User reviews

Plot

Abhishek Bachchan (son of Amitabh) once said in an interview that his favourite Amitabh film was Agneepath. Agneepath is about a small town boy (Amitabh) whose father is killed and he comes to Bombay to seek revenge on his father's death. After his father's death, the boy becomes the bread-winner for the family and follows the path of crime to support his mother (Rohini Attangadi) and sister (Neelam). Later in the film, he meets Mithun Chakraborthy who plays the role of Amitabh's confidant (though it is a little overdone) and later falls in love with Neelam. Amitabh slowly builds a massive crime empire but his own weaknesses lead to his downfall. Danny Dengzoppa plays the bad guy who wants total supremacy over the mafia and will do anything to eliminate Amitabh.

Review

Agneepath is easily one of Amitabh's best films ever. This film draws heavily from Scarface (starring Al Pacino). I watched Scarface after Agneepath and was quite shocked to see that they were very similar. Afterall, when I watched Agneepath, I thought it was one of the those unique films which had not been inspired by a Hollywood flick! Even the music themes were similar! Amitabh gives a memorable performance as Vijay Chauhan, who is an arrogant, stubborn, rude gangster with a good heart. What makes this film different from other Amitabh films, or even other Hindi films is the excellent potrayal of its main characters - Amitabh, Danny and Rohini Hattangadi. These characters are believable, unlike in most Hindi films and they bring out the reality of the situation. The film is violent at times, the screenplay is sloppy and the direction could have been better! I thought that the original version of the film with Amitabh's modified voice was much better than the one with his own voice. The original version made his character more authentic.

The title of the film was inspired by Harivansh Rai Bachchan's (Amitabh's father) poem - Agneepath (path of fire). It is not surprising that Amitabh received his first and ONLY National Award (Indian equivalent of an Oscar, though many people consider Filmfare to be the Indian Oscar) for this film. Rohini Hattangadi won a Filmfare award for best supporting actress for her potrayal of a loving and innocent mother. Mithun Chakraborthy won a Filmfare for best supporting actor.

If you thought Al Pacino was good in Scarface, you have got to watch Amitabh in Agneepath!

Overall, I give this film an 8 out of 10! Go watch it!!!

Epitome of performance and style in genre of gangster movies. It is without any doubt one of the best gangster movies ever made in any language. It would not be a overstatement to rate this flick better that Scarface starring Al Pacino. This movie came at the pinnacle of the golden era of gangster movies in India overshadowing all others. It does not have the sophistication of The Godfather or Sarkar or the realistic portrayal of City of God or Satya but it has the power- the power of enunciated emotions never portrayed before in such a cumulative fashion; and this distinction is an intelligent deliberated achievement and not not just a mere coincidence.

Any discussion about the technicalities of the movie will have to start with a special mention of Amitabh Bachchan's performance. The historic portrayal of that powerful scorn, the trademark word "hain" with the hand-action, the style and the posture of sitting on a chair and all other countless gestures combined with powerful and then-realistic acting won him the much deserved National Award for Best Actor. Danny did well with that stoic face. Mithun gave the need-of-that-time over-the-top performance and made it believable. Rohini was good portraying measured grief and strength of the bollywood-mother. Neelam did not have to do much apart from giving some turns to the story.

Cinematography and screenplay set a new milestone then. The scenes with a crowd of thousands in slums was not a common sight in Bollywood then. The script is great, editing is outstandingly amazing and foolproof for that time. Production set new standards. Direction is great. Background score is of international level. Songs are average and redundant.

All in all, it's a quintessential bollywood movie with hero and villain, old mother and a sister, powerful gangster and a cheesy climax. The remarkable thing is- It is still a great entertainment after all these years and a major change in story-lines.

Yep, this movie is a great copy of Scarface except here the hero's motivation to big the king of the world comes from revenge. Amitabh comes off as a violent but very ambitious person. Movie has a lot of action which is quite realistic and violent (the way I like it). True to his role Amitabh gets shot I think eight nine times but survives to come back and kick some butt. A lot gunslinging and explosion involving cool stunts with cars. It's really unfortunate Amitabh was already quite old if he had been a little younger I think he would have made more movies like this one. This movie definitely has teeth and is one of the best gangster movies of all times.

Be it the tree or its leaf, the all consuming fire vanquishes all and always moving forward.One who is soaked in his own blood and sweat can cross this path of fire: AGNEEPATH!

Agneepath is a 1990 Bollywood film directed by Mukul S. Anand. It was considered to be a loose adaptation influenced by the 1983 Hollywood film Scarface starring Al Pacino.

This film stars 3 actors at the peak of their acting prowess: Amitabh Batchan, Danny Dengzongpa and my favorite actor Mithun Chakraborty.

Brief Plot: On one morning walk, Dinanath teaches his son the poem "Agneepath." Dinanath is a reformer. He runs a small school, leads a campaign to obtain electricity and infrastructure, and generally uplifts the village. Unbeknownst to him, the village of Mandwa has been insidiously taken over by powerful crime baron Kancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa). Kancha uses the village as a landing point for his contraband.

Kancha buys off a local merchant, Dinkar Rao (Goga Kapoor). Rao stages a scandal where the upright Dinanath is lured to the town brothel, drugged, and found to be in bed with a prostitute. The angry villagers lynch Dinanath before his wife Suhasini (Rohini Hattangadi) and his young children, Vijay and Siksha. Suhasini and the children are forced to flee Mandwa. Young Vijay swears to avenge his father's death.

Will he succeed? Watch this phenomenal film to find out what happens next...

A must buy for any avid Hindi film lover. The casting, acting, dialogues, background music and action scenes are top-notch. Mukul anand, who directed also directed Hum(1991) after Agneepath, proves us yet again he is one of India's most rated directors. Amitabh Batchan's character has some super dialogues in the film and his acting is mesmerizing. Rohini Hattangadi also puts in some fine acting as well as Mithun Chakraborty and Denny Dengzongpa. The rest of the cast perform adequetely.

I consider this the most prized DVD of my collection, along with Prahaar, Ghatak, Ghayal and Gardish.

With an electrifying performance that could surely wake up the dead, Amitabh Bachchan proves yet again that there is no one to match him.

This kind of movies rely on the performance of the main character. And I have never seen such an powerful performance as this one by Amitji. Simply mind blowing. The anger through his eyes seem to radiate through your screen.

The rest of the cast performs very well. Especially Amitabh's mother, the inspector and Danny Denzongpa. Mithun is good as well, although one might think he tends to go overboard sometimes.

The dialogues are one of the best I ever heard, if not the best. Every time when a dialogue was delivered, I got goosebumps. These dialogues stick with you forever, especially if you are an Amitabh Bachchan fan.

The backgrounds score is phenomenal. It reminds you of Scarface, which is another masterpiece.

Music is reasonable, although I think the movie would have been better off with only one song in it or none at all.

Scenes that stick with you are to many to mention. I wilt remember this entire movie for the rest of my life. And I will surely watch it several times more.

This is an absolute must-see for every Amitabh Bachchan fan! You don't wanna miss this one.......

Amitabh Bachchan has always been highly respected and critically praised actor in the Indian film industry. Ever since his breakthrough in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer (1973), Amitabh had become a personified leading man (prior to which he was mainly a strong supporting-actor with films like Saat Hindustani and Anand, for which he had won awards for his performances). But it was his charismatic turn in Zanjeer that established Bachchan as the Angry Young Man of Bollywood cinema - following up with the blockbusters Deewar, Trishul, Kaalia, Laawaris, Shakti throughout the 1970s and 80s.

The late 1980s were not so smooth in terms of career, with average fairers like Toofan and the box-office failures Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (1988), Main Azaad Hoon and Jaadugar in 1989, Bachchan needed a comeback.

Prolific Hindi filmmaker Mukul Anand had cast Amitabh in Agneepath - which was released in 1990 to critical and commercial success. The film sees a young boy named Vjay (child actor Master Manjunath), living a simple, peaceful life in the village Mandwa. His father Master Dinanath (Alok Nath) is an honest and truthful school teacher, who has always taught his son that the path for honesty is a tough and challenging route; a path of fire (literal translation of the film title), but whoever does travel the Path of Fire, no challenge would be an obstacle for that person. Master Dinanath is highly respected and much loved in Mandwa, as he intends to improve conditions of the village step-by-step. But not everyone wants to follow the wiseman's path to prosperity - Local Landlord Dinkar Rao (Goga Kapoor), sees an opportunity to make it rich by selling the village Kancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa) - a rich, ambitious and ruthless drug-lord. Who wants to make the village a port for narcotics,since it does not appear on the Indian map and is only a stones-throw away from Bombay City (now Mumbai). The only way they could succeed is by ridding the village of Master Dinanath, after being framed for adultery, Master Dinanath is mercilessly beaten to death by the villagers, and his son Vijay is left as the sole breadwinner for his mother and younger sister.

Upon leaving Mandwa for Bombay - the young Vijay swears to give the village back to his mother. Once entering Bombay, Vijay and his family endure poverty, from sleeping on the streets, becoming a shoeshine and also witnessing his mother being taken advantage of. After retaliating against local goons by burning a petrol pump, his reputation as a hardknock is established and he is taken under by 4 rival gangsters of Kancha Cheena. Vijay grows up to be a key figure of Bombay's underworld (now played by Amitabh Bachchan), but also known as Vijay 'Bhai' (meaning 'Don' or literally 'Brother' Vijay) by the poor for his good deeds and charity. Once surviving an encounter with death from his 4 bosses, Vijay exacts his revenge one-by-one and also getting closer to drug-lord Kancha Cheena. He befriends a street vendor Krishnan Iyer MA (Mithun Chakraborthy), who then is given the job to protect his younger sister Siksha (Neelam), and the two become romantically involved. As he delves deeper into the life of crime, Vijay takes the opportunity exact revenge against Kancha and the people responsible for his fathers' death.

Many comparisons have been made with Agneepath and Brian De Palma's Scarface (1983), saying Agneepath is a remake of De Palma's crime epic. But this is absolutely not the case. As some scenes do resemble hints of Scarface (i.e. Vijay killing 2 of his bosses in a Police station lock-up, the meeting between Vijay and Kancha) even the use of Grigio Moroders' score (in the re-dubbed version with Amitabh's regular voice), other than that the film itself is a completely different story. If anything the film draws similarities to Amitabh's own classic Deewar from 1975, about the rise and fall of a rags-to-riches gangster. The film itself was inspired by the life of Indian gangster Manya Surve; who was shot to death by a police encounter in 1982. Amitabh used many of the late gangsters' mannerisms, the way he sits and even his voice (in the original version of the film). Plot-wise the film is familiar territory for Amitabh, but what excels it above many Indian crime thrillers of that era is the outstanding performances from Amitabh - whose eyes just express the emotions and thoughts of the character and villain Danny - a very hard negative performance to top.

The film is well-directed as is the cinematography, the violence is not glamorised but rather shown in realistic context which can be gruesome and gritty as well. The best cinematography in the whole film is during the film's finale - where Vijay runs through fire and faces his nemesis. The music used throughout a lot of the film and the finale is from French composer Jean Michel-Jarre's 'Second Rendezvous' and 'Third Rendezvous' albums, as well as Hans Zimmers' score to 'Black Rain' (1988). The performances of the main players as well as strong supporting cast make this an unmissable piece of Hindi cinema. As it was the first Hindi film which saw gangsters wearing Ray Ban sunglasses, driving Bentley's and living in exotic locations. Dialogue by Kader Khan is also a driving force as many quotable lines are mentioned in this film.

Overall the film is a brilliant attempt as performances, dialogue and cinematography make it a great example of Bollywood's best actor at his finest.

If familiar with the source material of Scarface, it's pretty hard to understand where exactly Yash Johar and Mukul Anand saw Tony Montana as a tragic hero. Agneepath stands well on it's own but it's inspiration shows direct laziness on account of the filmmakers - they had the story there and could have worked with it without having to include anything to do with Scarface. Once again, this leads to a film that could have been but is shamefully a wannabe.

Acting wise, Amitabh Bachchan steals the film as "Vijay" - a child who grows up to be a gangster seeking to redeem himself in the eyes of his mother. The film's major let down is his co-hort played by Mithun Chakraborty, who gives one of the most insulting stereotypical roles captured on film that is downright infuriating because of his constant smile and jumpiness - one wonders who the hell wrote such a character into a gangster film - regardless if a comic was needed or not. Danny Dezponga (sp?) plays a stereotypical villain by the numbers and doesn't really add anything.

The dialog is the film's key strength, apparently derived from a poem "Agneepath" written by Amitbah's father - the film desperately tries to showcase a man's journey from evil to good. One of the best moments is an injured Vijay carrying his mother to their former home at the end. Perhaps it was the sub-title translation, either way, what was being said and how it was said added buoys to a sinking ship.

Once again, I honestly feel that the producers and writers had a good story with a child's journey into evil and redemption as an adult. They don't need to show the child's journey but they need to in order to showcase why the individual is such as an adult. That is fine, but the lifting of certain scenes and themes from Scarface degrades what could have been a fine film on it's own.

6/10.

This film which has a lot of Scarface about it is superb. There are 2 major reasons for this... The 2 lead stars. A superb performance from Mithun is diminished somehow due to a devastating performance from Amitabh.

Casting is key to the success of this film. The lesser parts are also performed flawlessly. I think the fact that there is not much music in the film helps. It is an epic and is the kind of film that non Hindi speaking people should see to appreciate Bollywood.

If you've not seen it... Watch it now. This film is up there with the 'City of God' and 'Hard Boiled' world cinema masterpieces. It is the Bollywood equivalent.

Why was Amitabh voted the greatest all time movie star?? This is why!!!

A masterpiece indeed! It is very easily the best film Amitabh has acted ever. Even though the music score is not up to the mark, one gets to watch Amitabh's sterling performance as the "angry young man" of Bollywood. The background score adds to the intensity of the film. Its well worth giving 10+. The best scene in the film would be the one where Amitabh goes to the slums to save his sister Neelam. The dialogues in the entire film are just awesome. Tinu Anand and Rohini Hattangadi have also given a memorable performance in the film. The songs are very avoidable and spoil the tempo of the movie. But the best part of the film would undoubtedly be AMITABH. He is indeed the best actor of the millennium.

I had never seen this film before 2000. nearly four years ago i made a friend on chat from rwanda(mid Africa). He was all the time praising about Amitabh bachan in this movie. i decided to watch and see myself, there must be something about this movie that makes a non Hindi speaking guy watch it umpteen times. The movie isn't that good it has an average story, good direction but its Amitabh's greatest performance ever. The deep voice, the amazing screen presence, his eyes say everything, the way he sits, the way he talks is absolutely mindblowing. no other actor i have seen could show so much emotions with his eyes. Many people say its like the Marlon brando character in Godfather. But i don't think thats correct. In fact hes added a new dimension to godfather's character. I have no doubt after watching this film that amitabh is the greatest Indian actor ever. And shahrukh will always come second.Trust me - Just watch the movie.

Amitabh is angriest at his best. Great acting, different Batman like voice. Most serious than any other roles. He is the one man army in this movie. Mithun is at his best. Great comic, local and loyal guy. Danny is also at his best. One of the great villains. Otherwise a very old story. Too hurrily executed. Everything happens too fast. Should be long in length. All top villains in one movie. A one time watch enjoyable action and revenge jourmey. Vijay Dinanath Chavan, poora naam.

The story is that of injustice done to a noble man, avenged by his son, somewhere in between blurring the line dividing the good and the bad. Bachchan plays the avenger to the perfection. There is no actor all over the world (and I mean the whole world!!) who can portray the anguish and anger like Amitabh Bachchan and this is exploited in the movie till the end.

I watched this movie when i was 14 years old. At that time i was totally into both Hollywood and bollywood movies and this movie stood out. At that age i felt this was the best movie i've ever watched and quite possibly the best performance by Amitabh. 16 years on, when i watch this movie again, i have to admit that performance by every actor was memorable and i picked that as a teenager. And the dialogues, well i don't want to say anymore because i will start saying them shortly ... yes i remember every single one! I know Kader Khan wrote for most movies he acted in but i never appreciated his work before this movie when he wrote and didn't act in. Even though blockbusters such as Sholay and Deewar were more popular earlier, i don't remember them as well as this. Amitabh's voice in this movie was amazing. I did hear that it was changed as it didn't appeal to certain audiences. However the version i saw and own is simply brilliant.

I didn't know that Mithun got an award for the movie until a few years later. But when i watched the movie in 1990, i felt that this was easily his best performance ever. Mukhul S. Anand has made made some great movies in time and this movie made every actor the greatest.

And the most memorable scene: ummmm what can i say? With great cinematography every scene is memorable and supported by great background music. Just writing this comment and reading what others had to say, has made me want to watch the movie again. The more i watch it, the more i like it.

Those into love stories, bollywood dance, songs and fashion would never understand and appreciate this movie. I've had that experience over the years when i've recommended it to bollywood movie fans. That's probably why it never made it big or should i say bigger.

Watch it for :- 1. Amitabh Bachchan (National Award for Best Actor) 2. Mithun Chakraborty (Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor) 3. Danny Denzongpa 4. Mukul Anand' s Direction 5. Great Supporting Cast

This may have been a ripped off version of Scarface, but it as he*l had all it's intensity.

Those bloodshot eyes of Amitabh were more formidable than those of Al Pacino's. Danny on the other hand was as meaning business as Amitabh. Iyer, Mithun may be was a bit more stereotyping Southners. Archana puran singh as seen in this movie, looks like, had her days.

Overall a good movie. May be, worth watching again.

7/10 for #Agneepath1990.

How does one start to describe the best movie of someone whom one considers the best actor in the world? The world.

Agneepath is without doubt, the best, and I mean THE BEST performance of Shri Amitabh Bachchan's illustrious career.

The angst, the anger, the frustration, the pain, it simply speaks from HIS EYES. Watch his eyes in every scene, they speak such volumes which even the dialogues fail to encompass. I've seen Amitabh-ji speak so much with only his eyes in BLACK as well. And it's a lesson on what acting is all about, what cinema itself is all about when one actor rises beyond everything and everyone else, as if inspired by God himself, to deliver a performance that is so true, so great, so beyond words, that it's worthy of every single award made for acting...

Two-three scenes that are a study in acting: The intro scene when Amitabh states his full name, 'Vijay Dinanath Chavan' and his knowledge of his appointment with 'death'.

The scene where he pulls himself out of the water and walks to meet his nemesis Kancha Cheena, the flashbacks of him pulling his father's dead body as a child, and again the haunting look in his eyes...

The final scene when he runs through the fire...

And above all, and I'd like to state that I'm a movie addict - I love movies, cinema, Godfather, Scarface, Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navarone, Two Minutes Warning, Good Bad Ugly, Scent of a Woman, Taxi-driver, Ronin, Sholay, Trishul, Shakti, Zanjeer, Deewar, Don, Chuck De India, Lagaan, Ghayal, Damini, Terminator 2, Aliens, Titanic, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Avatar, Ghajini, Memento, Athadu, Kick, Jackie Chan movies, Bruce Lee movies, it's all so mixed up cause I love film making, love the art itself...

Yet, without doubt, without a single doubt, the one scene that stands out in my head in all my 33 years of loving English, Hindi, Marathi & Telugu movies is the one single scene in this movie, when Amitabh turns to his bosses and says, ''Tumhara hamara ladayi mein jeet iska (gun) nahin, iska (destiny) hoga...'' Look at his EYES. Just look at them... That is the ULTIMATE scene by ANY actor in my book of all time. If you don't believe me, watch Slumdog Millionaire and you'll see this very scene shown at the most crucial point in the movie...

Amitabh is p.e.r.f.e.c.t. in this movie. Better than Scarface?? Even Al Pacino would sit back and wonder what inspired Bachchan-saab to achieve such greatness in this movie...

9/10, and only because this is Amitabh-ji's best movie till date.

Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd.'s Agneepath (UA) is one more story of dons at war. A bright son of a Gandhian teacher changes his course of his life when his father is murdered by criminals. To avenge his father's death and to get back the lost glory of his mother, the son grows up to become an underworld king. He eliminates the other dons, small and big, one by one, and finally loses his own life in the climax. Right from the start, the film is heavy, violent and tension-filled. There are light moments but they are few and far between. While the story is oft-repeated, the screenplay has loose ends. There are also some unjustified scenes, the principal among them being the one in which Amitabh Bachchan faces the bullets of the other dons and has to be rushed to hospital thereafter

What a performance by Amitabh bachchan. Its very rare that an actor rises above the script, direction and every other aspect of the film. Thats what Amitabh has done here. His screen presence, the dialogues, expressions, the style...Simply brilliant. NO one and i mean no one (including Al pacinos and De neros) can do something like this. After watching this film i have no doubts....Amitabh is the star of the millenium, he is THE BEST, PERIOD.

If Bollywood have Sholly, Mother India, Devdas, Pyaasa, Guide and many many more top most movie, I would include AGNeePATH in that list.

This is awesome movie with one of the best performance by Mr. Bachchan and Mr Denny, Mithun Da and all the characters.

There is not a single character in this movie who has not been appreciated and made a mark in the industry with his/her performance till date.

I would like to thanks, Mr. Mukul S. Anand for making such a beautiful movie, which would not have been completed without Mr. Kadar Khan's powerful dialog (as always, he is the best in industry).

I would recommend everyone to see this movie.

In every movie's of Mr. Kadar Khan, there is message and so do we have in Agneepath.

I salute to all the characters, staff associated, and all the people attached with this movie, who have created a bench mark movie in the Bollywood industry.

Look I don't wanna say much about this movie..... Its great,Bachchan is superb....But it is a complete ripoff of Brian De Palma's Scarface....Just check out both and then tell me of there's difference.. A group of bandits are in a village.They kill Bachchcan's father and almost rape his mother. Swearin revenge he starts assassinating the bandits which his mother disapproves. Meanwhile he begins a relationship with a nurse and his sister with Bachchan's bodyguard... I know it doesn't sound same but first see Scarface and tell me if there is a difference.. But its a great movie and Bachchan's performance is awesome.

Loved every bit of Amitabh Bachchan of the screen.

Late filmmaker Mukhul.S Anand's 1990 flick 'Agneepath' is a powerful film. The film brought two Legends of Indian Cinema together Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty, for which both the actors won awards for. 'Agneepath' is a classy film in all aspects. Two Thumbs Up!

Pluses of the film: Amitabh and Mithun. Mithun steals the show with a brilliant performance. Amitabh is natural, but he's completely overshadowed by Mithun. Danny is good as the villain. Rohini is excellent. Madhavi is decent, ditto for Neelam. Tinu Anand and Shakti Kapoor are as usual. Rest are passable.

Minuses: The film has most portions of the Hollywood film 'Scarface'

on the whole 'Agneepath' is a tough as hell.