This movie had absolutely no room for histrionics, but then there you go, just after the protagonist has rebelled against and murdered his own mentor, rather than show him consolidate his hold and deal with the consequences, he is shown trying to get along and showering love on his sister who has lived away from him for 15 years. [break]
What a slack! You’ll exclaim. But that’s not all.
As the movie nears the end, when tension really builds up as our protagonist is set to declare a war against his enemy, finally, you are made to agonizingly watch the crooning and caressing of the leading pair, and that, despite the pair having lived in the same locality for 15 years!
But if you plan to watch the film, don’t let this review come in your way.
With stunning choreography, excellent portrayal of a rustic crime infested world and superb acting by the lead star cast, the film is gripping, and there is a fair chance that you will enjoy it.
It’s only when as a critic you begin to look for value, the film offers you none.
The Agneepath-remake is out and out potboiler made to cash in on the story of a critically acclaimed 1990s film of the same name, relying completely on star power.
I say so because the new Agneepath, just as the old one, stands on the philosophical base of a poem by Haribansharai Bachchan with the same title that says in order to live a righteous life one has to be prepared to walk through the path of fire, that is, Agneepath.
But the remake fails to pay the tribute to the very foundation on which it proudly--as we are told in the beginning--stands.
Here’s why. The protagonist in both the original and the remake believe that in order to give the fire-walk test, first you need to survive, obviously. And survive you can’t, unless you purge the society of the wicked people who make mere survival so painful and unbearable?
To achieve that, the protagonist, played by Amitabh Bachchan in the original movie, intentionally enters the dark world of crime, betraying the ideals of his own father for whom walking the Agneepath meant never leaving the path of morality no matter what the hardship.
The protagonist, Vijay Chauhan, played by Hritik Roshan in the remake, does the same, but the difference here is that he has a narrow vision of avenging his father’s death, while, in the original, the goal of the protagonist is to ultimately clear the society of vile characters so that righteousness can prevail.
The severe weakness of the remake, therefore, is that there is no adequate justification for the protagonist to be complicit in crimes like drugs smuggling and flesh trade for gaining power and footing just to take revenge on his enemy.
That lack of justification is further piqued when you see that in the end he goes about it all alone.
That’s right! Just a few blasts and our hero is inside the den of most feared criminal, Kancha Cheena, who has managed to keep the whole Maharashtra Police out of bay.
Hritik’s character does not mature convincingly. He is shown seething with rage, quietly plotting his rise in the crime world to avenge the murder of his father, an honest and hard working teacher, who is humiliated, tortured and then brutally hanged by Kancha Cheena after falsely implicating him of raping a teenaged
village girl.
But even when he does succeed in his ploy, he never emerges as a confident crime overlord who could take down the larger-than-life devil Kancha Cheena so well personified by Sanjay Dutt.
That is because we are told Vijay is clever, but shown nothing to prove that. We are led to believe that he will ultimately finish off Kancha Cheena, but throughout the movie appears a vulnerable young boy as against reassuring angry young man portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan in the original.
Sanjay Dutt is scarily outstanding, Hrithik is simply incredible and Rishi Kapoor, in a negative role, is shockingly fabulous, but there aren’t enough subplots and supporting scenes to prop up their splendid performances.
The end result is that what should have been the defining charisma of each character comes across as mere exaggeration.
The director is clearly in the sway of his lead characters. He overdraws characters at the cost of storyline, completely forgetting that you draw characters to fit the plot, not tailor the story to suit an actor’s off screen star power.
Instead of rationalizing the sequences, more focus has been on dramatizing.
Stinging dialogues, hallmark of the original Agneepath, have been sacrificed to make room for hyperbolic visuals; resounding music often jarring to the ear; and the South Indian overstatements like hero leaving the scene in full élan after the job is done.
A strong plot has been greatly weakened by poorly drafted storyline.
Those who have seen the original Agneepath will agree that its remake is quite different from the old one.
But despite the different feel, the plot essentially remains the same, making comparison inevitable.
That, undoubtedly, is a liability for the new Agneepath which, if you ask me, it fails to pay back.
Screening at QFX Cinemas.