A remake of a cult Hindi film which was a flop in it's time. A first time director. 3 actors who oscillate between brilliant acting and silly overacting. A movie about Bollywood-style violence.
I was skeptical. I'm not anymore.
I know I tend to be lavish while giving praise but let me say this honestly : Agneepath ( 2012 ) is brilliant for so many reasons.
It is one of the best, if not the best remake I've ever seen.
Rather than go for a scene by scene remake, the creative unit ( director and writer ) have taken the basic theme of a child avenging his father's death at the hands of a drug peddling mob boss and redone the story entirely from there. The first half deals more with Hrithik's scheming rise to the top in Mumbai while the second half takes the battle from Mumbai back to where it all began - the small village/island (?) of Maandva.
Iconic characters like Mithun Chakrabarthy's Krishnan Iyer ( who added humour to the movie ) are done away with and new villians ( Rishi Kapoor ) are added.
Iconic moments : There were many scenes that had the whole audience screaming in delight and sometimes awe/horror. A few of them which come to mind are :
a) The poem that the school master teaches his hot tempered son and how it becomes relevant later on in the movie. ( Trivia : the original poem was written by Amitabh Bachchan's father and was the inspiration for the film's title. )
b) The death of the school teacher is brutal. The camera doesn't turn away from the chaos or horror of the scene.
c) A scene where Hrithik 'questions' a police officer while driving.
d) A scene where someone Hrithik cares for is literally being auctioned and the police are barricaded and how it is resolved.
e) The scene immediately following the 'Chikni Chameli' song. It's not at all what you expect.
f) The moment in the film where you first hear those legendary words "Vijay Chauhan. Poora naam : Vijay Deenanath Chauhan. Baap ka naam : Master Deenanath Chauhan. Gaav : Maandva." It's an amazing sequence with an almost rabid background score.
g) Hrithik having dinner at his mother's house.
h) The final battle.
The very fact that Chikni Chameli, though being great, doesn't come in my Top 8 moments of the movie should tell you how much I enjoyed this movie.
Rishi Kapoor reinvents himself after 4 decades in Bollywood into a role noone expected and one he did amazingly well - an absolute lowlife indulging in child prostitution and drug smuggling.
Sanjay Dutt's opening scene felt a little hammy to me but over time, you realise just how menacing and creepy the character is. By sheer size alone, he towers over Hrithik and is a great villian - both physically and cerebrally - to compete with.
Priyanka's role is limited but she does well. Her smile and determined love for her man is endearing.
Other characters like Hrithik's family and Om Puri are brief but well essayed, but give a round of applause to the man himself.
Hrithik has outdone himself this time. Rather than try to emulate Amitabh Bachchan, he's decided to do his own take of a younger,more blood thirsty and manipulative Vijay Chauhan and it works brilliantly. I almost want to say "Give him the damn Filmfare trophy for the 2013 awards already". He's brought back the angry young man in style.
The action is brutal at times, with very little to laugh about. The songs were okay, Chikni Chamile being the obvious standout , though the Deva song also was well picturised. Cinematography stood out both for the indoor scenes as well as the shoot in the village. Even in the few moments where light hearted banter prevails, you sense that the director is just easing his foot off the accelerator for a few minutes and we're soon going to be back to the thrill/rage/tension that envelopes the key characters.
That's the mark of a really good director. Hats off, Mr Karan Malhotra. You've shown seasoned directors how a remake should be done.
