The new Agneepath - A Wasted Chance

 As I hear about the stupendous box-office opening and success parties of the new Agneepath & read its 3-star reviews from critics, I am genuinely perplexed as to what film they are talking about. The Agneepath which I had the misfortune of watching recently and barely being able to sit through the whole of 3 hours is a shoddy film, which gave me not one good reason to appreciate it.

I am an unabashed Bachchan fan. So I will stay away from any comparison between histrionic abilities of AB and Hrithik, lest I be biased. I also understand the need of the film-maker to put farthest distance between the original and the remake, the obvious need to innovate on the situation But the effort has obviously not paid off.

The character of protagonist Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, the edifice around which the original film was built, has been probably the biggest casualty of the film.  

When I last checked, Vijay Chauhan loved to play fair & square, in spite of all his goondaism. And with courage. So much so that when shot at by his mentors-turned-rivals in the back, he turns around and shouts – ae, peeth me kya goli maarta hai, saamne se maar!

Hritihik’s Vijay however has no moral compunctions as he deceives and cunningly kills his mentor’s son on his wedding day. About courage, what can only be said is that Hrithik’s character loses no opportunity to get meekly bashed up including till the end. Sacrilege, I say, to distort the basic grain of the movie thus!

Then there is this ghastly and mostly unnecessary violence which runs throughout the film - a minor bleeding from a rape, a father convulsing after being hanged, a man hung upside-down being thrown around like a pendulum….. What it is that the film-maker strives to show through these scenes is completely beyond me but I am sure some subtlety would not have hurt the artistic expression.

The only saving grace of the film is probably Sanjay Dutt as Kancha Cheena who has brought a flair to his role, in spite of being slightly over-the-top. And yes, Rishi Kapoor also needs to be mentioned, who has done justice to his character, even though not much varying from his usual style.  

Apart from this, the landscape of the movie is populated by a string of card-board  characters, aided by ear-jarring back-ground music and mundane dialogues.

Watch it at your own peril. And if you have to, do keep a DVD of the original Agneepath ready – to wash off the toxicity soon after.