Agneepath Review

First, there were remakes of Hollywood films; now there are remakes of Bollywood classic films. This time, it is Amitabh Bachan' s epic Agneepath that is being remade. Agneepath was a blockbuster of its time and one biggest films of Amitabh Bachan' s illustrious career. It is brave of Karan Johar to attempt to remake this classic. His production house is also not known to make dark and action-packed films like this one. However, people are curious about his style of interpretation and how much of the original story he retains. The old film had classical characters like Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, Krishnan Iyer M.A. and Kancha Cheena. It would be difficult to recreate such characters.

Village: Mandwa, Dinanath Chauhan (Chetan Pandit) is teaching his son the morals of life. He teaches the path of truth is the path of fire, Agneepath. He is out to teach this truth to the villagers of Mandwa as well. The local drug lord, Kancha Cheena (Sanjay Dutt) gets wind of this and kills Dinanath Chauhan. His son, Vijay (Hritik Roshan), has no choice but to take his pregnant mother (Zareena Wahab) and leave for Mumbai.

In Mumbai, Viijay makes a close friend in Kaali (Priyanka Chopra) and she is his support through life. He starts working for ganster Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor) and rises through the ranks very quickly. However, he does not want to be the leader of the gang, his sole purpose is to get back to his village of Mandwa and avenge his father' s death. Now, begins a tale of revenge and Vijay' s quest to avenge his father and finish the terror of Kancha Cheena.

The basic plot of the story has not been changed, only a few sub plots and characters have been changed. The iconic character of Krishnan Iyer M. A. has been completely done away with. Thankfully, this risk has paid off. Since, they have retained the original story of Agneepath; there are not many nasty surprises waiting for the audience. The movie carries through a good pace and manages to maintain the build up through the whole film.

The script and screenplay is good. As mentioned, the basic story remains the same; hence, the writers only had to work to make a few additional changes. The character of Rauf Lala is one such change. Rishi Kapoor plays an important part in the film and his character works well. The character of Kaali too is a neat change after all, what would a Karan Johar film be without a glamorous actress. Her character supports Vijay in all his quests and soon, they both fall for each other. Though, this is not a surprise but their story is enjoyable anyways. The screenplay is tight and well paced and intensity is carried through to the climax.

The direction by Karan Malhotra is good. It is difficult to handle such an intense story but he manages the task well. Though, the romantic plot of Hritik and Priyanka is good, it could have been better. However, he has portrayed the animosity between Kancha and Vijay really well. He thoroughly deserves a hand for reinventing the character of Kancha Cheena. Overall, it is a good performance by the director.

Hritik is good as Vijay Chauhan. Yes, comparison between him and Amitabh Bachan are inevitable, but he deserves applause for showing guts to take on this character. Many superstars have burned their fingers reprising roles done by Amitabh Bachan but Hritik does a good job. He may not be better than the original, but he is certainly good. Sanjay is the best of the lot. He has played Kancha differently and it has worked for the film. He should do more roles like this. Rishi Kapoor is good as Rauf Lala. Priyanka Chopra also does a competent job. The support cast does a good job.

The cinematography, editing and music are all good. They complement the story really well. The production value is also superb, but that is expected in a Karan Johar film. Agneepath will be a hit and set the box-office cash registers ringing. Also, there is no other competition that could hamper its business.

Rating: ***

Verdict: Agneepath is a good film and diehard Hritik and Sanjay Dutt fans would really enjoy their performances.

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