The Worst Film Ever

recommended

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

In the island village of Mandwa, the school teacher Dinanath Chauhan (Chetan Pandit), highly respected by the villagers, tries to dissuade them from giving away their lands on lease to Kancha (Sanjay Dutt), the son of the village head who plans to start a drug mafia. Knowing this, Kancha decides to get rid of the school teacher. He ambushes and murders a young girl inside the school, framing Chauhan for the murder. With the support of the villagers, Kancha then kills Chauhan by hanging him to death from a tree which is witnessed by young Vijay Chauhan (Arish Bhiwandiwala), the son of the teacher. Vijay Chauhan along with his pregnant mother Suhasini Chauhan (Zarina Wahab) leaves the village. Destitute, they find shelter in the city of Mumbai but Vijay harbours intentions to go back to Mandwa and kill Kancha.

It is difficult for me to review Indian films. That's because we don't get many Indian films here in the US and although I have seen far more than the average American, that isn't saying much. I am sure most of the reviewers discussing "Agneepath" on IMDb are Indians and have seen hundreds or thousands of Indian films and are THE experts. In my case, my review might be best appreciated by an outsider who is no expert in these films.Like just about all recent Indian movies this one, inexplicably, has some singing and dancing in it (an odd thing you just have to learn to love about their films). However, it's not as pervasive and doesn't have the HUGE production numbers you might expect where all the cast sing and dance. That's because at the heart of it, "Agneepath" is a very, very violent movie about gangsters and revenge. Simply put, it is NOT a family-friendly film you should watch with your kids! It is, in many ways, like combining a Bollywood film with a Martin Scorcese crime film! If you don't want to see lots of blood and violence, then skip the film. Or, perhaps see the 1990 version of the film--perhaps it's less violent.The story begins on an island. A teacher (who everyone refers to as 'Master'--something that confused me at first) has spent his life being a good man and trying to instill the best values in his young son, Vijay. However, when an ugly punk (Kancha) moves in to take over the island and turn it into a living hellish crime empire, the teacher is in the way and discourages the people from trusting this new 'benefactor'. So, Kancha orchestrates an excuse to hang the Master--and Vijay witnesses this brutal crime. Despite Vijay only being 12, however, he's a VERY unusual child with a strong sense of right and wrong as well as revenge. And, for the next 15 years, he works his way up through a rival mob--gaining power and prestige until the ultimate bloody confrontation with the beast, Kancha.I've seen several other Indian mobster movies and this one worked better for me for one big reason. Despite becoming a mobster, Vijay appears to remain a moral and just man. Yes, he kills, but he kills bad people and all in pursuit of his righteous cause. And while he moves to the top of the mob, his ultimate goal is to not just destroy Kancha but the mobs themselves. Had his ONLY motive been destroying Kancha, the film would have been so much less satisfying.There was little not to like about this film other than all the blood as well as the shortest and easiest film childbirth scene ever (ladies, I am sure your experiences with being in labor were never THIS brief!). Plus, the ending, while satisfying, is a tad ridiculous (no one can be stabbed THAT many times and keep fighting--not even Rasputin). The camera-work was great and the film came off as very stylish, slick and professional. Karan Malhotra did a great job directing this one. I also loved the scene that came out no where with the cross-dressing army coming to the rescue--you just have to see this for yourself. Exciting, riveting and cool--the fact that Sanjay Dutt played one of the scarier villains in recent films sure didn't hurt. His role as Kancha just needs to be seen to be appreciated.

When you are remaking a classic like Agneepath, plenty of comparisons will definitely arise. The question is whether it was on par with the original one ? – Well, It was just about there but neither it did full justice to the original screenplay nor was the acting was even comparable to classic. Agneepath tells a story of Vijay (Hrithik Roshan) who , along with his family , is casted away from a village , Mandwa, by evil Kancha after his father is wrongly accused of raping a minor girl. Vijay goes to Mumbai and joins underworld don Rauf Lala(Rishi Kapoor) and swore to come back one day and get back his father's identity and his village , Mandwa. First time director , Karana Malhotra, must have been highly impressed with original Agneepath which gave him the chance to direct the film under the same production house which produced the original film 21 years back. Frankly speaking , when I heard about the remake , I was wondering who could have represent Vijay Dinanath Chauhan so accurately as Amitabh Bacchan did. Hrithik Roshan stepped in the role and but was now where close to Mr.Bacchhan. Director has tweaked a story little bit by adding new characters like Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor) and this is the best part of the film. Even the deadly Sanjay Dutt couldn't salvage the flick from falling into pit. The film starts off well with couple of scenes standing out like hanging of Master Dinanath Chauhan , Introduction of Kancha and the fight scene between Rauf lala and Vijay in the market. But that's i , nothing more than this. The problem is that we have admired the original part so much that this film , even though, is bound to be compared and falls short of it. Please note : If you are watching the film for the first time , you might like it. The screenplay has been changed in bits and pieces. The songs are terrible. Cinematoraphy is amazing. Art direction is captivating. Background score is just about OK. Coming to performances , it is Rishi Kapoor all the way. He has small part to play but he steals the thunder from the rest of the starcast. Watch out for him in the scene where he sells Vijay's sister in the slum. Hrithik Roshan was just about OK. I felt something was missing here. Sanjay Dutt looked deadly as the role demanded him to be but was not effective as original Kancha(played by Danny ). Priyanka Chopra was complete waste. Overall , a bad attempt to remake such a classic movie. Disappointing :- 2/5

For all the talk of the new one being better/different from the original one, this one was very disappointing. Basically despite the honest effort that Hrithik tries to put in, he just could not match the angst and presence that big B had, even in his twilight years. That kind of summarizes it all. Lethargic direction, reasonably cinematography, passable acting, clichés thrown all over it. In the original one there was a build up to the climax with Vijay and Kancha but in this one the anticipation and angst never really got there. And without angst, there is really no Agneepath, notwithstanding the compulsory poetry rendition in the finale.