Britain has been crying out for a film that truly reflects the society we live in, and just when many have become disillusioned with the lack diversity in film, along comes the British Comedy Amar Akbar and Tony.  Having owned an Indian restaurant as Amar, Rez Kempton may seem at home with Indian cuisine on film, but how are his cookery skills when the cameras stop rolling? Martin Delaney stars at the title role Tony and his character works in the restaurant.  These talented actors recently took Celebrity Chef Dipna Anand’s Indian cookery course and really test out their culinary skills.

Gulu Anand, Martin Delaney, Dipna Anand and Rez Kempton

Dipna Anand has already built up a list of impressive achievements in the food world, making appearances on television in The Hotel, Ramsey’s Best Restaurants and Ramsay’s Cook-along to name a few. Her family run restaurant Brilliant (located in Southall) is a favourite with high profile diners including Prince Charles and Kevin Costner, and was also named as one of Gordon Ramsey’s ‘Best Restaurants’ for his Channel 4 show. Dipna has also been awarded a number of respected accolades for her pioneering work in Indian cuisine with awards from the British Curry Awards and The British Nutrition Foundation, and has written a hugely successful recipe book, Beyond Brilliant.

In Atul Malhotra’s Amar, Akbar and Tony, a Sikh, a Muslim and an Irish Catholic take stock of their lives in contemporary London. The 1970’s Bollywood classic ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ has inspired the title of this British film about three friends driven apart by circumstance. The film explores the predicaments that face its lead trio – Amar (Rez Kempton) is a Sikh whose promising career gets derailed, Tony (Martin Delaney) who is in love with the wrong woman, and Akbar (Sam Vincenti), an ambitious charmer with the gift of the gab. In this serio-comic exploration of ambition being thwarted by external factors, the majority of characters are Asian, but they identifiably belong to the multicultural Britain of the present.

Martin is no stranger to TV and has an impressive list of credits to his name, including a successful 3 year run in Family Affairs, New Zealand’s Shortland Street, Casualty, Robin Hood, the BAFTA winning comedy Him & Her and Two Pints of Lager. On the big screen Martin has enjoyed roles in Flags of Our Fathers, directed by Clint Eastwood, Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar winning Zero Dark Thirty and more. His recent turn in Judas Ghost earned him multiple Best Actor nominations as well as one win for Best Actor, at Bram Stoker Festival UK. Recently he has just completed Bonded by Blood 2 and is currently filming the sequel to Hollywood hit film Now You See Me with a star studded cast.

Rez has an equally commendable acting portfolio, including Merchant Ivory’s The Mystic Masseur, BBC’s Spooks, BAFTA winner Bart Layton’s Banged Up Abroad, John Sullivan’s Roger Roger, Lee Evans’ So What Now? and CH4’s critically acclaimed Adha Cup.  His film career has included award-winning films like Sharp Cookies, The Mel and Wendi House, UMAR and the hit family comedy Hari Puttar. Rez also stars in the upcoming movie Monsoon Tide.

Starring a mix of familiar faces and some of the coolest up and coming talent in the UK including Karen David (ABC’s Galavant), Laura Aikman (Waterloo Road), Goldy Notay (Sex in the City II), Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me) and Nina Wadia (Eastenders), Amar, Akbar and Tony will be released nationwide on April 17^th.