Agneepath *

Are we out of new stories? Are all the good directors and script-writers on a sabbatical lately? Have we already exhausted all the creativity in our cinema ? Apparently, yes. Here comes yet another attempt to recreate a legend. And again, it will just be an attempt. Nothing more than that. Time and again we have seen this happening. The newbies seem to prefer replication over innovation. But soon, they will have to accept the truth that legends cannot be recreated.

This remake of the original Agneepath is not even comparable to the magic which was created by Amitabh Bachchan & Danny Denzongpa. Hrithik fails to convince you that he is the angry young man of this age. The only saving grace of the movie is the overpowering performance of Sanju (as Kancha) and his extracts from Gita & Ramayana.

As in the original, it starts with the brutal execution of an honest and Gandhian teacher who comes in the way of a local goon and stands up for the sake of his village people. He is ambushed and falsely accused of an heinous act. His son Vijay, the protagonist, is imprinted with the image of his father being hanged over the Banyan tree. And he resolves to take revenge at any cost. And rest are all colors with the shades of vengeance. Sheer vengeance. To power up for the battle, Vijay plans to team up with a rival goon so as to rise to a level where he can negotiate with Kancha. There are some scenes where you feel your heart beat on a rise with the intense build-ups and all you want to do is to grab a dagger and hop in. Specially the scene, where Vijay gallops to save his sister along with his Hijra- Army. But all this build-up is screwed big time by the unwanted sentiyapa between brother-sister.

PC has been wasted in the movie and the filler family dramas retard the pace and take away the ephemeral thrills created. Even towards the dying moments, Vijay lacks the charisma and his eyes fail to convince you of the anger that powers you to unprecedented levels of insanity. In spite, Kancha seems to be more assertive than the protagonist. We all knew that there wasn't any story here. We just wanted to see madness, vengeance, insanity and revenge painted in the colors of heroism. We wanted to see a man driven only by vengeance. We wanted the angry young man. We wanted an eye for an eye. But sadly, we don't get all this. Those who haven't seen the original, may like it, and for rest i would say..

तू नहीं देखेगा इसे,
तू नहीं चाहेगा इसे,
कर शपथ! कर शपथ! कर शपथ! 
ये मामूली दृश्य है, घोर समय व्यर्थ है,
अश्रु श्वेत् रक्त से,

लथ पथ, लथ पथ, लथ पथ !
अग्नि पथ! अग्नि पथ! अग्नि पथ!