Agneepath

I had never seen this film before 2000. nearly four years ago i made a friend on chat from rwanda(mid Africa). He was all the time praising about Amitabh bachan in this movie. i decided to watch and see myself, there must be something about this movie that makes a non Hindi speaking guy watch it umpteen times. The movie isn't that good it has an average story, good direction but its Amitabh's greatest performance ever. The deep voice, the amazing screen presence, his eyes say everything, the way he sits, the way he talks is absolutely mindblowing. no other actor i have seen could show so much emotions with his eyes. Many people say its like the Marlon brando character in Godfather. But i don't think thats correct. In fact hes added a new dimension to godfather's character. I have no doubt after watching this film that amitabh is the greatest Indian actor ever. And shahrukh will always come second.Trust me - Just watch the movie.

This film which has a lot of Scarface about it is superb. There are 2 major reasons for this... The 2 lead stars. A superb performance from Mithun is diminished somehow due to a devastating performance from Amitabh.

Casting is key to the success of this film. The lesser parts are also performed flawlessly. I think the fact that there is not much music in the film helps. It is an epic and is the kind of film that non Hindi speaking people should see to appreciate Bollywood.

If you've not seen it... Watch it now. This film is up there with the 'City of God' and 'Hard Boiled' world cinema masterpieces. It is the Bollywood equivalent.

Why was Amitabh voted the greatest all time movie star?? This is why!!!

Epitome of performance and style in genre of gangster movies. It is without any doubt one of the best gangster movies ever made in any language. It would not be a overstatement to rate this flick better that Scarface starring Al Pacino. This movie came at the pinnacle of the golden era of gangster movies in India overshadowing all others. It does not have the sophistication of The Godfather or Sarkar or the realistic portrayal of City of God or Satya but it has the power- the power of enunciated emotions never portrayed before in such a cumulative fashion; and this distinction is an intelligent deliberated achievement and not not just a mere coincidence.

Any discussion about the technicalities of the movie will have to start with a special mention of Amitabh Bachchan's performance. The historic portrayal of that powerful scorn, the trademark word "hain" with the hand-action, the style and the posture of sitting on a chair and all other countless gestures combined with powerful and then-realistic acting won him the much deserved National Award for Best Actor. Danny did well with that stoic face. Mithun gave the need-of-that-time over-the-top performance and made it believable. Rohini was good portraying measured grief and strength of the bollywood-mother. Neelam did not have to do much apart from giving some turns to the story.

Cinematography and screenplay set a new milestone then. The scenes with a crowd of thousands in slums was not a common sight in Bollywood then. The script is great, editing is outstandingly amazing and foolproof for that time. Production set new standards. Direction is great. Background score is of international level. Songs are average and redundant.

All in all, it's a quintessential bollywood movie with hero and villain, old mother and a sister, powerful gangster and a cheesy climax. The remarkable thing is- It is still a great entertainment after all these years and a major change in story-lines.

Plot

Abhishek Bachchan (son of Amitabh) once said in an interview that his favourite Amitabh film was Agneepath. Agneepath is about a small town boy (Amitabh) whose father is killed and he comes to Bombay to seek revenge on his father's death. After his father's death, the boy becomes the bread-winner for the family and follows the path of crime to support his mother (Rohini Attangadi) and sister (Neelam). Later in the film, he meets Mithun Chakraborthy who plays the role of Amitabh's confidant (though it is a little overdone) and later falls in love with Neelam. Amitabh slowly builds a massive crime empire but his own weaknesses lead to his downfall. Danny Dengzoppa plays the bad guy who wants total supremacy over the mafia and will do anything to eliminate Amitabh.

Review

Agneepath is easily one of Amitabh's best films ever. This film draws heavily from Scarface (starring Al Pacino). I watched Scarface after Agneepath and was quite shocked to see that they were very similar. Afterall, when I watched Agneepath, I thought it was one of the those unique films which had not been inspired by a Hollywood flick! Even the music themes were similar! Amitabh gives a memorable performance as Vijay Chauhan, who is an arrogant, stubborn, rude gangster with a good heart. What makes this film different from other Amitabh films, or even other Hindi films is the excellent potrayal of its main characters - Amitabh, Danny and Rohini Hattangadi. These characters are believable, unlike in most Hindi films and they bring out the reality of the situation. The film is violent at times, the screenplay is sloppy and the direction could have been better! I thought that the original version of the film with Amitabh's modified voice was much better than the one with his own voice. The original version made his character more authentic.

The title of the film was inspired by Harivansh Rai Bachchan's (Amitabh's father) poem - Agneepath (path of fire). It is not surprising that Amitabh received his first and ONLY National Award (Indian equivalent of an Oscar, though many people consider Filmfare to be the Indian Oscar) for this film. Rohini Hattangadi won a Filmfare award for best supporting actress for her potrayal of a loving and innocent mother. Mithun Chakraborthy won a Filmfare for best supporting actor.

If you thought Al Pacino was good in Scarface, you have got to watch Amitabh in Agneepath!

Overall, I give this film an 8 out of 10! Go watch it!!!

A masterpiece indeed! It is very easily the best film Amitabh has acted ever. Even though the music score is not up to the mark, one gets to watch Amitabh's sterling performance as the "angry young man" of Bollywood. The background score adds to the intensity of the film. Its well worth giving 10+. The best scene in the film would be the one where Amitabh goes to the slums to save his sister Neelam. The dialogues in the entire film are just awesome. Tinu Anand and Rohini Hattangadi have also given a memorable performance in the film. The songs are very avoidable and spoil the tempo of the movie. But the best part of the film would undoubtedly be AMITABH. He is indeed the best actor of the millennium.