Agneepath And The Cult Status | Under Lens

While Hritik’s adaptation of Vijay Deenanath Chavan impressed critics and masses, it polarized opinions on net. Some people who watched the older version for the first time in recent times due to curiosity developed by the remake, were not able to figure out why the ’90 flop is so much lauded by cine-pundits. It lack a streamline flow in story, it is full of clichés and surprisingly, boasts of loud performances. It bombed on silver screen when it was released and along with some other movies of that era like Khuda Gawah and Hum, marked the end of ‘Young’ Angry Man. Still, awards were showered. Still, many ace directors consider it to be one of the finest Bachchan movies. Still, huge... really huge fan following exists and a huge portion of that expressed displeasure when the remake was announced. What makes Agneepath version 1.0 such a cult movie?

Vijay Deenanath Chavan... Poora Naam: Amitabh Bachchan always had a rich baritone in his voice. In Agneepath, it’s a little coarser. You can hate this voice if you have it but when you hear it on screen coming from a person who has a larger-than-life character; it’s enjoyable in a little sadistic way. The pain and angst in life of Vijay Chavan comes out strongly in his voice. This one dialogue sets the mood for the film and doesn’t look awkward in the flow of movie.

Clichés And Stereotypes: A strong willed righteous mother (both cliché and stereotype), a Madrasi trustworthy friend falling in love with sister (a stereotype and then a cliché), a strong willed friendly cop and a greedy cop (cliché and stereotype) and murder of father for being honest and right... mother of most of the cliché’s. When you see one cliché, you smile. When you see many, you feel a sting. You somehow start to connect with the story.  This is one of those things which make Agneepath such a popular movie.

The Villain Kancha Cheena: The name itself can cause goosebumps. Danny in role of a sophisticated criminal, is brutal and classy. He is smart and doesn’t give a damn to deterrents. While playing games, he keeps a card in pocket and this makes him very dangerous. Kancha Cheena belongs to a different league of villains. He is more hollywoodish than any other iconic villain. He has a charm which makes presence of moll totally natural.

Story: Agneepath has some very convincing scenes which bind the story strongly. Be it the prologue where Master Deenanath is brutally killed by mob, be it the scene where Vijay expresses his lack of trust in the system in front of Gaethonde, be it the scene where Krishnan saves Vijay, be it the scene where mother asks Vijay to wash his hands, be it the scene where Krishnan fights to save Vijay’s sister, be it the scene where adult Vijay meets Kancha, be it the climax where his last few words explains why its Agneepath Agneepath Agneepath... Story has huge loopholes and lack of consistency but the scenes compensate well.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh