Agneepath: The Return of the bollywood Revenge thriller

Agneepath: The Return of the bollywood Revenge thriller

Hrithik Roshan As Vijay Dinanath Chauhan

                  Ever since the sleek, snappy promos are up on youtube, the expectations were pretty high for this remake of Amitabh Bachchan starrer Agneepath (1990). The original film which received a cult status over the years, as it was considered to be a film which was made much ahead of its time, according to its producer late Yash  Johar. His worthy son Karan Johar made this film as a tribute to his father as Yash Johar always wanted to remake this film, as it was a commercial disaster. And I must say this remake meets the expectations with reasons and evidences, setting the bar high for the films to come in 2012 with a noteworthy production value and fine performances. The film has already set a new record of the Maximum Collection on the opening day, with a sweeping 23 Crore (approximately), breaking the records set by Wanted and Dabaang.

                      I heard it from the grapevine that the Director Karan Malhotra and his assistants watched the original for more than 200 times, just to avoid any similarities. Keeping the lead characters in the narrative, the director and the script-writer reworked on the storyline to set the film on a different tempo. As Karan Johar 

says, they kept the main characters, but changed the world around them. While jettisoning a few of the original characters, they added a few, which can’t be said definitely adding to the narrative. The much loved character of Krishnan Iyer MA (the Nariyal Pani wallah), a sidekick of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan with a love-track has been deleted and a new villain is added apart from Kancha Cheena. Mithun Chakravarthy’s remarkable performance in the role of Krishnan Iyer MA earned him many accolades. Now a new character of Rauf Lala beautifully played by Rishi Kapoor is an excellent example of credible anti-casting.

Rishi Kapoor as Raoof Lala

                    Although the lead characters and a few others are kept intact, the remake is shot in colorful, vibrant, lavish backdrops unlike the gritty, murky, filthy reality of the Dockyard and Mandwa of the original. The cinematography adds to the aesthetic value along with the multihued frames. The vivid colors of Ganesh Chaturthi and Dahi- Handi (Govinda) speak of the brighter side of the real world of Mumbai, than the gory images of gang wars. While the original Vijay turned to be a “Veto Corleone-ish” sophisticated Underworld don, this new Vijay leads a very low profile life living out of a 10X12 Chawl in Mumbai. In contrast to a very powerful, popular Vijay Dinannath Chauhan in the original, Hrithik here is just an ordinary boy Vijay, vulnerable and vindictive.

Hrithik Roshan as Vijay 

                  To portray the character of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, great challenge for Hrithik to match Big B in the original. Comparison is inevitable and while Big B was the Angry young man, here Hrithik is poignant and sad rather than angry. He acts with his eyes and facial expressions rather than dialogue delivery. We miss here the deep baritone of Big B and that signature “Hain”. But Hrithik plays the character with great conviction and intensity and conveys a lot of agony, desire and passion with his eyes, which are much stronger than spoken words. Undoubtedly this film belongs to him and without his impeccable performance; it would not have been acceptable despite all the colors and aesthetic values. It’s another feather to his crown and an addition to his list of performances in Jodha-Akbar, Koi Mil Gaya and Guzaarish.

Sanjay Dutt as Kaancha Cheena

                     Here comes another excellent performance by Sanjay Dutt in the role of Kancha Cheena. Keeping the dreaded violent nature of the original Kancha (played by Danny Dengzongpa) in place, Sanjay Dutt wears a new robe of terror and strength. While the original Danny’s Kancha was a sleek, polished smuggler wearing Raybans, this Sanjay Dutt’s Kancha appears to be more raw, ghastly and sadistic. His hideous look is said to be inspired by Voldemort of Harry Potter fame which adds to the terror. While penalizing someone this Kancha Cheena talks about Karma and Dharma, chanting the verses from the Sri Madbhagawat Geeta. He finds no difficulties in pronouncing himself as the Raavan and his territory Mandwa as Lanka. He depicts a character which could be termed as a return of the larger-than-life villain in the hindi film industry. Either it was missing for a long time or it was mixed with humor (e.g. Prakash Raj in Wanted and Singham). But certainly, Kancha Cheena signifies the return of the original dirty, cruel villain of the films.

                     The film not only explores the characters with integrity, but also throws a light on the kind of world they belong to. The details are maintained here with a greater focus on the narrative. But sometimes it missed out on explaining relationships and the reasons between characters. Policeman Gaitonde’s intention in saving Vijay’s life and his relationship is never explained well enough. Also the character of Vijay’s mother lacks the intensity played by the original Maa Rohini Hatangadi. Rohini Hatangadi’s role was much pivotal in both establishing and taking forward the narrative in the original. Here the Director Karan Malhotra pours in melodramatic moments and scenes, but that can not match the silence of Rohini Hatangadi’s original Maa. Unnecessary song and dance sequences could have been avoided, although Katrina Kaif in Chikni Chameli is ruling the charts.

                        Nevertheless, the film stands alone, despite borrowing the structure from the original. This remake has very different tonality, texture and syntax.  Karan Johar pays tribute to his father by making a hit remake from a box-office flop original. In fine this film can be considered to be the return of the original “Bollywood Masala Revenge Thrillers”. Hrithik’s performance is the main attraction here, where comparison with Big B should be restrained from. This film is expected to make Hrithik a Life Member of the very distinguished “100Crore Club”, apart from three Khans and Ajay Devgn. They are different films and different actors in different periods of time. It will be injustice to compare their performances. This portrayal of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan , earned Big B the National Award as a Best Actor with his memorable recitation of his father’s poem “Agneepath”. Hrithik too is not far behind in reciting those lines which forms the soul of the film,

“Vreekhs Ho Bhale Khade, Ho Ghane Ho Bhare

Ek pattra Chhaon Bhi Maang mat, Maang mat, maang mat,

Tu naa thakega Kabhi

Tu Naa Thamega Kabhi

Tu Na Mudega Kabhi

Kar Shapath, Kar Shapath, Kar Shapath.

Yeh Mahaan Drishya hai, Chal Raha Manushya Hai

Ashru, Swed, Rakhta Se lat pat, lat pat, lat pat

Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath”.