DIRECTOR Atul Malhotra says he was interested in making a movie with real British Asian characters audiences could relate to.

He was speaking ahead of the release of the highly anticipated comedy Amar, Akbar and Tony.

The movie, which premiered in London last week follows the lives of a Sikh, a Muslim and an Irish Catholic in contemporary London.

Speaking to Asian Image, Atul said “Personally I struggle with a lot of TV and cinema representation of Western Asians in that I don’t tend to believe the characters or often their accents.

“So it was very important to me to make a film whereby the Asians seen on screen were believable and real. Like people I meet in real life and not perpetuations of an ongoing screen stereotype.”

Inspired by the 1970s Bollywood comedy Amar Akbar Anthony, the original is about three brothers separated by circumstance – the English version sees three friends driven apart by circumstance.

The cast includes Karen David, Laura Aikman, Amrita Acharia and Goldy Notay. It also features two familiar faces on British TV – Meera Syal and Nina Wadia.

Amar, Akbar and Tony is out on April 17.