Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor

Director: Karan Malhotra

Rating: 3/5

Riveting experince, superb action, power-packed performances... Definitely worth one watch!

By Priyanka Ketkar 

"Ye Mahan Drushya hain,

Chal raha Manushya hain,

Ashru, Sweth, Rakta se Latpat Latpat Latpat...

Agnipath, Agnipath, Agnipath"

The poem by Harivansh Rai Bachchan that reached millions of people through the 1990 film Agneepath resonated through the cinema halls once again to enchant many more through the 2012's milestone remake Agneepath. They say it's not a remake, they say it's a tribute; and they are absolutely right. Karan Malhotra's Agneepath is a true tribute to Mukul Anand's Agneepath.

The undercurrent emotion is the same- revenge; but the setting is different, the fear is more real, the action is more lifelike and there is a raw energy in the entire feel of the film.

Kancha (Sanjay Dutt) will stop at nothing to be the ultimate, utmost powerful man. He is self-obsessed, he is damaged, he is strong and more importantly he is extremely powerful. It is not his charm but his fear that binds people to him. No one can challenge him, or at least that is what he thinks. But one fine day he encounters a man whom people worship and who is set to challenge him. That man is the school Master- Dinanath Chauhan (Chetan Pandit).

Everyone knows what Masterji's fate holds for him. A scheme to trap him and shame him is made and Masterji is lynched in front of his son, Vijay (Hrithik Roshan) and the entire village by Kancha. Vijay and his mother Suhasisni (Zarina Wahab) are forced to leave their village-Mandwa and shift to Mumbai. Vijay has not forgotten. All he thinks about, dreams about and wishes for is Revenge (thankfully, the revenge part is more expressive than verbal as it is not spelled out in words with some over-the-top dialogue). An enemy's enemy is one's friend and young Vijay sees this very opportunity when he suddenly stumbles upon Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor). It is only with his help that Vijay can reach his goal; reach Kancha one day. Well, we all know how the movie is going to end but what is interesting to see is how they show it end.

While all this is going on, there is another story running parallel... Well, obviously the "love" angle. Kaali Gawde (Priyanka Chopra), his childhood friend, is also the love of his life. Does she provide any fodder to the story? No. Is this track of any use? No. Well, glamour can only be the reason for adding Kaali's track to the story. Just like Katrina's Chikni Chameli act.

There is absolutely no doubt that the movie is action-packed, power-packed... But it could've been a much better, much richer experience had it been minus all the unnecessary drama.

Hrithik Roshan is nowhere made to appear like Amitabh Bachchan's Vijay. In fact, he downplays Vijay. Hrithik's Vijay is much more emotional, much more expressive and instead of using flashy and memorable dialogues, he relies more on his expressions. Anyone who watches this one cannot compare Hrithik with Amitabh Bachchan as Hrithik himself has panned out a completely different, lovable, yet an angry young man of himself. Sanjay Dutt although looks terrifying, because of his make-up and his robust avatar, lacks something. This Kancha is inhuman, cruel but the performance feels incomplete to an extent. Rishi Kapoor deserves applause for his performance. He is honest with his character and makes the character feel so real that it will be difficult to differentiate Lala from Rishi Kapoor. Zarina Wahab is good. Kanika Tiwari who dons the role of Vijay's younger sister, who is literally the younger version of Rani Mukherjee, has done complete justice to her role. . The young boy who plays the role of Young Hrithik Roshan is excellent.

Deven Bhojani and Sachin Khedekar's tracks are absolutely irrelevant and both the actors are wasted. Another track that is an unnecessary addition is Priyanka Chopra's track. Kaali and Vijay's love story suddenly makes the movie slow and it does nothing to the main plot beyond increasing the running time of the movie; which of course is a little bit putting off. Had this track been written with more heart in it, and had it been more developed, it would've been nicer.

The music of the movie reverberates through the entire cinema hall and you can't help but hum along with the tunes. Ajay-Atul have done a superb job with the music and it lifts the movie manifolds.

The beauty of this movie lies in its simplicity and its rawness. You can feel each and everything Vijay goes through. The first half of the movie is very exciting minus a few scenes (E.g.: Shiksha's birthday celebration). Even the second half seems interesting but the movie starts to lose sense. The more a man gets twisted in emotions, the less he thinks. Maybe that is what happens in the second half and the movie goes from being a thriller, to a mere melodrama.  There are a few places where the movie loses its continuity and the most obvious continuity break is when even after being stabbed in the stomach, when Hrithik Roshan stands up, there is no mark, and in the second scene, suddenly you can see the injury mark. 

But leaving aside all the glitches, the length of the movie, and the melodrama, this movie is splendid. It is visually appealing, touching and heavy with action. For all those who love the old-time movies of heroes with unbeatable powers and a lot of drama, this movie is just what you need to catch up on this weekend.