Rana! Yaar ! I did not know at that time what role is he playing lol.
In recent days films have been trying to make characters of anti hero or negative and gray characters to appear as hero and try to make them appear, normal , acceptable, humane and worth sympathy. There is no ra ones , all ra ones are g ones( jeevan or human beings and supers) so nothing is beyond bar:(

I saw the movie yesterday in the theater and the only good thing about the experience, was the fact that after a long time I was lucky to watch a Hindi film in a non digital projection. So for once, the picture quality was great and not marred by digitisation as has become the bane of theatrical presentations of bollywood movies. The audio quality was also quite good but the experience was somewhat marred by the jarring overdose of loud and continuous background score. As for the movie itself, let's just say "खोदा पहाड़, निकली चुयिया" ("khoda pahad, nikli chuyia" similar to "making a mountain out of a mole hill").

When I had first heard of Karan Johar wanting to remake 'Agneepath', my immediate thought was, why in the world would anyone want to make a remake of an absolutely crap and more importantly in the case of bollywood, a totally flop movie. But then, most bollywood producers/directors/actors generally live in a delusional world of their own, in which even the most mediocre work and at times even the crappiest of their work, is projected as great cinema. Thus, with the right packaging, enough marketing and furthermore, backed by the typical Indian media hyperbole, the project did seem like a great commercial prospect. So from Karan Johar's perspective, "why not"? When the movie finally got released and the film makers quite actively pointed out that the new Agneepath had very little in common with the original, I too got suckered into going to watch the movie in a theater. Which by the way, for me is a rarity now and very seldom do I venture out to the theaters. Although, taking into account 'Don 2', this is the second time in two months and if compared to my experience with 'Don 2', I suppose this one compares rather favorably since unlike with 'Don 2', I did not sleep through the movie and also the picture quality was immensely much better as it was not a digital presentation at PVR theaters as 'Don 2' was.

Honestly, I had watched the original 'Agneepath' back when it first came out in my college days in the US and I don't really remember much of it other than the fact, that I had found the movie to be absolutely crap and had had a very tough time even sitting through it. I also remember, unlike what bollywood would have you believe now, it to be one of the worst, if not the very worst performances of Amitabh's career. Therefore I cannot really make much of a comparison between the two movies. Thus in that context, all I will say is that if memory serves me right, this movie is definitely a vast improvement over the absolute crap directed by 'Mukul Anand'. Did that guy ever make even half a decent movie? Please don't bother to answer that one, for it's a rhetorical question as far as I am concerned.

Coming back to Karan Johar's 'Agneepath'. My take:

The Good: Still racking my brains on this one.

The Bad: The script. Poorly etched characters. Major inconsistencies in characterization. Huge plot holes. Bollywood, cliched concepts, such as, a romantic angle for the main lead.

The Ugly: Jarringly loud & continuous background score. Too many and to make it worse, bad songs intruding into the narrative of the movie.

PS: Although not for the first time, but I am still shocked to see, seemingly educated parents, bringing their young children, ranging from toddlers to early teens, to a movie such as 'Agneepath'. By the way, it wasn't just a stray incident of one misguided family, rather there were numerous such families in the the theater. Mind you, this was for a late night show, on a school night. But then, this is a movie depicting the rape of a handicapped girl child, several scenes of young and minor girls being auctioned for sex, rampant blood shed, bloody butchering of human beings and with a base theme of revenge. Wow, with such great family entertainment at stake, how could such mundane things such as school in the morning be allowed to come in the way of a loving family outing. I suppose the Indian censor board too, deserves special praise for NOT rating this movie as appropriate for 'adults only'. After all, they did insert a 'Cigarette smoking is injurious to health' on the screen, when someone in the movie lit up. Hmm.. I wonder which genius politician's brain child, this idea is. Honestly though, based on many past experiences, I am quite sure in any case, that an 'adult only' rating would also not have been a deterrent for many parents in India. For I recall the same scenario, for many other movies in the past that have been rated 'Adults Only'.

Ditto! I would take orig Don, Great Gambler any day over Agneepath orig even Coolie, Kaalia shall do too.
IMHO Hrithik was bad choice from the beginning but may be he was trying to break mold of Englo Desi/ Euro Desi ditto Katrina Kaif:(

The original captured Mandwa and the fictionalized happenings in Mandwa better. Also, Vijay's return to Mandwa, and the way he reclaims it was also more "logical" in the original.

Meanwhile, here's an interesting article from The Sunday Times of India, 12-Feb-2012, New Delhi http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Reposito ... IwMQ%3D%3D

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In Mandwa, Kancha Cheena meets history
The burning village of Agneepath’ has always had a simmering side to it — trading in opium and arms, and fought over by the British, Dutch, Marathas and Mughals
Manimugdha S Sharma | TNN

Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Poora naam. Baap ka naam, Dinanath Chauhan. Maa ka naam, Suhasini Chauhan. Gaon, Mandwa....” Iconic lines mouthed by two Bollywood stalwarts in two versions of Agneepath set apart by 22 years: lines that etch the name ‘Mandwa’ in one’s memory forever.

Mandwa, a small village on the western coast, is Vijay Dinanath Chauhan’s home. But it’s taken over by drug lord Kancha Cheena, who murders Vijay’s father, and sends him and his mother into exile. Vijay returns years later as Kancha’s nemesis and claims it back. But Vijay wasn’t just fighting an evil drug lord: he was fighting history, too.

It wasn’t mere coincidence that Mandwa served as a setting for conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist in Agneepath. History, and more importantly, geography chose it. The 1883 ‘Colaba Gazetteer’ of the Bombay Presidency describes the place: “Mandwa, about 12 miles north of Alibag on the north coast right across from Bombay, is a landing place of some importance. The village is hid in a grove of cocoa-palms at the head of a short broad bay with a shallow sandy beach....” Records show the British had a clear understanding of the importance of the place. So did Kancha in old Agneepath.

In one of the scenes, Kancha (Danny Denzongpa) tells Dinkar Rao (Goga Kapoor) why he wants Mandwa: “This place is so close to Mumbai, yet it is beyond the reach of law’s long arm. It’s ideally suited for my shady business.” This is an advantage Mandwa probably enjoys even now.

Commodore (retd) Pradeep Khanna, a former Navy officer, says the western coast is notorious for smuggling of narcotics and arms. “Mandwa in the old Agneepath fits beautifully as a port for nefarious activities. The mother ships would anchor beyond 12 nautical miles and the cargo would come in smaller launches which can escape detection,” he says.

But the makers of the new Agneepath have taken many liberties. Mandwa here is an island, not a coastal town. “Ours is a work of fantasy. We recreated Mandwa in Diu; the makers of the old Agneepath did the same in Goa,” says Karan Malhotra, the director and screenwriter of the new Agneepath.

Why choose Mandwa? Mandwa, it’s believed, was a transit point of opium trade within the British Empire. “We used it because we thought it would have an instant recall among movie buffs. And Mandwa has a nice ring to it,” Malhotra adds.

In the old Agneepath, Mandwa catapults Kancha to power and prosperity. In 25 years, he sets up illegal businesses in Shimoga, Daman, Porbander, Jaisalmer, Dhanbad and Kohima, and bases himself in Mauritius. And this is a realistic portrayal, for, between 1874 and 1882, Mandwa’s legal exports alone made the English richer by £46,788 — a whopping Rs 28,10,08,728 (approx) in today’s currency. However, the illegal trade here is still unaccounted for.

In the 17th century, England’s trade aspirations in the western coast were challenged by the Dutch, Portuguese, the Marathas and the Mughals. The conflict zones were always the ports of Alibag, Chaul, Khanderi, Janjira, Mandwa and Bombay. “All the small ports were important naval posts, but British gained Bombay as part of Catherine of Braganza’s dowry and got the best port,” says Atul Sabharwal, who wrote and directed Powder, a critically acclaimed series on narcotics smuggling.

For the English, the Marathas proved to be a formidable foe. “The Marathas had absolute control of the western coast for close to 40 years until Sarkhel Kanoji Angre’s death in 1729. Mandwa lies between Alibag and Bombay, so they may have had control over it too,” says historian Pandurang Balkawade.

Dr Uday S Kulkarni, the author of Solstice At Panipat: 14 January 1761, says, “Western India saw huge illicit exports of opium in the 19th century. Mandwa was one such transit point. I don’t find it surprising that we don’t have much information about Mandwa. Indians are traditionally not a people who write history and, in fact, soon convert it into mythology.” But Bollywood’s love affair with Mandwa includes its stars, many of whom have built bungalows nearby. In Agneepath, Bollywood uses a slice of Mandwa history to craft a new mythology. The image it has churned out is so alluring it could well be true.

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I watched the movie Agneepath remake. But i think so first Agneepath too good than this remake...


I am not saying Karan johar do a bad work. This movie is also too good and specially Kancha Cheena in the Sanjay dutt do a good work....

agneepath: The Ultimate Version

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12209

Have just seen the remake, and the one thing I am shocked by is the hypocrisy of the censor board. The same censor board gave Desi Boyz (regardless of how bad a film it was) an 'A' certificate due to adult themes in the film, but Agneepath gets away with a U/A. Because as Sanjay has mentioned, it's perfectly acceptable to expose children under 12 to prostitution, rape, murder, bloodshed, selling of girls and relentless violence as long as they are accompanied by an adult.

Although I didn't think the film was as bad as Sanjay thought it was, it did seem to be largely unnecessary. Apart from showcasing Rishi Kapoor's talent in a role you would expect to see him in, the film is just a standard revenge saga. Without the hype and star cast, I don't think this would have done particularly well.

I don't get to watch many films these days but caught this on DVD. The original Agneepath is one of my favourite movies but that wasn't always the case - I remember when it first came out and watching it on VHS (we didn't get to go the cinema in those days! - not that Indian films were shown at mainstream cinemas then anyway, in those days only a handful of specialist Indian cinemas existed in the UK). And I totally hated this film. Couldn't stand Mithan's character and found it extremely slow paced and boring. And AB wasn’t AB in the film. Found it really hard to watch. Looking back only other films I remember around that time was likes of Karma and Ram Lakhan. Over the years have seen Agneepath a number of times and have really grown to like this film.

The new film, to sum it up, it basically a gay version of the old film. There is numerous muscle flexing going on whether it’s Sanjay or Hithrik for no apparent reason – you can just imagine all the girls and Mr Johar getting thrills from it. Hmmm actually scrap that thought; I don’t want to imagine what kind of thrills he’s getting . This gayness is none more evident in a pivotal scene on both versions of the films. Vijay’s sister is kidnapped and Vijay goes to rescue her. In the old film Vijay and his macho henchmen cut through heavily guarded access chopping anyone who gets in their way with swords. This is a brutal scene in where Vijay loses all control in fit of violence. He beats the baddy to a pulp with his bare fists, gets a sword and chops him up then continues to beat a dead body to a pulp again where he has to be dragged away a number of people. This scene is not only brutal but quite scary to watch someone like AB do. This is probably the scene where it earned an 18 certificate in the UK and was cut short in the recut version (Eros DVD is 15 certificate) – a few times I’ve seen it on TV this scene is heavily censored and cut short. Forward two decades and the same scenario plays out but it’s the “modern” version instead the henchmen are replaced with men wearing very bright and colourful saris, makeup and swords! It’s one of the most comical scenes I’ve ever seen, nearly on par with RGV Sholay remake where one of the heroes is getting beat up and the other one, instead of helping him, as heroes do obviously, runs off instead leaving the other to die!

While the original film was dark, heavy and brutal the new one is the opposite; rather glossy, superficial and quite unintentionally comical in places. The new Vijay doesn’t seem has any honour or class, he’s a backstabbing weasel at most and doesn’t seem to have an idea of what he is doing or what the purpose of he’s whole existence is. Few things worked in the original film that are pretty broken in this new film;

- Vijay’s relationship with his mother – a disapproving hurt mother from the old film becomes a scorning cow in the new who has disowned his son and refuses to tell her daughter he has a brother.
- Vijay's relationship with the police and Gaitonde, love Oim Puri normally but he just comes across playing an ass of a character while the old film Gaitonde had some depth and was more a friend than foe for Vijay.
- Vijay had a plan in the old film, he doesn’t have a clue in the new!
- Kancha Cheena was ambitious in the old film – he started small time and then lived a life of luxury in Mauritius controlling a crime empire remotely. Kancha in the new film is a thug (well-built muscles to please likes of Karan though, last time I saw this amount of abuse of steroids on film was from the last Stallone film) that likes hanging people at the start of the film and is still in the same dumpy place 15 years on doing he’s favourite past time – hanging people and then sniggering!
- The 4 four dons replaced by Rishi – not a bad thing and maybe the one thing that lifts the film was Rishi’s performance. Rauf Lala character is probably the most developed in the film – he’s ruthless, conniving and bit of a b***** all around – perfect as a bady and how it should be.

Oh well at least it's not as bad as the remake of Sholay

Ali

Hahaha!! Ali, I knew you would sum it up perfectly!

Would not watch even for FREE*****
My time is so so important to me**

Adding to Ali Bhai's post, quoting again one of mine:

There's simply no sense and flow to the attack on Mandwa by Vijay in the remake. In the original, there's a definite logical flow of events leading to the same...

This was a rather pathetic movie, just because karan had the rights to the film and the money at his disposal it does not mean he should insult a classic the way he has with this "new version" I think the rediff review said something about it being more of a tribute than a remake, if that's the case then there was very little enthusiasm in this tribute.

Caught this the other nite what aload of crap agree with Ali take on this... the one & only redeeming feature in the remake is the excellent performance of Rishi Kapoor !!!

I saw the classic at the HAMMERSMITH ODEON way back in the 90's & left the cinema wondering how can Big B top this performance to me till date he still hasn't.

Also loved Mithun da it was after a very long time in the 90's that Mithun da had a good role and this one was not only good but to be pitted with the Big B & match him wow !! like he said recently on tv "me & bachchan saab created magic"

The remake does not have any one good dialogue to remember whereas the classic well take your pick there are so many...

"Pura naam, Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, baap ka naam, Dinanath Chauhan, Maa ka naam, Suhasini Chauhan, Gaon Mandwa. Umar Chatiis saal, ...."

"Sala hai telephone bhi kya ajeeb cheez banayi hai? Udhar se aadmi sochta kuch hai, bolta kuch aur hai, karta kuch aur hai. Jaise tum log."

"Pagar baddhao... Pandarahaso rupiye me ghar nahin chalta, saala imaan kya chalega?"

"Main goonda nahin hai."

and not forgetting that Danny D was a great bad guy and a match to the Big B in the acting stakes.

All in all the remake or tribute is frankly rubbish and the only person that comes out of it with any dignity is Rishi Kapoor.

If I could pin down one reason why I like Agneepath so much is this, that the dialogues are truly classic. I remember once this was shown on Channel 4 in the UK and the next day at college loads of people were repeating these lines to each other. Few memorable ones from minor character in the film are that "hehehehe" type laugh Gora does (played by Bob Christo - I looked up what Bob was up to these days and noticed he passed away last year ) and the other being Nathu (Tinnu Anand) those lines he says when he follows Dhinkar Rao with Vijay is just so funny.

Speaking of AB and Danny - Mukul S. Anand made a trilogy of these films with both, other being Khuda Gawah and Hum - both these were typically Bollywood but Agneepath was bit different. I can watch the first part of Hum okay but then interest drops (maybe soon as Govinda is on screen ) and never really like Khuda Gawah as a movie although seems immensely popular with the people I know. Agneepath I can watch throughout - actually ended up watching most of it yesterday when I can going back and looking at the WEG DVD! Someone needs to bring it out on Bluray!

Ali