Aggi - Review

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Ramgopal Varma's Aggi: Artistes perform well, but the film is unenthusiastic

There were lots of expectations on Ramgopal Varma's Aag because of the hype created by the media on the film which states that the maverick director is remaking the all-time blockbuster like 'Sholay'. Though RGV was categorical that the film is being made just on the theme but not an exact remake, the media failed to highlight it. Moreover, the original makers of Sholay raising objections on the use of the title and the names of characters had infused more interest on the movie. With all this, the audiences started making comparisons with 'Sholay' to this Aag. The film Ramgopal Varma's Aag was dubbed into Telugu as Aggi. However, it failed to please any class of audiences, despite fantastic performance by all the lead artistes including Big B Amitabh Bachchan, Mohan Lal, Ajay Devgan and the newcomer Prashant Raj.

In Mumbai city, there is a land shark called Babban (Amitabh Bachchan), who used to encroach land wherever it is possible. He plans to encroach land in the heart of the city called Kali Ghat, which was very near to the beach. Narasimha (Mohan Lal) was a sincere police officer and he wants to put Babban behind bars at any cost. Knowing very well that Babban is fond of his brother, Narasimha chalks out a plan and tries to nab Babban there. In the melee, Narasimha accidentally kills Babban's brother. Babban gets life sentence from the court, but escapes from jail. In a bid to take revenge, Babban eliminates entire Narasimha's family. When Narasimha tries again, Babban cuts off his fingers. As a result Narasimha loses his job. But he continues to fight against Babban to save the people of Kali Ghat. In this process, Narasimha takes the help of Guru (Ajay Devgan) and Raj (Prashant Raj). Though they plan to escape with the Rs 1 lakh advance money for the work, they changes their idea following a word from Devi (Susmita Sen), sister-in-law (maradalu) of Narasimha. In the process, Guru falls in love with Gowri (Nisha Kothari), who drives an auto, while Raju also loses his heart to Devi, who was a widow. Raj and Guru give sleepless nights to Babban. To teach them a lesson, Babban's henchmen kidnap Gowri and Guru and Raj follow them to save her. In the climax, Raj gets killed in the hands of Babban, while Narasimha kills Babban with the help of Guru. The film ends with the union of Guru and Gowri.

Amitabh Bachchan as Babban is at his best. The Big B has portrayed several roles in his career and this one is quite different and has a negative touch. Mohan Lal also did complete justice to his role and matched to the villainy of Bachchan. Ajay Devgan also did a good job balanced the serious as well as jovial scenes with equal ease. Debutant Prashant Raj is also good. Nisha Kothari and Urmila Matondkar filled the glamour slot and item song respectively. Sushant Singh, Virender Saxena, Rasika Joshi and others are adequate. Sanjay Narvekar, Jeeva, Raju Mavani, Ravi Kale, J.D. Chekravarthy and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi are okay. Behind the screen, cinematography by Amit Roy is outstanding. Especially, it was the camera work that worked wonders in elevating the mood of scenes. The director failed to establish the romantic track between Ajay Devgan and Nisha Kothari well. The suicide drama looked very cinematic. Though the first half ran with a strict and compact screenplay but it slowed down after the interval bang, as the director slowly tried to take up the love stories. Though the songs are good to listen and foottapping, they were poorly choreographed (with an exception to the 'Mehbooba' song with Urmila. Abhishek's appearance also surprises the audiences in this number).

The film failed to get even an average talk on the first day. Moreover, several theatres failed to get the prints in time and the film opened in many theatres with first show, instead of morning show. But for the die-hard fans of Amitabh Bachchan, the audiences need not feel bad for not watching this movie.

Cast:
Amitabh Bachchan, Mohan Lal, Ajay Devgan, Prashant Raj, Sushmita Sen, Nisha Kothari, Urmila Matondkar, Sushant Singh, Virender Saxena, Rasika Joshi, Sanjay Narvekar, Jeeva, Raju Mavani, Ravi Kale, J.D. Chekravarthy, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and others.

Credits:
Cinematography – Amit Roy, Music – Ganesh Hegde, Amar Mohile, Prasana Shekhar, Nitin Raikwar, Action – Pradyuman Kumar, Screenplay: Rahil Qazi, Producer - Director: Ram Gopal Varma

Banner: RGV Film Factory
Released on: August 31, 2007.