Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan, Prashant Raj, Sushmita Sen, Nisha Kothari, Sushant Singh.
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Music: Amar Mohile, Nitin Raikwar, Ganesh Hegde and Prasana Shekhar.
Genre: Action
Rating: **

Comparisons are inevitable but then again it’s impossible to watch this film without drawing parallels with the original Sholay . No matter how many character names or movie titles he changes, at the end of the day Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag is a remake of the yesteryear hit.

Narsimha (Mohanlal) was a police officer who helped in capturing the dreaded gangster Babban (Amitabh Bachchan). In the process, Narsimha ends up accidentally killing Babban’s younger brother (Sachin Pidgaonkar). Babban escapes from jail and swears revenge. He ends up killing Narsimha’s father, his wife (Suchitra Krishnamoorthy) and brother (Chakravarthy). Only his sister-in-law Durga Devi (Sushmita Sen) and he survive but not before Babban cuts off Narsimha’s fingers. Now Narsimha is hell bent on revenge and he hires two local thugs Heero (Ajay Devgan) and Raj (Prashant Raj) to get hold of Babban. This is where this Indian curry begins.

/photo.cms?msid=2325396 If you are a hardcore Sholay fan, you will see that Ramu has lifted about 70% of the original screenplay from Ramesh Sippy’s film. In fact, Ram Gopal Varma toys with the audience when he modifies some of the more popular scenes and dialogues of the film. For instance: The Veeru attempted suicide scene at the tank is now Heero’s attempted suicide scene at a well or Tera Kya Hoga Kalia becomes Tera Kya Hoga Mehbooba . You expect it to happen and it does but sometimes is an intentionally funny way or sometimes in a plain obnoxious way.

So is this three hour ‘inspiration’ worth the effort? Just like any other Ram Gopal Varma film, this one too is brilliantly shot but in the process of adapting and adjusting the original, the sequences turn out to be very bland and the modifications fall on your face.

/photo.cms?msid=2325407 The characters just do not remain with you at the end of the day. The Heero-Raj bonding is not as powerful, mainly because they have very few scenes where they can show the power of their friendship. The focus should have gone there rather than the Durga Devi- Raj chemistry which is very forced and pretty much non-existent.

But unlike the original, the villain is more human in this one. He scrambles for dear life and the fear element from the audience point of view is just not there. You are never going to hear a ‘ Beta, so ja warna Babban aa jayega. ’

The first half begins well but it’s the post interval scenes which drag on for quite sometime. The fight sequence towards the climax is very shallow and leaves much to be desired.

Though the film ends up with an extra couple of songs (especially the Nisha Kothari-Ajay Devgan track), the background score of Amar Mohile deserves a special mention. The RGV regular has done a fine job once again.

Does this film belong to anyone? Amitabh obviously makes an impact as the feared baddie. No, rip-offs here. He is the real thing and with his own mannerisms, a new villain is born. Ajay Devgan looks much fresher in this one and is more focused than what he did in Cash. Prashant Raj would want to work on his dialogue delivery but nonetheless he makes a good debut. Sushmita is her usual self and is not required to do any histrionics. The original Sholay had an ‘ angrez ke zamane ka jailor ’ and a ‘Soorma Bhopali’ along with Basanti for comedy. But when that department is left in the hands of Ghungroo (Nisha Kothari) you end up pulling your hair out. The rickshaw driving tomboy just irritates whenever she enters the screen, but at the same time you have to give credit to Nisha for showing more than one facial expression unlike her previous films. Sushant Singh as Babban’s trusted aide Tambhe is quite good as well. Urmila Matondkar’s dance sequence is sizzling.

And finally Mohanlal as Narsimha is terrific as the silent sorts. Bollywood is calling you Mr. Mohanlal- do respond. Loha Garam Hai !

Aag should not be compared to the classic but then again, there is no way out. The similarities are in your face and Ramu has gone out of his way to show us just that. However, on the way Ramu has tried too hard to fit in his tribute as well making sure that the courts pass it without any problems. Result- an awkward amalgamation of plagiarism and originality. A combination which can go both ways and unfortunately it goes the wrong way.