Agneepath

A fascinating tale of moral redemption.

Images so powerful they linger in the mind hours after they've left the screen.

And the eyes, always the eyes … the eyes of Evil, the eyes of Truth.

A young man (Hrithik Roshan) must tread the dark and difficult 'path through fire' -- lit., 'agneepath' -- of challenge and personal sacrifice to avenge his family against the crimelord (Sanjay Dutt) who brutally murdered his father, dishonoured his family, and corrupted their whole community.

If the classic 1990 "Agneepath" pioneered one of the strongest stories ever in film (and was way ahead of its time, for Hindi cinema), this 2012 "Agneepath" preserves the most effective elements of that brilliant original story and revamps what needed help. Our villain is even more evil, and the road of challenges our hero must overcome to defeat him is correspondingly an even darker, more treacherous journey.

Raw. Powerful. Primeval.

Sanjay Dutt's Kancha is a villain for the ages. Visually, he scared me just on the poster! A big, bad, very bad man. The bald head, the tattoos, the smile, the laugh, the spreading shapeless pale blobbiness of his huge bulk, and above all those hauntingly sick eyes, combine to render Mr Dutt's Kancha one of the most naturally frightening villains ever conceived. Where the original 1990 Kancha Cheena played by Danny Denzongpa was sleek and smooth and sophisticated, his evil was very modern and straightforward in open pursuit of power and wealth – and thus more familiar. Mr Dutt's Kancha, however, is pure psychopath: he destroys and kills because he LIKES it. And even though the audience understand how he became so twisted, that sickness makes him very scary indeed … the visual embodiment of human evil.

What I could *not* anticipate from the trailers, though, is how Hrithik Roshan's Vijay Dinanath Chauhan would prove equally intimidating and visually frightening as Mr Dutt's Kancha: with those keen clear eyes knifing through his face awash in blood, Mr Roshan's Vijay looks purely the Avenger-from-Hell. Director Karan Malhotra effectively channels Mr Roshan's natural intensity into a human sword of vengeance – a quiet character who 'says' a lot from the shadows, projects mountains of lurking threat and menace, even where he has no dialogue. Again the eyes, always the eyes in this film! Never before had any director so effectively used the sheer glow-in-the-dark luminosity of Mr Roshan's eyes. The iconic 1990 Vijay created by the great Amitabh Bachchan (one of his most memorable roles) was significantly older and more verbally aggressive, the character more seduced by the trappings of power and wealth, only refocussing on his essential task toward the very end. By contrast, Mr Roshan's Vijay leads a haunted, almost monk-like existence, never losing focus down the years toward destroying his enemy. Obsessed, relentless, deadly – and a perfect showcase for Mr Roshan to demonstrate, yet again, his great dramatic range as an actor.

Mr Roshan and Mr Dutt are so riveting in this film that any scenes they are not in, separately or together, honestly feel like a distraction.

Despite 12 intervening years these two great actors have lost none of the chemistry that powered 2000's excellent "Mission Kashmir". Mr Roshan is slightly the taller actor, Mr Dutt significantly the heavier, but the two are so perfectly matched and the build-up so well laid that by the climax of this "Agneepath" audience anticipation could not be higher ... or more well-rewarded.

An unforgettable, 'must-see' film!

This, despite certain of the supporting roles being poorly cast (rather shockingly, for such a high-profile project from a major production house). The performances of both Vijay's new parents were competent but undistinguished; Alok Nath as Vijay's father in the 1990 film was far superior. I quite liked the concept behind the new dark character Rauf Lala; however, naturally clown-faced Rishi Kapoor brought inadequate menace to this baddie, at least for me. (And I'll swear they made Mr Kapoor's wig out of cheap carpeting!) But easily the worst miscasting? The 12-year-old Vijay – any boy less likely, in form or colouring or behaviour, to grow into 'Hrithik Roshan' as an adult Vijay would be seriously hard to find! What were they thinking? Anyone curious about what did grow into Hrithik Roshan need look no further than 1986's "Bhagwaan Dada", wherein you'll discover that Hrithik Roshan himself at age 12 looked exactly as any reasonable person might expect: a tall skinny boy with fair skin, light green eyes, brown hair, and already the distinctively-perfect profile. But the young Vijay cast here looked so glaringly out of place – too loud, too heavy, too dark, too coarse – that every flashback (of which there are far too many) with this boy jerked me completely out of the story. Again, the original casting in the 1990 film was much more believable in that specific role.

On the plus side, however, certain female characters are much stronger and more three-dimensional in this 2012 version. Priyanka Chopra was simply outstanding as Vijay's lover and only friend, the new character Kaali – one of her best-ever performances, despite limited minutes.. Newcomer Kanika Tiwari also impressed, as Vijay's younger sister.

Veteran actor Om Puri was also extremely effective as Commissioner Gaitonde, Vijay's sometime-conscience and sometime-ally. His scenes with Mr Roshan were particularly good.

Even Katrina Kaif's jaw-dropping item number, "Chikni Chameli", may prove classic: who would have thought one could do THAT with a booze bottle!

Special credit is due the highest standards of craft professionalism that distinguish this 2012 "Agneepath", notably these departments: Cinematography (exceptional lighting and shot selection, especially with the principal actors) – Kiran Deohans and Ravi K Chandran; Sound and Sound Editing (variety and scope, silent private moments to mass public festivals, all perfectly managed) – Stephen Gomes; and Stunts/Fight Choreography (so many action scenes, but each distinct and cumulatively building to the truly epic climax) – Abbas Ali Moghul.

You shouldn't wonder why everyone wants to remake a Big B movie. While the obvious to say is that they are a cult but the truth is we don't have stories, performances and dialogues like that today. A safe trick to pull the audience is to give them a star-studded remake of a movie the continuums of generations swear by.

If you are an ardent moviegoer, you might have felt bad with the fate of Don and Sholay remakes but Agneepath rises. Yash Johar & Mukul Anand will be proud of Karan. They can choose either or both.

First of all, it's not a complete remake. It has its own diversions but it's a wasteful effort not to compare it with the original. Some parts of the remake are a total downer. Not just the parents, I heard the kids say – I think the original was far better.

Sanjay Dutt is the first and the biggest disappointment. Tattoos of Shiva, preachings from Geeta, anecdotes from Mahabharat & Ramayan but not a single original Khalnayak moment till the last 15 minutes. I remember seeing the promo six months back and everyone spoke of Sanjay Dutt taking the entire pie from Hrithik Roshan – only if he would have been a more evil psychopath, psychopath, psychopath.

The next is Chikni Chameli. The choreographer & composer totally spoilt the cake. What a sheer waste of Katrina Kaif. The last but not the least is absence of Krishnan Iyer MA. I want to add the iconic "Sister Abduction" scene to the list but I understand that it's too much of a comparison.

There's not much you could say about the script/story since it's a remake but to talk about the dialogues written by the talented Piyush Mishra – they are mediocre. No special marks to the technicals as well.

Hrithik Roshan is brilliant, probably the best anybody could justify the real VDC. When he cries, feels happy, kills a man, runs, wants revenge, gets bruised – it's all in his eyes, he makes it real enough. He might not have been able to replace Big B's attitude but it was time they used this side of him than just counting on his looks & moves.

The surprise of the movie is Rishi Kapoor. What an actor! With the added touch of the surma, he made a better villain than Baba. He should have had a bigger role.

The score of the movie is suitably Maharashtrian, complimenting the movie. I don't know if you have noticed this but Bollywood seems fascinated with the idea of Ganesh songs or others running parallel with murder and melodrama scenes.

Apart from Kancha, everyone's performance has taken the movie a notch higher and fortunately there are no stupid-yet-intentional-because-audience-loves-it additions. Coming from Karan Johar, romance and slickness gives way to raw.

It's a nice remake and while you watch it try hard not to compare it with the original Agneepath, Agneepath, Agneepath.

Agneepath (1990) to begin with, is remembered majorly for Mr Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan. Agneepath (2012), however, will be remembered for Sanjay Datt as Kancha Cheena and Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala.

First half of movie, is racy,compelling and entertaining equally, thanks to brilliantly shot sequences, tight screenplay, heart-throbbing background score and power packed performances. Sanjay Datt excels throughout the movie, this is probably his milestone performance. Rishi Kapoor on the other hand, after showing brilliance in Do Dooni Chaar, again proves that a star remains a star! How about Hrithik?

Hrithik chooses expressions rather than words. He may not have mass - appealing dialogues but his expressions works like wonder! If you compare Hrithik directly with Amitabh Bachchan, he has, still, done a commendable job.

So where this movie lags? Post interval. Movie misses the thrill that it creates prior to interval, slows down its pace to focus on sub plots, which rather adds melodrama that is unneeded. Film seems dragged a bit too. Story, predictable and yet entertaining, somewhere challenges your logic. Climax, which seems to be written for justifying Sanjay's role, is not grand.

Music is good, background score is really thrilling.

Overall, a deserved watch for sure, but somehow keeps you longing for more.

The best thing about the movie was it was on a constant roll, never trying to fill in stuff. From the moment we witnessed the small Birju with all his intensity and the menacing Kancha, we knew something special was in store. This is the first time i have found Sanjay dutt this scary ,even more threatening that his Khalnayak Role. Rishi kapoor proves once again why is the versatile hero of bollywood. Nobody could have done that rauf lala role better.

But the person who has lent his heart and soul into the film is hrithik. He has expressed so many moods and emotions in one movie, this may be his best role till date. There are so many subtle tender moments in the movie with Hrithik alternating between vengeance(Kancha), comradeship(Gaitaonde)and Joy ( seeing his sister). However at times i felt certain scenes were overdone to intentionally create a dramatic effect. Ah but thats bollywood.

Yet another winner this movie. Go see enjoy :)

"Agneepath!!!! Agneepath!!!! Agneepath!!!!" When Hrithik shouts this in the end the audience is left awestruck with a burst of emotions.

Comparing this to the original will be unjustified as both the movies have their own appeal....but certainly the Hrithik version can give you full value for your money if you are a fan of Bollywood/Hrithik.

With each movie he does, Hrithik evolves as a better actor and he has a huge fan base which can be seen by the enthusiasm of fans in movie screens throughout the country.

Both Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor did a marvelous job of portraying the bad(read evil) guys. And Sanjay Dutt surely surpasses the over hyped Voldemort through his exceptional acting and dialogue delivery. Priyanka Chopra as Kali was really impressive and sometimes very funny also.

The story-line is nothing very new, the evil villain kills father and then the son avenges his death, but no matter how many times this plot is used you cannot get bored if the movie is as well made as Agneepath.

As it is produced by Karan Johar, there is no shortage of emotions and colorful cinematography in the movie, and this time the action sequences are also very impressive.

The music was good and the background score was fantastic and in tone with the plot of the movie. There is something with revenge that keeps the average Indian mindset always interested and the makers of Agneepath have done a commendable job to provide what the audience wants to see.

Although there might be too much violence for those who don't like action flicks. I don't have any problem in watching violence or melodrama so obviously the movie rocks for me.

Watch this only if you can bear some violence and revengeful emotions.

PS : As everyone knows, Katerina Kaif appears in the song Chikni Chameli and believe me....this girl keeps looking more and more adorable and desirable...the perfect combination of HOT and SWEET