Religious tolerance became a landmark theme in Bollywood masala films, building on the masala formula pioneered several years earlier with Nasir Hussain's "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" (1973). "Amar Akbar Anthony" also had a lasting impact on pop culture, with its catchy songs, quotable one-liners, and the character of Anthony Gonsalves (played by Bachchan). It won several awards at 25th Filmfare Awards, including Best Actor, Best Music Director and Best Editing. It was later remade in Tamil as "Shankar Salim Simon" (1978), in Telugu as "Ram Robert Rahim" (1980), and in Malayalam as "John Jaffer Janardhanan" (1982). In Pakistan, the film was unofficially remade in Punjabi as "Akbar Amar Anthony" (1978).