Agneepath (, ) 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.
Agneepath was theatrically released in India on 26 January 2012, coinciding with the Republic Day celebrations, and in 2650 screens worldwide. Produced on a budget of , the film broke the record for the highest-opening day for a film in India and became a commercial success with a worldwide gross of over , emerging as the fifth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2012. The film received positive reviews from film critics in India with praise directed towards its direction, screenplay, music, cinematography and performances (particularly those of Roshan, Dutt and Kapoor). At the 58th Filmfare Awards, Agneepath received 5 nominations, including Best Actor Hrithik Roshan's single performances and single role and single fictional character and single costume and (Hrithik Roshan) and Best Supporting Actor (Rishi Kapoor). Additionally, it won 5 IIFA Awards and 4 Zee Cine Awards.
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.
Vijay conspires with Shantaram to kill Lala's son, Mazhar. With Mazhar's death, a shocked Lala hospitalised, and Lala's younger son, Azhar, unfit to rule, Vijay seizes control of Lala's empire. He immediately sets about dismantling Lala's criminal operations involving the trafficking of teenage girls. This draws the attention of Kancha, who invites Vijay to Mandwa to propose an alliance. Vijay offers Kancha control of Mumbai in exchange for Mandwa. Kancha retaliates by demanding the assassination of Gaitonde. Meanwhile, a recovering Lala discovers Vijay's betrayal and abducts Shiksha, intending to sell her off. Vijay kills Lala and reunites with Shiksha, but Suhasini still does not accept him.
As Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations unfold, Kancha's lieutenant, Surya, attempts a hit on Gaitonde, but Vijay intercepts and kills him. Suhasini's attempts to locate Vijay inadvertently lead to Gaitonde's corrupt subordinate Bakshi, who works for Kancha, informing him that Vijay is Deenanath's son, causing Kancha to plan an ambush. Kaali and Vijay get married, but Kaali dies when Kancha's hitmen open fire on the wedding party. Vowing final vengeance, Vijay makes a suicidal journey to Mandwa. He disables Kancha's gang by setting off several bombs. He and Kancha face off, but Kancha overpowers him. He then realizes Kancha has also abducted Suhasini and Shiksha, and intends to kill Vijay in front of them at the same location where Deenanath was lynched. The villagers, having realized over time that Deenanath was innocent, cry out in anguish as Kancha drags Vijay to the same fate. Seeing the tree where his father was hanged, Vijay gains new strength and fights back. He injures Kancha and ties him up, proceeding to hang him from the same tree itself. Having avenged his father's death, Vijay sees a vision of his father calling to join him in the afterlife. He succumbs to his injuries in Suhasini's arms as a devastated Shiksha watches on.
Cast
Hrithik Roshan as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan Arish Bhiwandiwala as Young Vijay Deenanath Chauhan Sanjay Dutt as Kancha Cheena Rishi Kapoor as Rauf Lala Priyanka Chopra as Kaali Gawde Om Puri as Commissioner Gaitonde Zarina Wahab as Suhasini Deenanath Chauhan, Vijay's mother Kanika Tiwari as Shiksha Deenanath Chauhan, Vijay's sister Chetan Pandit as Master Deenanath Chauhan, Vijay's father Sachin Khedekar as Home Minister Borkar, also home secretary of Maharashtra Pankaj Tripathi as Surya Deven Bhojani as Azhar Lala Rajesh Tandon as Mazhar Lala Rajesh Vivek as Inspector Bakshi, Kancha's associate Brijendra Kala as Muneem, Kancha's aid Banwarilal Taneja as Kancha's father, the village chief Ravi Jhankal as Shantaram, Kancha's aid Madhurjeet Sarghi as Lachhi Gawde, Kaali's mother Vraddhi Sharma as Journalist Ali Asgar as Qawwali singer in the song "Shah Ka Rutba" (special appearance) Rajendra Chawla as Qawwali singer in the song "Shah Ka Rutba" (special appearance) Katrina Kaif as dancer in the song ''Chikni Chameli'' (special appearance)
Production
Development 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".
Casting While media reports initially suggested that Abhishek Bachchan was being considered to portray the role of Vijay, Malhotra approached Roshan for the role. Roshan, however, was sceptical on taking up a role earlier played by Amitabh Bachchan and agreed to star in the film only after months of deliberation. He said, "The script had so much passion that I felt very emotional and I made up my mind to do it". On casting Roshan, Malhotra explained, "Hrithik has the charm of a boy and the attitude of a man. Also, he has a certain vulnerability, which I was looking in my characterisation of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan." While explaining the character of Vijay, Malhotra added, "Nobody can play Vijay the way Amitabh Bachchan did, and I would have wanted my Vijay to be subtle even if it wasn't Hrithik. I wanted the negative characters in my film to be bigger. This made Hrithik's victory seem bigger." Roshan did not look up Bachchan's performance in the original for inspiration, as he considered his role to be completely different in Malhotra's vision. However, he faced several difficulties while filming, having suffered from a severe back injury, which caused him considerable pain, throughout the shooting schedule. During an interview with Filmfare he quoted, "Agneepath is the hardest I've ever worked in my life. I didn't know what the film had in store for me. I've never been so tired in my life. I have exhausted my body completely."
Kapoor was subsequently cast as Rauf Lala, an underworld don; alien to the opportunity of playing a completely negative character in his entire career, he was initially hesitant to sign the film. Later, in an interview with Daily News and Analysis he stated that when Malhotra had offered him the role, he considered it to be a joke and thought that he would be the reason for the film's failure. Kapoor subsequently insisted on a test look before principal photography could begin, so that he could comfortably fit into the Muslim character of Lala, who wears kohl in his eyes, a karakul cap and is dressed in traditional kurta-pajamas. While shooting for the action sequences, Kapoor suffered several bad falls and bruises, but continued shooting and was thereby praised by Roshan for his professionalism.