Karan Johar's Tribute To The Cult Classic. Review on Agneepath (2012)

Karan Johar is back with yet another film and this time he has paid tribute to a film that was produced by his father with big B in the lead role. We are talking about the cult classic Agneepath made in 1990 which is remade with Hrithik Roshan stepping into the shoes of big B.

There are two ways to watch this film. One - watch it just as a film & enjoy. Two - watch it and then compare with the original. Since the original was made when the present generation was completely unaware of the film world, hence the opinion of the people seen this film would be different depending on the age factor.

If there was no Agneepath in 1990

Dharma Productions is back with their latest film Agneepath, which is directed by the debutant Karan Malhotra, who has assisted producer Karan Johar in latter's previously directed films.

In a small island called Mandwa, which is situated at South West of Mumbai, Kancha Cheena (Sanjay Dutt) wants to lease the land of all the villagers assuring them that he wants to start a company and manufacture salt. But his intentions are to grow drugs and deal from Mandwa. A school master Dinanath Chauhan tries to stop the villagers from leasing their land to Kancha & in return the latter sets a trap & frames the former of rape & murder of a girl. Kancha hangs the master taking full advantage of the villagers' agony.

Master's son Vijay Chauhan (Hrithik Roshan) wants to take revenge, comes to Mumbai with his mother & joins a criminal Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor). He uses this relation to reach Kancha Cheena and take the revenge. Rest of the film is about how he takes the revenge.

The film is actually inspired by a poem Agneepath written by the famous poet Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan & master Dinanath teaches his son to follow the path of truth, which might be full of obstacles but he should not leave the path.

The first one hour is racy where the scenes change at good speed as the story keeps moving ahead with the introduction of characters like Kancha Cheena, Rauf Lala, cop Gaitonde & of course Vijay Chauhan. A nice homework has been done to create the characters of Vijay, Kancha & Rauf but unfortunately the character of cop Gaitonde has not shaped up properly considering the fact that he was suppose to be the thorn in the flesh of the criminal world.

Music is average and a couple of songs do act as a speed breaker in the flow of the film. Karan Johar too has succumbed to the so called demand of the public for an item song & has cropped in Katrina Kaif to do an item number. She doesn't disappoint as she does the dance part with ease & looked comfortable while moving every part of her body.

Dialogues by Piyush Mishra are good. Equal footage is given to the villains as they too got good dialogues & at times they were superior to those given to the lead actor.

Photography is top notch. The dark shades used in some scenes are so effective that they lift the standard of scenes being played on the screen.

The last 15 minutes of climax part was a bit too much to digest because it spoiled all the hard that was put in the first 145 minutes. How I wish a little more concentration was put on this part because this was the base on which the film is made.

Karan Johar should be appreciated to handover the command of direction to a debutant Karan Malhotra & the latter has not disappointed his mentor's confidence in him. He knows his job and is a good technician too. It won't be wrong to say that he is going to stay in Bollywood for long innings.

Priyanka Chopra does nothing new & is just ok. Can't blame her because her role is written as if she was just there to fill in the gaps on few occasions. Kanika Tiwari who plays the role of Hrithik's sister has done good. Zareena Wahab though has a small role but did full justice to it.

Om Puri as the cop only has to blame the badly written role for him but he doesn't disappoint.

Rishi Kapoor has done what he has never done since 1973 when he made his debut as a hero with Bobby. He plays the negative character with such ease that if he is taken seriously by some film makers, he can be the best villain in Bollywood at least for the next few years for sure.

Sanjay Dutt is at his devilish best. His make up, his body language & the way he has performed the role of Kancha Cheena deserves standing ovation. Though he has to be a bit careful when he screams during his dialogue delivery because his words are not coming out clearly but his face expressions save that moment too. Watch out for the scene when he hangs master Dinanath.

Hrithik Roshan is one of the under rated actors in Bollywood but with his hard work & commitment he has always proved his critics wrong. With his expressive eyes, he shines in the role of Vijay Chauhan.

Over all a good film made on revenge.

But since there was Agneepath

Going for a remake is not a crime but when films are remade comparisons are ought to be made, which though may be baseless but are inevitable, hence the risk. Karan Johar decided to remake the film that was made by his father two decades ago, which is still fresh in our memory especially for the performance of Mr. Bachchan, Karan has decided to walk on the road that is on fire. Because the risk factor was huge & slightest of error can pull the plugs.

No doubt the remake is an honest attempt but when compared to the original, the remake appears as a body with less meat in it & a broken back bone. The remake may have looked better on screen but for that we have to thank the technology that has advanced in the last 2 decades.

The original had scenes that have touched our hearts & you miss the class of that in the remake. Example, the killing of Alok Nath, master Manjunath pulling the dead body of his father, big B's scenes with his mother, his scenes with Vikram Gokhle, his scenes in the hospital, his scenes with Madhavi & the threatening to latter that he will kill her if she aborts the baby, the walk in the climax with his mother after he kills Danny, etc. etc. etc.

The remake has come out as a revenge drama where the writer has somehow failed to connect the main characters properly. Karan Johar's intentions were to make a film that would be superior to the original but unfortunately he has not succeeded.Can't blame him, there is a big difference between being Mr. Yash Johar & in being Karan Johar. And moreover the film required an actor who can surpass Mr. Amitabh Bachchan's performance to raise the level of the film & there is none to do so.

Watch the remake to learn what value the original still holds.

Rating - 3.5 stars