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| (Mayank Shekhar) The ageless, eccentric baldie Kancha Cheena (Sanjay Dutt), modeled loosely on the lines of Marlon Brando (Col. Kurtz) in Apocalypse Now, has a thing for the Bhagwad Gita. The line, "Kya lekar aaye the, aur kya lekar jaoge," referring to the perishable human body that's merely a cloth or uniform for the eternal soul, is Kancha's favourite catch-phrase. The land he lords over looks equally mythical. The absence of the nation-state is worrying...more |
| (Rajeev Masand) Debutant director Karan Malhotra's re-telling of Mukul Anand's 1990 vendetta movie 'Agneepath' is a glossy, well-acted production. Compared to recent 'mass entertainers' that tend to lazily sacrifice story and plot for retro-style action and star appeal, this remake rolls along like a well-oiled machine. And yet, after watching three hours of stabbing, gunfire, blasts, and hand-to-hand fighting, you realize the film is somewhat crippled by its over-indulgent length...more |
| (Taran Adarsh) While partaking in a debate on remakes for a leading news channel, the host posed a query to me: Do you think that a cult movie should be remade? Why restructure or revise the sacredness of a film that's so perfect? I instantly put forth my perspective and responded that if a brand is remade with a contemporary approach and in-the-running stars and if there is an enthusiastic audience to watch the cinema, I don't see any harm in recreating a famed work of genius...more |
| (Pratim D. Gupta) When the original Agneepath released in 1990, it was a box-office disaster. In the next couple of decades that have followed, the film, its hero, its villain, its dialogues have all achieved a cult status. Logical explanation? Mukul Anand’s epic was ahead of its times. By the time you read this, the new Agneepath is likely to have opened huge at the box office and be on its way to becoming an all-time blockbuster. If you have watched the film or plan to catch it soon...more |
| (Avijit Ghosh) In the island of Mandwa, a little off the shore of Bombay, a righteous schoolteacher is framed and hung by a tree in punishing rain as his 12-year-old son Vijay weeps uncontrollably at his feet. The key instigator of this lynch-mob execution is crime-lord Kancha Cheena (Sanjay Dutt). In these parts, he plays god, though, he always acts like the devil. Scarred forever, the boy, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan -- Hrithik Roshan when he grows up -- is consumed by a desire for revenge...more |
| (Aakanksha Naval-Shetye) When you attempt to ‘restructure’ a film as iconic as Mukul Anand’s 1990 revenge drama Agneepath, you automatically set it up for comparisons. So, either the filmmakers have to be utterly foolish or overtly courageous to even think of touching this classic. In this case, it’s the latter, and their attempt seems to have been well worth the risk as both the Karans (director Malhotra and producer Johar) certainly pass in this trial by fire...more |
| (Aniruddha Guha) Mukul S Anand's Agneepath(1990) has an iconic shot - Amitabh Bachchan on a speed boat, the Mauritian sea shining as he hurtles towards his nemesis, played by Danny. It's the first time the grown-up Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is meeting Kancha Cheena, and is a major turning point in the story. In Karan Malhotra's Agneepath, Vijay travels to Mandwa, a small island where Kancha resides. The water isn't sparkling, the mode of transport is a ferry...more |
| (Sukanya Verma) Amitabh Harivanshrai Bachchan, poora naam. The name, the man, the voice, the aura bears a lot of weight, the kind that's impossible to measure. Or live up to. A multitude of films, including Mukul S Anand's Agneepath, celebrate this indescribable draw he enjoys enhanced through sharply-written scenes and/or technical wizardry. Not everyone has such resonance among the audience. Realising this inadequacy rather humbly, the makers of the new Agneepath...more |
| (Shubha Shetty-Saha) The Vijay Dinanath Chauhan of the original Agneepath, with surma in his eyes and a gruffier voice, is an act difficult to beat. And the new Vijay (Hrithik) is wise enough not to compete and that endears you to him, along with Hrithik's trademark sincerity and the art of putting his soul into a character. This new Vijay is outwardly tough and intense but ready tears waiting to stream down his blue green eyes, unlike the seemingly more in control, more menacing Amitabh Bachchan...more |
| (Martin D'Souza) Before the onset, I would like to make it known that AGNEEPATH, the original, remains one of my best Bollywood films to date. I have seen it umpteen times and every time I see it a new, I enjoy it even more. To me, that was Amitabh Bachchan's finest performance; he dared to experiment and set a benchmark with his dialogue style that ended with an eeh! Vijay Dinanath Chauhan was a complete character coming from Mandwa, a small town...more |
| (Gaurav Malani) Amongst the first recall values for the original Agneepath is Amitabh Bachchan's trademark self-introduction dialogue of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. While evaluating its official remake, the first thing that crosses your mind is how the reinterpretation of this signature scene would be. Unlike in the original, the monologue plays pretty late in the remake, whereby it establishes Vijay's identity over merely introducing him and with such individuality and elegance...more |
| (Piyali Dasgupta) Comparisons are inevitable in a remake, especially when they involve Amitabh Bachchan. This is where Agneepath scores the first win. Comparisons are damned. This *is* the new Agneepath. Though it shares a name with the original and begins with a flashback, Bachchan’s larger-than-life- surma-rimmed Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is a page in movie history. A new one begins with this Agneepath. The movie begins in the strategically located hamlet...more |
| (Trisha Gupta) The Agneepath of 2012 – producer Karan Johar’s suitably filmi, emotional tribute to his father Yash Johar – risks a million departures in terms of characters, narrative and tenor, while clinging tightly to the emotional core of the 1990 Agneepath produced by Johar Senior: a boy whose life path is defined by the murder of his father. And like the 1990 film which earned a then visibly ageing Amitabh Bachchan his first National Award even as it sank at the box office...more |