Agneepath, produced by Karan Johar, is a remake of the cult classic Agneepath of the 90’s which featured the superstar of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan. For those who have watched the original version, it is safe to say they are bound to approach the remake with some trepidation, given how Bollywood’s propensity to cruelly mismanage even remakes. So the big question is, has director Karan Malhotra managed to do justice to the original cult classic ? Agneepath 2012, does not blatantly imitate any signature scenes from the original version, on the contrary, all the classic monologues are introduced pretty late. They are highly elegant and pay perfect homage to the original. To keep it simple - This is how a remake is supposed to be!

Agneepath is a revenge drama, which dwells on strong emotions and aggressive and forceful action. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Hrithik Roshan) is an angry young man in a small village Mandwa. But he leaves the village after evil drug dealer Kancha (Sanjay Dutt) hangs his father (Chetan Pandit). Vijay joins the team of gang lord Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor) in Mumbai. He makes necessary preparation to take revenge upon Kancha. His best friend Kaali (Priyanka Chopra) stands by him at every moment in his life. He returns to his village after 15 years.

While the primary plot of the movie remains the same as the yesteryear version, Director Karan Malhotra refreshingly revamps the screenplay, thereby giving it a new structure and approach. Instead of Mithun Chakravarthy’s award winning Krishna Iyer from the original, you are introduced the foul mouthed and detestable Rishi Kapoor. On very careful consideration, the film falls into the predictable zone on only one count - it being a remake, you know the story before hand, so in the end there is nothing new to expect, except for a period revenge drama.

Director Karan Malhotra's Agneepath oscillates on three characteristics - from intense dark tones (Mandwa is shot in shades of blue and grey) to colourful (Mumbai in all its splendour), glaring melodrama to effective drama, and from pretentiousness to truthfulness. Karan Malhotra has covered an entire gamut of different genres and cooked up a delectable cocktail of a movie. As Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, Hrithik Roshan has given an electrifying performance. He has not in any frame, tried to copy Amitabh Bachchan. Rather he has portrayed Vijay Dinanath Chauhan in his own way. Thoroughly underplayed and exhibiting a range of emotions only through facial expressions, Hrithik has portrayed the inner turmoil of a rooted hero exceptionally.

Sanjay Dutt, in his black-attire and bald look, looks very menacing and intimidating on screen. The film’s brutal violence can be attributed single handedly to Sanjay Dutt’s macabre look. The surprise package of the movie, however in terms of performance, is Rishi Kapoor. He is clearly the pick of the actors and delivers an authoritative performance. Rishi Kapoor, also gets to mouth some of the best dialogues in the film. Priyanka Chopra, as Kali, has a half baked role and sticks out like a sore thumb. In a hero-villain centric film, her character seems out of sync, written half heartedly.

Piyush Mishra's dialogues are impressive with forceful articulation. The dialogues have an immense impact without appearing very bombastic. Cinematography by Ravi K Chandran and Kiran Deohans is remarkable and highly skillful. Akiv Ali's Editing is water tight and despite the film having a three-hour runtime, you never lose the narrative for a moment. Abbas Ali Moghul's action is raw and unrestrained.

Agneepath would have been a far superior film had it avoided some faux pas, exaggeration, and not to mention, the run time of the movie which could have been kept shorter. However, all said and done, the movie in its present form packs in enough punch to please the crowd.

Agneepath is an absolute and definitive Can Watch!