Agneepath

About the film

Agneepath (Hindi pronunciation: [əɡnɪpətʰ], transl. The Path of Fire) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action crime film written and directed by Karan Malhotra (in his directorial debut) and produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar under the Dharma Productions banner. A remake of Mukul S. Anand's 1990 film of the same name, the film stars Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt with Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri and Zarina Wahab in supporting roles. Roshan reprises the role of Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, a migrant from the island village of Mandwa, seeking revenge for his father's defamation and murder orchestrated by Kancha Cheena, Dutt reprising the role from the original where Danny Denzongpa essayed him, befriending Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor), an underworld gangster, in the process.

Seeking to "avenge" the original classic's commercial failure, Karan Johar had harboured intentions of remaking his father's Agneepath ever since its release. Believing that he was not qualified to direct an action film, Karan Johar approached Karan Malhotra, his associate director on My Name is Khan (2010), to helm the project. He considered the film to be a tribute to his father. Principal photography of Agneepath took place in Diu and Mumbai, with several accidents taking place on the sets. The music and background score was composed by Ajay–Atul, with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. As with the original, the title is taken from a poem of the same name by Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

Plot

Deep within the secluded island village of Mandwa, the village chief aspires to set up a drug empire by borrowing land from villagers (after lying to them that it will be used to expand the local salt industry). The villagers are warned of the chief's motives by revered school teacher, Deenanath Chauhan, who advises against surrendering their lands. The chief's son, Kancha, plots to have Deenanath out of the way. He frames him for the murder and rape of a young girl in the village. Deenanath is lynched by an angry mob, who feel betrayed by the school teacher's sudden evil turn.

Deenanath's son, Vijay, and pregnant wife, Suhasini, are forced to flee the village. They find refuge in a chawl in Dongri, Mumbai, but Vijay is unable to erase the memory of his father's murder from his head. He is fueled by an unrelenting desire for vengeance against Kancha. Suhasini gives birth to a daughter, Shiksha, while becoming estranged with Vijay, who has joined the gang of Rauf Lala in a bid to gain power. Vijay forms a bond with Kaali, after saving her from her abusive father, who he shoots dead in a heated moment.

Over in 1992, Vijay has risen through the ranks to become Lala's trusted lieutenant, while being quietly supported by Commissioner Gaitonde, who sees him taking on the underworld. Kancha, seeking to extend his drug empire into the city, dispatches his emissary Shantaram to bribe influential officials, including the Home Secretary of Maharashtra, Borkar. However, Vijay outmaneuvers Borkar and secures a monopoly for Lala's syndicate; in response, Lala rewards Vijay with control over Dongri.

Production

Karan Johar explained in an interview with The Times of India that he harboured intentions of remaking the original Agneepath ever since its release in 1990. Although the film had received critical acclaim over the years, its commercial failure at the time of release had devastated his father, producer Yash Johar. Eventually, the idea of a possible remake materialised on the sets of Karan Johar's fourth directorial venture My Name Is Khan, in which Karan Malhotra was his associate director. Johar told Malhotra of his desire to remake the original film and asked him to revisit it again. On not directing the film himself, Johar commented, "I am happy directing films on love, romance, and drama. That's what I do best. I don't think I will be good at an action film. So I am not taking the reins of the film in my hand".

However, Johar maintained that the new film would belong to a different milieu as compared to the original. He stated, "We are adapting the film from the original but ours would be a new age version that would fit in well with today's time. We really hope that we are able to do justice to the original and make the remake exciting for today's generation." Karan dedicated the film to Yash Johar as a tribute. In an interview with Filmfare, he added that the protagonist of the film would be "more of an underdog", while the antagonist would be "more flamboyant and menacing" than the original.

Several changes were made to the storyline of the original film, including the omission of certain characters and the addition of new ones. The characters of Krishnan Iyer M.A., played by Mithun Chakraborty and Nurse Mary Matthew, played by Madhavi were done away with and new characters such as Rauf Lala and Kaali Gawde were introduced in the script. Moreover, the characterisation of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan was changed, unlike the original which was inspired by Al Pacino's role in Scarface (1983). During an interview with The Calcutta Telegraph, Malhotra explained the adaptation by saying, "The similarity (between the original and this film) lies only in the fact that it is a revenge film; a son seeking revenge for his father's death. Unlike Mr. (Amitabh) Bachchan's film, my film starts and ends in Mandwa and is primarily about the conflict between the mother and the son. It's a completely new film with a lot of new characters." He additionally termed Agneepath to be a "crazily dramatic masala Bollywood film".

Key details