Agneepath Movie Review – Deadly, Illogical and packed with Bollywoodism

I went to the theatres the other day to catch the Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt starrer, Agneepath. The movie was meant to be pure masala fare meant to keep one thrilled for a good three hours. The expectations were quite high because of Agneepath’s trailer and accomplished actors such as Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt starring in it. Unfortunately, it failed to keep me gripped for the plot was loose with several illogical gaps and it was just too much Bollywoodism packed in for one film.

Synopsis

Based on Mukul Anand’s original cult film, the plot of Agneepath is quite simple. It’s belongs to the good old fight-for-right and avenge-with-revenge type of Bollywood films.

Agneepath is the story of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Hrithik Roshan) who is out on a mission against, Kancha (Sanjay Dutt), the bald, evil looking villain to avenge his father’s (Master Deenanath played by Chetan Pandit) death in the village of Mandwa.

After his father is wrongfully murdered by Kancha, young Vijay (Arish Bhiwandiwala) along with his mum Suhasini Chauhan (Zareena Wahaab) go away to Bombay. There he rises from a little kid to a little gangster under Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor), the leader of Bombay’s underworld.

Kali (Priyanka Chopra) is his only friend who is pining away for his love. Inspector Gaitonde (Om Puri) is the long arm of justice who understands Vijay and wants to help him.

Where Agneepath Failed

A plot based on fighting for righteousness and vengeance is a hackneyed story line for Bollywood films. But in the original Agneepath, Kader Khan’s superbly written dialogues and Amitabh Bachchan’s delivery of them managed to create a powerful impression. It had eventually turned out to be one of Amitabh Bachchan’s most epic performances.

Cut to 2012, when debut director Karan Malhotra and producer Karan Johar decide to rip off  remake a cult classic by shredding the original screenplay to bits and adding masala to suit the taste of the new generation. They only thing epic about the new Agneepath will probably be Sanjay Dutt’s style and performance.

If you go watch Agneepath, be prepared to see Hrithik kill a whole gang of villains armed with automatic machine guns with a single revolver and later, dying in the arms of his mother with cheesy Bollywoody dialogues spilling off his tongue. Some find this stuff good but for some, it can get too ludicrous to digest.

They have gone too far to make the new Agneepath a crowd puller. There really was no need for ear blasting background scores or irreverent action scenes.

A Few Good Points

Cinematography.

Some of the visuals in the movie are beautifully painted on the screen, giving Agneepath a surrealist tinge to it. Color and depth seem to have has been meticulously worked up in almost every single frame. Kudos to Sabu Cyril and Kiran Deohans for such stunning visuals.

Sanjay Dutt – The Best Bollywood Villain in recent years

The most noteworthy and original element of Agneepath is Sanjay Dutt’s role of Kancha which had originally been played by  Danny Dezongpa. Bollywood villains have often entertained audiences more than the heroes. In The new Kancha is looks disturbingly evil and is a thousand times meaner. This is one of his best performances after Munnabhai and I’m quite sure he will take away many awards for the role.

Conclusion – Lots of noise, little substance

Agneepath has all the characteristics of a Bollywood film which usually make us love Bollywood. It has conflict, it has souped up drama and emotion, unbelievable action scenes, a much talked about Chikni Chameli, powerful dialogue, a hero, heroine and villain.

But it just somehow doesn’t make the cut for a blockbuster. It will probably make 70-80 crores at the Bollywood box office and push off into the archives without making that impact which we thought it would make.

Watch it for Sanjay Dutt and his constant reminder from the Bhagavad Gita:

Tum Kya Laye Thay, Tum Kya Leke Jaoge