Antony is the new film directed by Joshiy, and it has its own universe that it’s trying to sell. There have been many ‘father-son’ stories in cinema, but Antony has a father-daughter conflict right at the heart of its plot. The interesting thing about the film is that it is filled with violent action scenes, slow-motion shots, and loud BGM, and all this tries to hide the fact that we are watching a melodrama unfold where a young girl wants a father figure in her life and thinks she has found it in a goon. It is a hard sell for various reasons, but conviction in the story and its execution is evident, which is why Antony becomes an entertaining potboiler with a charismatic performance by Joju George.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Antony, a feared goon, wanted revenge against a man named Xavier for severing the limb of Antony’s friend Manoj. He killed Xavier, although he just wanted to maim him. Xavier was no ordinary man. He was the brother of Tarzan and was under the protection of a prominent landowner named Lawrence. Tarzan was in jail serving a sentence for killing a cop’s wife, and Xavier was no less a monster. Antony avenged Manoj, but the matter got out of hand as there was a witness—Xavier’s wife, Jessy. Jessy’s daughter, Ann Maria, was studying at a college and had to return to her village after getting the news of her father’s demise. The truth was that Jessy hid a secret, and soon the chain of events led Antony down a path where he had to decide whether he wanted to become Ann Maria’s guardian or not. Meanwhile, Tarzan was gearing up for revenge.
Why Did Jessy Alter Her Testimony?
Antony had killed an inspector and a contractor before killing Xavier and becoming a feared gangster. He had a crew that was ready to lay down their lives if need be. Antony, too, had proven himself to be a dependable man, always standing up for his friends and protecting the rights of the downtrodden. Manoj had lost a limb, and Antony had to avenge him. But Jessy was the eyewitness in the murder case, and it looked like Antony would go behind bars and never come out. He had avoided the traps of the law and had had an interesting and dangerous life, and his future depended on Jessy. There seemed to be no hope, but Father Paul, the vicar of the parish, received news that gave Antony some hope. After six months of Xavier’s death, Jessy was willing to change her eyewitness testimony in exchange for money and a piece of Antony’s land. It turns out that Jessy wasn’t really mournful about Xavier’s death. He was the bane of her existence and wasn’t actually Ann Maria’s father. It was because of his lustful temperament that she wanted Ann Maria to stay in a hostel. Jessy changed her testimony because she knew that Antony was a reckless goon like Tarzan. She could let him go free in exchange for the funds that would secure Ann Maria’s college education and her future as well.
How Did Antony Become Ann Maria’s Guardian?
Antony was once a regular boy with a happy family. But due to police corruption, he lost his family. Antony’s father was an honest man, and he was going to testify against a corrupt contractor. The inspector handling the case was in cahoots with the contractor, and he maligned Antony’s father’s image to such an extent that he committed suicide, as did Antony’s mother and two sisters. That was the turning point in his life, and he became a criminal after slaughtering the corrupt cop and the contractor.
Ann Maria was similar to Antony in temperament, and soon she shared the fact they were both orphans. Jessy was killed after getting attacked by Xavier’s nephew Simon, who wanted to get Ann Maria into his house. He didn’t have the best of intentions, and after Jessy was killed, Father Paul decided to get Avaran’s help to convince Antony to become Ann Maria’s guardian. Avaran was Antony’s father figure and had taken care of him after he lost his family. Paul and Avaran put a lot of pressure on Antony to become Ann Maria’s guardian. She was a brash kid but never began a fight in college; she only ended them. Antony was initially a grumpy figure fed up with Ann Maria’s antics in college but gradually began to see her as his own daughter. Ann Maria, too, realized that even though he was not bound to look after her, he was willing to make sacrifices to ensure her well-being. But this absurd relationship, which was quite normal in their eyes, became the talking point of the entire village, and Lawrence got a chance to get his revenge.
How Did Lawrence Die?
Lawrence had been livid with Antony since the day Xavier had died. He was waiting for Tarzan to get out of jail, but even before that, Antony had ensured that Lawrence’s practice of illegal land grabs and intimidation were put to a stop. Lawrence knew that without Tarzan, he didn’t have the power to attack Antony. Therefore, he chose the ‘social’ route, but the plan didn’t work. The bishop had come himself to deliberate over the case. The accusation was that Antony, who had killed Xavier, was now living with his daughter, Ann Maria. The whole thing reeked of intimidation and coercion, but Ann Maria cleared up all the doubts. She told the entire village that Xavier was a pervert and wasn’t actually her father. Her biological father had abandoned Jessy when Ann Maria was three years old. As far as living with Antony was concerned, she did that willingly.
Tarzan got parole, and immediately there was tension in the air as he was coming to kill Antony. Avaran told Maya, his caretaker, to drive up to meet Tarzan so that a mutual understanding could be reached. Maya had been growing increasingly fond of Antony each time she met him and got to know him. She could not bear to see him in trouble, but Tarzan killed Avaran, and the message was clear—he wouldn’t stop until he got his revenge. Lawrence, Simon, and Tarzan had all gathered to kill Antony. He did manage to kill Tarzan and Simon, but Lawrence stabbed him, and he would have run away if it weren’t for Maya arriving at the scene with a gun, which she had found neatly placed in Avaran’s hollowed-out Bible. Lawrence was killed by a wounded Antony, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Maya. They seemed to be a match made in heaven. Antony, the orphan, finally had his own little family. He had found something to live for, but there arose a problem.
During Antony‘s ending, Ann Maria’s biological father shows up and wants to apologize to her for abandoning her and Jessy. He pleaded with her to come live with him, but Ann Maria had made up her mind. She had a point to make in front of her biological father, which is why she called Antony her ‘real’ father, for he stood by her side when everybody else had left. That was the true meaning of being a father, and her decision was unchangeable no matter how much her biological father tried. He left, and Antony’s got what he had always wanted—a family to call his own.
