Better Wine in a New Bottle

After about 21 years, Mandwa, a village on an island near Mumbai will be in trouble again. But this time, the atrocities, the bloodshed and the cruelty will get only meaner. Mukul Anand’s Agneepath, the old wine is improved and re-packaged in a new bottle by Karan Malhotra, and produced by the same production house, this time the son- Karan Johar.

A noble soul named Master Dinanath Chauhan, a school teacher in Mandwa is obsessed to walk the difficult path of truth. Vijay, the teacher’s son, is a rather arrogant kid at 12, which is not too appreciated by his Father. The village of mandwa is prey to the evil eyes of an ugly and furious looking goon- Kancha Cheena [Sanjay Dutt] who wants to start cocaine plantations in the village by deceiving the villagers. Master’s honest efforts to caution the villagers fail. Kancha provokes the villagers and brutally murders the masterji right infront of his 12 year old son- Vijay. And thus starts the saga of vengeance, anger and drama.

Vijay grows up [Hrithik Roshan] and joins Kancha’s arch rival Rauf Lala [Rishi Kapoor], and while the gang wars are on, the rest of the story is about how Vijay takes advantage of the power of these two gangsters and their rivalry to his benefit into taking his revenge against Kancha. While doing so, he isolates himself from his mother and sister. Kaali Gawde [Priyanka Chopra] plays Vijay’s love interest, who tries to bring in a few happy moments in his pain stricken life.

The re-packaging and presentation is magnificent. Characters have been thoughtfully done away with (like Krishnan played by Mithun), while some are changed (Vijay’s sister Shiksha is a school-girl, and not a college going girl romancing Krishnan) and there are some which are added (Vijay’s love interest Kaali). The typical ‘filmy’ screenplay from the original is chopped off to include some entirely different action scenes. Unlike the original which was highly focused (and dependent) on the central character Vijay, in this new version, the other characters have been worked upon. Kancha’s irate looks and insane mannerisms, Rauf Lala’s ruthlessness and not to forget, the romantic Kaali also look to shoulder the film.

The negatives? Hrithik Roshan as Vijay Chauhan is superb, but has limited scope, at least in the beginning. During the first half, all he has to do is just give those angry looks with eyes overflowing with fury. Vijay is not able to connect well with the audience with their sympathy and empathy. And what if Kancha has already stabbed him 3 or 4 times with a foot long dagger? Vijay still manages to put up a fight and hang Kancha to death.

Music is melodious in songs like Gun Gun Guna. Chikni Chameli is a rip-off. The lyrics in some songs are meaningful (Forget Chikni Chameli). Action sequences are violent and thankfully not exaggerated, except the climax.

Sanjay Dutta as the clean shaven, pierced and tattooed brutal animal called Kancha has taken the character of Kancha to a different level. Rishi Kapoor is a veteran and that shows in his character as Rauf Lala. The bubbly and peppy Priyanka as Kaali was good and the on-screen chemistry with Hrithik is great. Finally, the angry young man- Hrithik as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is sincere and played with 100% efforts. But the character could have been given more life with dialogues and not just fuming eyes. Yet, Hrithik does an excellent job!

All in all, the movie is a good and a sincere effort of re-adapting the original. As a stand alone movie, its rather average, as the central character is found wanting. If you are looking for entertainment, you won’t leave the cinema hall disappointed.

My Rating: **1/2 

My Reality Check: **1/2