Agneepath – No Fire in This One
Agneepath, Agneepath…! The lines from the famous poem written by the late Harivanshrai Bachchan, the father of the “Superstar of the Millennium”, Amitabh Bachchan. Agneepath – the first film to come out of Dharma Productions, the film that fetched Amitabh Bachchan his first and only National Award, the film, which over the years has achieved a cult status, thanks to the Superstar’s fabulous portrayal of “Vijay Dinanath Chavan”, aye!
It was Yash Johar who produced this film in 1990 with the creative Mukul S. Anand at the helm. 22 years later, it is his son Karan Johar who remakes this film with the debutante director Karan Malhotra. So, how good is this attempt? Let me remind you that the original Agneepath didn’t fetch many rewards but awards.
First things first, this film is not a scene-to-scene remake of the original. Not all the original characters are reatined, and director Karan Malhotra reworked on the original script to cater to the audiences of 2012. And to be honest, the script actually falls flat, and leaves the audience with an incomplete experience.
The Story
Agneepath is a revenge drama. Vijay Dinanath Chavan, son of Master Dinanath Chavan are a happy family (including his mother) residing in Mandva, a small island, a little distance away from Mumbai. Master Dinanath is a well respected person in the village, as he works for the welfare of its residents by producing salt. Enters Kancha Cheena, son of the Zameendar of Mandva, who not only has an evil look but also evil ideas. Kancha finds out that the soil of Mandva is fertile enough to grow cocaine. So, he lures the villagers to submit their lands on a lease basis to him for he would set up a salt factory, and the villagers would profit from the factory. Master Dinanath, tells the villagers to not submit their lands to Kancha, for they could permanently lose them. Kancha plots an evil plan to get rid of Master Dinanath and eventually kills him with the little Vijay watching him. Vijay and his mother leave Mandva and come to Mumbai, and all Vijay wants now is to avenge his father’s death. The rest of the story is how gets his revenge over Kancha.
Performances
Hrithik Roshan as Vijay Dinanath Chavan is good, though not great. The director failed to extract the intensity that the character demands. Although I hate to compare his performance with Amitabh’s in the original, I would have to say the emotions that Amitabh portrayed in his character are missing in the adaptation. But nevertheless, Hrithik gives a wholehearted performance.
Sanjay Dutt as Kancha Cheena looks frightening for sure. But, his performance is somehow incomplete. Although he utters a few funny lines in pure Hindi, his characterization is flawed. Though he is a perfect match to Hrithik, as far as their muscles go, performance wise, the audience are left wanting.
Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala, well he is the surprise package! We all adore Rishi Kapoor for his acting skills but, in this one he plays a perfect bad guy and he just excels in this role of the ‘kasai’, and we are just going to end up admiring his acting skills even more. If for anything, you would have to watch Agneepath just for his performance.
Priyanka Chopra, who plays Kali doesn’t have a substantial role but plays her part with ease. Zarina Wahab as Hrithik’s mother is OK. Arish Bhiwandiwala, the boy who played the little Vijay Dinanath Chavan is very good. Om Puri as commisioner Gaitonde is fabulous.
Music doesn’t have a big part to play in the film. Although the background score by Ajay-Atul suits the bill. Cinematography by Kiran Deohans and Ravi K.Chandran is very good. Editing could have been a bit crispier as the runtime of the film is a little long. Screenplay by Karan Malhotra and Ila Dutta Bedi could have been better. Nothing new in the action department by Abbas Ali Moghul. Dialogues by Piyush Mishra need a special mention. The production values are very good.
This Agneepath has a couple of good performances by Hrithik and Rishi Kapoor that will leave the audiences awestruck, but the film falls flat as far as the content is concerned. The high that the original hits with regards to its emotions are amiss in the adaptation. But this one is going to be a money spinner for sure, thanks to the extensive promotion and ‘Chikni Chameli’.
A one-time watch, and do not go wanting to watch Big B reincarnated.
Bollywood Poll: Ladies in Sari…
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Who according to you pulled off the Sari look, the best, at the Apsara Awards?
Paichan Kaun?
Guess Who?
Wednesday’s answer: Urmila.
Southscope, Jan 2012..
Ileana D’cruz on the cover of Southscope.
Like the cover?
Celebden Style Check…
We absolutely loved Kareena Kapoor’s look at the recent Apsara Awards. The actress opted for a Paule Ka gown, pairing it with strappy black heels. The red lip color completed her look. Bebo kept it clean and simply, yet looked like a million dollar.
Like her look?
Kareena’s wedding preparations…
Though Kareena and Saif are tight lipped about their BIG day, it is heard that the wedding preparations are on in full swing.
If buzz is to be believed, Bebo has placed an order for a royal neck piece, costing about 40 Lakh. The necklace is said to extend from her neck to her waist. Made with 400 gm gold with expensive gems studded on it, such kind of necklaces are generally worn by the royals.
The jewelery will be designed by a Rajkot-based Jeweler, who is pretty famous for designing such royal jewelery.
Ritu Kumar is said to be designing Bebo’s wedding attaire. It is also heard that Saif plans to gift Bebo a big diamond rock as her wedding gift.
Its raining money for Agneepath at the Box Office…
Agneepath is doing super awesome at the box office. It opened to a mind blowing response, with 90 percent of the cinema houses, houseful.
The film having received positive reviews from almost all film critics, is sure to emerge as the first blockbuster of 2012, with a four day weekend being its plus point.
The film is said to have broken the highest first-day collection record of Salman Khan’s ‘Bodyguard’, crossing the 21 crore mark.
Theatrical Teaser of ‘Talaash’…
Catch the first trailer of Aamir Khan’s film ‘Talaash’. It simply gets you hooked to the screen.
Aamir looks smashing as a cop. Kareena is seen decked up in mini skirts, playing an escort girl while Rani on the other hand, looks all haggard, worried and depressed.
From the trailer, what we can see is that, Aamir gets into a deep investigation in search of truth. The actor is seen interrogating prostitutes, diving underwater and gunning down hoodlums.
The film is a psychological thriller written and directed by Reema Kagti. It is slated to release on June 1, 2012.
And it’s Ranbir and Vidya, once again!!
Looks like 2011 belonged to Vidya Balan and Ranbir Kapoor. After winning the best actor (Male & Female) award at the 18th Colors Screen Awards, both, Vidya and Ranbir went on to grab the Best Actor tittle, once again at the Apsara Awards, on Wednesday night.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara fetched Zoya Akhtar the Best Director trophy as well as the Best Film trophy.
The evening was a grand show, having Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Amisha Patel, Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia, groove to some of the popular hits.
The award function was hosted by Farah Khan and Karan Johar.
Below is the list of winners of Apsara Awards:
Best Film
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Actor (Male)
Ranbir Kapoor for ‘Rockstar’
Best Actor (Female)
Vidya Balan for ‘The Dirty Picture’
Best Director
Zoya Akhtar for ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’
Best Supporting Actor
Farhan Akhtar for ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’
Best Supporting Actress
Parineeti Chopra for ‘Ladies V/s Ricky Bahl’
Best Debutant (Female)
Parineeti Chopra
Best Debutant (Male)
Rana Daggubati for ‘Dum Maaro Dum’
Best Performance in a comic role
Deepak Dobriyal (Tanu Weds Manu)
Best performance in a negative role
Prakash Raj (Singham)
Hindustan Times Readers Choice Award for best entertainer male
Shahrukh Khan
Hindustan Times Readers Choice Award for best entertainer female
Priyanka Chopra
Best Music
A R Rahman for Rockstar
Best Lyrics
Irshad Kamil for ‘Nadaan Parinday’ in ‘Rockstar’
Best Choreography
Bosco-Caesar for ‘Desi Boyz’
Best Singer Male
Mohit Chauhan for ‘Saada Haq’
Best Singer Female
Shreya Ghosal for ‘Teri Meri’ in ‘Bodyguard’
Best Sound Design and Sound Mixing
Ra. One
Best Editing
No One Killed Jessica
Best Cinematographer
Chirantan Das (Tanu Weds Manu)
Most Promising Director
Abhinay Deo (Delhi Belly)
Best Sreenplay
Reema Katgi and Zoya Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Best Story
Reema Katgi and Zoya Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Guild honour for excellence On TV
Amitabh Bachchan (Kaun Banega Crorepati)
HAVE YOUR SAY..
First Look: ‘Talaash’ digital poster…
Presenting to you the first official digital poster of Aamir Khan’s forthcoming film, ‘Talaash’. Buzz suggests that the film is a love triangle between the three leads, i.e. Aamir, Rani and Kareena.
According to a source, “It’s after 10 years that Aamir has reunited with Farhan (filmmaker Farhan Akhtar) and Ritesh (producer Ritesh Sidhwani) after Dil Chahta Hai. Also Aamir has teamed up with two of his favorite actresses again with whom he’s had the biggest hits in the past — Kareena Kapoor (3 Idiots) and Rani Mukerji (Ghulam)”
Prior to the launch of this digital poster, a number of fake posters were doing rounds all over the web world. Informs the source, “Ever since the film has started, several websites have been putting up fake or self-created posters for circulation. Releasing this poster online now, would keep that in check as people can have a direct access to the originals.”
Talaash is a suspense thriller, having Aamir Khan essay the role of a cop. The film is being directed by Reema Kagti and is slated for a summer release.
Paichan Kaun?
Guess Who?
Yesterday’s answer: Sridevi..
Bollywood Poll: Actresses at the 18th Colors Screen Awards!
Who according to you looked the best at the 18th Colors Screen Awards?
