Agneepath

Director: Karan Malhotra

Screenplay: Ila Dutta Bedi & Karan Malhotra

Music: Ajay-Atul

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri & Zarina Wahab

‘Revenge is the purest emotion’

Mahabharat

Karan Johar has considered the remake of the 1990 flop ‘Agneepath’ as a tribute to his producer father Yash Johar and its director Mukul Anand. While many considered it to be a risk (it gave Amitabh and Mithun national awards for their performances) Karan took the leap of faith and in the end emerged successful (to a certain extent) in his claim.

A young, helpless Vijay Deenanath Chauhan is forced out of his hometown Mandhwa when his father is murdered by the notorious Kancha Cheena (Dutt). Vijay’s agenda of revenge makes him join hands with the gang led by Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor). His mother (Zarina Wahab) abandons him and separates him from his sister which adds to his misery. Years later a mature Vijay (Hrithik) is persuaded by (an over sympathetic) Commissioner Gaitonde (Om Puri) to put an end to the Mafia Raj. Accordingly Vijay crafts a violent strategy to eliminate Kancha and Lala. The rest of the film speaks about its implementation.

Hrithik Roshan’s performance as Vijay is outstanding. Though it might seem unfair to compare he’s lifeless while reciting the powerful verses of Dr Hariwansh Rai Bachchan’s poem. Rishi Kapoor gets full marks for his first negative role. But the one that stands out is Sanjay Dutt. He’s recreated Kancha Cheena in his own passionate way. His bald look terrorizes the audience whereas citations of Bhagwad Geeta add a different shade to his character. Priyanka Chopra is the worst as Kali Gawade who repeats the same expressions of the Marathi girl from Kaminey. The other cast provide valuable support.

Director Karan Malhotra has failed to stick to the plot. Unnecessary scenes of emotional melodrama have increased the film’s length. An uneducated Vijay looks extremely sophisticated on screen while his gang includes (eyebrow raised) eunuchs who are trained to fight. You can’t enjoy the song Chikni Chameli completely due to Kancha and Vijay’s conversations. Loud background music makes certain dialogues unclear (It reminds you of Ram Gopal Varma). Ajay Atul’s music is melodious but excessive use of dhol-taasha reduces their credibility. Kiran Deohans and Sabu Cyril are flawless when it comes to cinematography and production design respectively. 

I’m going with three out of five stars for Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath. See it for the revival of a rejected a script and Sanjay Dutt. You’ll have your money’s worth for sure.