From the first frame to the last, Karan Malhotra’s reinterpretation of this classic revenge story takes you on a voyage through the high seas of hatred steered by a single minded pursuit of death. So much so, that once you are done with it, you realize that ‘Agneepath’ circa 2012 occupies its own rightfully earned space as a story dipped in smoldering intensity.He keeps the basic nature of the plot the same as the original. An avenging son, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan makes it his life mission to end the life of Kancha Cheena, a man who converted his village Mandwa to a drug haven after killing his noble father Master Dinanath Chauhan. A young Vijay runs away with his pregnant mother to Mumbai and befriends a gangster Rauf Lala and wrests control over the drug scene in Mumbai from him and starts negotiating with Kancha, who is keen on plying his wares there. In return for Mumbai, Vijay wants back his beloved Mandwa. Will that be enough to get ready Kancha for a face-off?
In setting the film in the early nineties, Malhotra helps his cause by using a simplistic environment for a story that has a fairly one dimensional structure. No cell phones, no internet. Just good old fashioned fixed line phones and an ear to the ground providing people with information. In such an environment, an island called Mandwa off the coast of Mumbai can be a fortress ruled by Kancha Cheena, and yet be dipped in intrigue without being Googled or Google Earthed or even covered to death by a raucous media.
The usp of this film is the effort spent in characterization and several influences can be seen. Sanjay Dutt as Kancha Cheena is Satanic, dragging people off, after judgment to be hung on a banyan tree at the edge of this island, a ritual inspired by many folk tales we see in Indian and Western literature. His devilish persona is very well etched and is uncompromisingly black. A fantastic performance by Dutt. The music and background score by Ajay-Atul are extremely evocative and compliment the action superbly.
Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala, the human and drug trafficker who is used by Vijay to get ahead is calculative and menacing as the head of a mafia family (complete with the stereotypical combination of a loose cannon and a mentally challenged son – Godfather and Angaar). Vijay’s love interest Kaali, played by Priyanka Chopra seems to be the only misfit in this film as she does precious little to move the story or the character forward and is ignorable in the side part, underserving of her top billing. Glimpses of Godfather and Parinda are seen again as the love story turns tragic.
The most difficult part for the makers was re-creating Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. The writer has moved the character far away from the one played by Amitabh Bachchan. The new Vijay is less noticeable in a crowd, quieter and more intense. He is shrewd and will use anyone in order to get closer to the one objective of his life-kill Kancha and avenge his father’s death. Hrithik Roshan plays the most difficult role of his career as recreates the iconic character in a different way, thus making it interesting for the viewer. His brooding intensity in this role and the eruption of his anger show us the progress he has made as an actor over the years.
The flip side of the film lies in the fact that we see Kancha only sparingly. After his gruesome act in the beginning, he is heard of only in references until the second half. Perhaps it was done to create more intrigue about him, but he is missed during his absence and one wonders, how he is plotting things at his end. There are inconsistencies in the look of the young Vijay and the older Vijay. The young Vijay looks darker with brown eyes while the older Vijay is fair with green eyes. Cinematic license should not be taken too far in today’s time of perfection.
Agneepath is a good watch. Even if you are tempted to compare it to the original, you will find that the remake holds its own.
