The lights go off and the regular advertisements pop up on the screen. The censor certificate unfolds and ah, the wait is over. The year’s first Dharma Productions’ release. But what’s this? The Dharma logo is seen but where is the musical refrain from KJo’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hain? Instead, there’s a devotional score by Ajay Gogavale, ('Deva Shree Ganesha' the filmi invocation that is), which is also a song from the new film itself. They have changed their music this time and for the devout followers of the Dharmas, like me, it is pretty disappointing; the KKHH music had been haunting since 1998 and then suddenly there’s a leap. Well, that is precisely why we adore the phenomenon called Karan Johar. No cribbing about the excess use of glycerin to activate the lachrymal glands of the audience by this producer/director. He has had his share of criticism since his debut in 1998 but you can not ignore that his films get the cash registers ringing at the BO. Agneepath is his leap, his brain-child and his strategy. This is the mark of a true artist today. No wonder, when he made his K3G, he was criticized heavily for this family melodrama. But no director, (since Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay), could bring together an ensemble of Big B, Jaya, SRK, Kajol, Hrithik and Kareena on the silver screen with aplomb.The critics barked but the money flowed in. And if you ask me, when shown on the television channels today, it still is able to arouse the EQ to such an extent that tears run down the cheeks. My dear friend, Chanchal Roychoudhury would surely second this (Chanchal, I acknowledge you! :) What I would like to say is making a commercial film is a harder task than say, adapting literary works. They have to cater to a greater audience and KKHH, K3G, KANK and MNIK have all just done that.
Agneepath (2012) is all about changes. Apart from the background score during the production logo, the film alters the original script of the 1990 ‘cult’ movie too. Besides these, the film changes the definition of a commercial revenge-action genre. In an era when we talk about the changing scenario of Indian films, with a Dev D, a Delhi Belly, a Dhobi Ghaat or a My Friend Pinto, Dharma’s latest offering is like putting the same old wine in a new bottle, but how!! I will not write about who did what, what happened and what followed. What I want to share is that I am not an ardent follower of violence on screen, especially Hindi films. The Salman Khan fans might assassinate me, but what we have seen in Ready, Dabaang or Bodyguard were either remakes of other regional movies or simply worked because of the man himself. But Agneepath differs. Not only does it portray violence in a stylized form à la RGV school but also combines a few aesthetics to enhance the complexities of relationships.
The first forty five minutes is a treat. The child artiste Arish is an ‘actor’ to watch out for. The expository scenes are brilliantly shot and the film prepares you for a ride through the known alleys of a Shakespearean tragedy. The lust for power and the father-son relationships kept reminding me of Macbeth and King Lear. While watching Mandwa I kept thinking could it be like the island inhabited by Prospero and Miranda in The Tempest? Such was the magic-spell of the two legendary cinematographers Kiran Deohans and Ravi K. Chandran and they have captured Kaancha and his ‘Lanka’ in dark colours with ‘thunder, lightning and the rain’. (I know it is a bad habit of mine, but I can not keep the bard at bay, his works haunt me, even if I am watching Saawariya or Saat Khoon Maaf or Rajneeti.) As the film proceeds in the first half, characters evolve and the power-plays take their courses. Agneepath is a ‘man’ film, and therefore it celebrates fatherhood in significant aspects: the relationship of Vijay (Hrithik) with his father, Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor, in a bravura performance) with his two sons, as well as Vijay and Kaancha’s (Sanjay Dutt) with his father are perfectly blended in this gory drama.
The second half comparatively slows down but our own Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, Hrithik performs the magic again. His histrionics, the anguish and the angst in his eyes make him a perfect choice for the tailor-made role. The supporting cast is no less. Of course, now we know that Om Puri, as an honest police commissioner is unbeatable. He plays it with élan and although he has played it for years, no one else perhaps would be able to put himself in his shoes for a more convincing portrayal. Putting oneself in another’s shoes has been captured well, literally and metaphorically.
I do not want to compare the original with the remake. The genre was a favorite among the film-makers during the late 80s and early 90s but no one dares to remake such unreal movies these days. The Karans have done that. The use of colours, the shuddering camera movements, the monstrous Kaancha and a well-scripted revenge play, Agneepath makes you fall in love with the absurdity called Bollywood.
Few things however never change. Priyanka Chopra is wasted. The film gives an adrenaline rush but it still fumbles with the portrayals of a ‘ma’ figure, a ‘behn’ (recall, The Dirty Picture) and the supporting pillar in the beloved. Piggy Chops delivers well but you want to have her more on screen. And yes, the production house has again changed another known format; the music director duo,Ajay-Atul are new to the camp and the producers have deliberately avoided their favorites Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The background score is good although one can vaguely recall Vaastav’s score if one carefully notes.
Agneepath is a masala movie. The hero (anti-hero!) sheds tears, sings with his beloved, dances, prays, loves, avenges and dies. The heroine reciprocates, the villain grunts and the police chases. The formula, tried and tested albeit the techniques are new. Only if the editor Akiv Ali could have used his pair of scissors more judiciously for the second half, things would have been just perfect. And yes, the driving source of the protagonist, the poem ‘Agneepath’ by Harivansh Rai Bachchan has been deftly used in the climax.
All said and done, I am still wondering why did the producers use the rippling-tattooed biceps of Dutt for a film set between 1977 and 1992. And however she tries, Katrina Kaif can never arouse that ‘chikhni chameli’ oomph; she is too polished to look that. Yes, Shreya Ghoshal sings an item number for the first time and instead of the statutory warning in the beginning, “Cigarette smoking is injurious to health” flashes on screen as and when Kaif lights the cigars dangling between the lips of her “bhookhe shers”. Changes, again!
