behind.

Anthony Gonsalves (Nikhil Dwivedi) is an ordinary guy born with extra-ordinary dreams. His sole aim is to make it big in the film world. However, he starts off as a bartender in Jimmy’s Pub in Bandra, Mumbai.

Now this pub is run by three mostly deadly goons, Sikander (Pawan Malhotra), Maqsood (Mukesh Tiwari) and Riyaaz (Dayashanker Pandey) who uses this place as a hub to all their nefarious deeds. Sikander is Anthony’s kind patron who allows him to serve at this place.

But as luck would have it, one day Anthony, by mistake witnesses a horrific crime committed by the trio in the pub. Inspector Khan (Jawed Sheikh) comes in to investigate the murder of his coworker. Finding that Anthony is the sole eyewitness to the deed, he presses him to blurt out the truth. Then starts a chase that compels Anthony to choose between his dream of becoming an actor and his hooligan master Sikander.

The main culprit of the film, so to say, is its poor storyline. As said earlier, the initial half of the film soon gives away to stagnation leaving nothing for the audience to hold on to. However, the second half of the film looks promising as the director puffs in some action and emotion here. But the climax ends up being too banal that paralyses its interest.

E.Niwas’s direction oscillates mainly from interesting to boring. Writers Mayur Puri and Lajan Joseph are the partners in crime here. Dialogues are pretty okay while cinematography isn’t anything remarkable.

Now coming down to the performances, newbie Nikhil Dwivedi is impressive. He looks confident onscreen and plays his part well. The areas on which he needs to concentrate are his voice modulation and dialogue throws. Amrita Rao in her glamorous avatar looks awesome but doesn’t get to play any significant parting the film. Anupam Kher, Pawan Malhotra Mukesh Tiwari and Dayashanker Pandey are mind-blowing here while Mithun Chakraborty and Lillete Dubey are good but could have been better.

To be precise, the film ends up being a sour affair at the box-office. On a whole, a film worth a miss.