Remakes don't interest me. They indicate filmmaking laziness and lack of imagination. The only instance I can think of where a remake improved on the original was the new "The Thomas Crown Affair" – Pierce Brosnan was dashing as the billionaire for whom art heists are sport; his love interest René Russo was smart, sultry, and age-appropriate as the insurance adjuster who's on to him. Their chemistry crackled, unlike Steve McQueen's Thomas Crown who looked ill at ease in his bespoke suits and an overly understated Faye Dunaway, who had yet to learn how to unleash her sensuality on screen. Given my disdain for the remake, why did I see the new iteration of "Agneepath"? Simple: I was curious to watch Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt cast against type.
I'm no fan of the old "Agneepath". It was one of Amitabh Bachchan's late-period starring vehicles, just another in his string of revenge sagas. I'll probably ruffle feathers by suggesting that Amitabh had got into a rut towards the end of his run as a leading man.
When he first burst forth from the screen, he jolted us into recognition of a bold new talent. We'd never before seen anything like those first roles that harnessed Amitabh's frustration with a corrupt system and explosive fury against wrongdoers as in "Zanjeer", "Deewar", "Namak Haraam" and "Sholay".
But somewhere in the late 80s, filmmakers stopped taking chances and cast him in the same role in film after identical film. Every film showed him in a couple of comic scenes, at least one drunken episode, maybe a song or two with the leading lady; then for the remaining three-quarters of the film, he would fly into a rage, launch a blood feud against some villain, not stopping until the bad guys and/or he himself were dead. In innumerable films, he sought revenge against heinous wrongs perpetrated against a parent/wife/sibling/child, until one couldn't keep the films and their story lines straight.
I had to go to YouTube for the plot of the old "Agneepath" because I'd muddled all those late 80s-90s films together. Today Amitabh's performance—despite being recognized with a National Award then—comes across as mannered, even tired. He thought altering his voice would give his Vijay Dinanath Chauhan greater resonance, but the public rejected the effort. The 1990 "Agneepath" was hastily re-dubbed in his regular voice, but folks had lost interest by then.
Amitabh today is a better actor than he was in the 90s. Freed from the constraints of the leading man's image, he can, as a character actor, take on any role, derive artistic satisfaction and dazzle viewers.
The same goes for Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. What a thrill to watch Rishi Kapoor in this film! As Rauf Lala, he replaces the quartet of bad guys who induct the boy Vijay Chauhan into a life of crime. In his long career, Rishi Kapoor has always epitomized goodness – his cherubic visage glows with benevolence – he can be counted on to always do the right thing. Here, that Rishi Kapoor is nowhere in evidence. As surly, amoral, surma-eyed Rauf Lala, he convinces the viewer that he won't perform a good deed even by accident. When his vile son chides him for praising Vijay, he slyly tells him not to worry, Vijay will never be permitted to outlive his usefulness. As Rauf Lala, his girth is threatening, his smile as ugly as a snarl. It has been a treat watching the actor Rishi Kapoor take flight in "Luck By Chance", "Fanaa", "Pyaar Mein Twist". As Rauf Lala, he outdoes himself.
Similarly, Sanjay Dutt comes into his own as the evil Kancha. Kancha has a back-story here: his father the village headman was supplanted in the hearts and minds of the villagers by the idealistic schoolmaster Dinanath Chauhan. He summons his psychopathic son to rid the village of Chauhan. After accusing the virtuous teacher of raping and killing a schoolgirl, Kancha lynches him from a tree. Dinanath's pregnant widow (a stoic Zarina Wahab) and son Vijay leave for Bombay, where Vijay takes to crime, biding his time to exact revenge. Sanjay Dutt's bald-pated ox-like Kancha is truly menacing—his sadistic lunacy strikes fear. His penchant for reciting "shlokas" and general unpredictability up the scare factor. Sanjay Dutt should gracefully relinquish leading man roles, and embrace character parts with gusto – he had a lot of fun in the cameo he did in "Ra-One", and his Kancha is an extended riff on that bad guy, only badder.
Despite the stock tale of revenge, enough nuances and character developments make this "Agneepath" watchable. Of course, in keeping with the times, everything is louder, bigger, badder. Vijay Chauhan, as Hrithik Roshan interprets him, is all control and internalized emotion. He reveals little, and all his friendships and alliances are measured against whether they will get him any closer to Kancha. The flamboyance and bravado of Amitabh's Vijay are gone – this Vijay is a completely different creature. He yearns for life with a wife and family, but knows that he is not destined for them. He kills for his employer Rauf Lala, and lives only to execute Kancha, so he knows his own days are numbered.
I liked Priyanka Chopra's Kali – she takes the usually underwritten girlfriend's role, imbuing it with shading and touches of her own. She endears with her goofiness and remains in mind long after the film ends.
One glaring flaw: Zarina Wahab and her daughter rush to the police station to identify Kancha's man sent to murder the upstanding Police Inspector (Om Puri). Zarina had last seen him when he was a child, and the daughter hadn't even been born then – how could they possibly have recognized him? This irks because much thought was given to everything else – couldn't a better way been found for them to land in Kancha's den as hostages?
I'm no fan of the old "Agneepath". It was one of Amitabh Bachchan's late-period starring vehicles, just another in his string of revenge sagas. I'll probably ruffle feathers by suggesting that Amitabh had got into a rut towards the end of his run as a leading man.
When he first burst forth from the screen, he jolted us into recognition of a bold new talent. We'd never before seen anything like those first roles that harnessed Amitabh's frustration with a corrupt system and explosive fury against wrongdoers as in "Zanjeer", "Deewar", "Namak Haraam" and "Sholay".
But somewhere in the late 80s, filmmakers stopped taking chances and cast him in the same role in film after identical film. Every film showed him in a couple of comic scenes, at least one drunken episode, maybe a song or two with the leading lady; then for the remaining three-quarters of the film, he would fly into a rage, launch a blood feud against some villain, not stopping until the bad guys and/or he himself were dead. In innumerable films, he sought revenge against heinous wrongs perpetrated against a parent/wife/sibling/child, until one couldn't keep the films and their story lines straight.
I had to go to YouTube for the plot of the old "Agneepath" because I'd muddled all those late 80s-90s films together. Today Amitabh's performance—despite being recognized with a National Award then—comes across as mannered, even tired. He thought altering his voice would give his Vijay Dinanath Chauhan greater resonance, but the public rejected the effort. The 1990 "Agneepath" was hastily re-dubbed in his regular voice, but folks had lost interest by then.
Amitabh today is a better actor than he was in the 90s. Freed from the constraints of the leading man's image, he can, as a character actor, take on any role, derive artistic satisfaction and dazzle viewers.
The same goes for Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. What a thrill to watch Rishi Kapoor in this film! As Rauf Lala, he replaces the quartet of bad guys who induct the boy Vijay Chauhan into a life of crime. In his long career, Rishi Kapoor has always epitomized goodness – his cherubic visage glows with benevolence – he can be counted on to always do the right thing. Here, that Rishi Kapoor is nowhere in evidence. As surly, amoral, surma-eyed Rauf Lala, he convinces the viewer that he won't perform a good deed even by accident. When his vile son chides him for praising Vijay, he slyly tells him not to worry, Vijay will never be permitted to outlive his usefulness. As Rauf Lala, his girth is threatening, his smile as ugly as a snarl. It has been a treat watching the actor Rishi Kapoor take flight in "Luck By Chance", "Fanaa", "Pyaar Mein Twist". As Rauf Lala, he outdoes himself.
Similarly, Sanjay Dutt comes into his own as the evil Kancha. Kancha has a back-story here: his father the village headman was supplanted in the hearts and minds of the villagers by the idealistic schoolmaster Dinanath Chauhan. He summons his psychopathic son to rid the village of Chauhan. After accusing the virtuous teacher of raping and killing a schoolgirl, Kancha lynches him from a tree. Dinanath's pregnant widow (a stoic Zarina Wahab) and son Vijay leave for Bombay, where Vijay takes to crime, biding his time to exact revenge. Sanjay Dutt's bald-pated ox-like Kancha is truly menacing—his sadistic lunacy strikes fear. His penchant for reciting "shlokas" and general unpredictability up the scare factor. Sanjay Dutt should gracefully relinquish leading man roles, and embrace character parts with gusto – he had a lot of fun in the cameo he did in "Ra-One", and his Kancha is an extended riff on that bad guy, only badder.
Despite the stock tale of revenge, enough nuances and character developments make this "Agneepath" watchable. Of course, in keeping with the times, everything is louder, bigger, badder. Vijay Chauhan, as Hrithik Roshan interprets him, is all control and internalized emotion. He reveals little, and all his friendships and alliances are measured against whether they will get him any closer to Kancha. The flamboyance and bravado of Amitabh's Vijay are gone – this Vijay is a completely different creature. He yearns for life with a wife and family, but knows that he is not destined for them. He kills for his employer Rauf Lala, and lives only to execute Kancha, so he knows his own days are numbered.
I liked Priyanka Chopra's Kali – she takes the usually underwritten girlfriend's role, imbuing it with shading and touches of her own. She endears with her goofiness and remains in mind long after the film ends.
One glaring flaw: Zarina Wahab and her daughter rush to the police station to identify Kancha's man sent to murder the upstanding Police Inspector (Om Puri). Zarina had last seen him when he was a child, and the daughter hadn't even been born then – how could they possibly have recognized him? This irks because much thought was given to everything else – couldn't a better way been found for them to land in Kancha's den as hostages?