Review: Agneepath

Agneepath (2012)

Remaking a classic is no easy job given the sky high expectations from every moviegoer. But director Karan Malhotra risked and remade the Big B’s classic Agneepath with Hrithik Roshan taking the place of Amitabh Bachchan. Let us see how this day’s Vijay Dinanath Chauhan fared.

Before I jump into the review, I must confess that I never watched the original Agneepath. So this movie was as new for me and don’t expect any comparisons in my views.

The plot:

Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Hrithik) is set to avenge his father’s gruesome death caused by a ruthless drug dealer Kancha (Sanjay Dutt). Vijay knows that he needs power to accomplish his mission of killing Kancha. With his will and wit, the boy-next-door Vijay transforms into the right hand of Mumbai’s mafia leader Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor). While Vijay was disowned by his mom for his criminal acts, Kaali (Priyanka), the lady love, stands as a great support all through.

Actors:

I still remember the painful expression on Hrithik’s face. Be it love, distress, anger or frustration, he expressed it all amazingly. 2011 was the year of Ranbir and 2012 could possibly be the year of Hrithik.

Priyanka did a decent job, be it dancing, giggling or crying. But then, this was not her best. Sanjay Dutt was scary and how! We should get to watch him more often as the baddie.

Rishi Kapoor was simply amazing. Amidst the colorful cast and a hero based story, Rishi Kapoor stands out in his own way. Om Puri did his bit as per the requirement.

Analysis:

Leave aside Dabangg or Singham; it is Agneepath that marks actual return of the angry young man. When Hrithik says “poora naam Vijay Dinanath Chauhan” or when he tirelessly chases his prey, you are amused, absolutely. The director has to be acclaimed for balancing the movie with elements like action, revenge, love and sentiments and keeping them pleasantly in sync with the story line. And every character was neatly etched, though I felt Priyanka’s role should have been given more space. Hrithik’s character was finely made. Though Vijay portrays himself as a tough man, his emotions lie deep down and they are expressed mostly when Kaali is around.

There are too many to say on the plus side. I had them all – goose bumps, tears and a fast heartbeat. And first time ever I regret for not knowing how to whistle.

The death episode of Vijay’s father was totally gripping and wonderfully kick-starts the movie. I was tensed, thrilled and what not! The edgy Ganesh Visarjan scene, the soulful union of Vijay and his sister or the way the lovable Kaali giggles during the marriage – all make for an awesome watch.

I haven’t seen any new movies where sentimental scenes were shot brilliantly and Agneepath scores here. And Hrithik’s introduction scene invited many cheers and whistles from the audience. It has been quite a time we had power packed introduction of the hero, right?

Technically too, the movie is on a healthy side. Cinematography and screenplay are huge assets for this commercial flick. The background score was racy, engaging and contributes a lot to some knock-down action moments. In songs, Gun Guna was good. Chikni Chameli added the spice. The much talked about saiyyan song was deleted. And action moments remind me of the climax fight which was oh so good. The sets of Mandwa were very realistic. Fortunately dialogues were very limited. It was actions and eyes that spoke.

On the flip side, I felt the movie could’ve been edited in the second half as you’ll have to wait a long before Vijay can finally finish his mission.