Cue at about 55 seconds and then hear it up to 1.16, between 2.14 and 2.19 and 9.45 and 9.58)
No Indian actor does street level insolence better than Amitabh Bachchan and in no film he has done it better than in Mukul Anand’s ‘Agneepath.’ I saw the movie again after 21 years yesterday and am ready to declare yet again that it is Bachchan’s best film in the genre that made him India’s biggest celluloid deity.
Before I say a thing or two about Bachchan’s performance in the movie, I have to acknowledge that the least heralded aspect of the movie was some crackling smart lines written by the ever prolific Kader Khan. At the time of the making of ‘Agneepath’ Khan was at the peak of his game and used to write and act so much that it was easy to discount his talent.
The movie’s default temperament was the kind of sauciness that one routinely experiences in Mumbai’s streets, especially among the young population that has no option but to live by its wits. Social resentments of the dispossessed and disenfranchised in Mumbai often result in very distilled bitterness which gets articulated in the kind of lines that Khan has written for the film. As always, it is possible that I am overstating my case but then this Monday morning post is about the kind of movie where audiences break into frequent standing ovations every time its protagonist kicks society in its groin.
Khan’s lines have ironic finality to them, and there could not be a more compelling actor than Bachchan to do ironic finality in the kind of unpolished and fractured street lingo which has been used in Hindi movies to great effect. That the film was inspired by, ripped off and/or copied from Brian de Palma’s ‘Scarface’ is somewhat extraneous to both Bachchan’s performance as well as Khan’s lines. Sure, there are many moments in ‘Agneepath’ where Bachchan appears to be channeling his nervy/edgy energies from the same source as Al Pacino but on balance his is a superb performance. It is clear to anyone who bothers to see that Bachchan does use Pacino as the benchmark just as Anand uses Palma as his benchmark.
Three of the lines I like are in the clip above.
Hawa tej chalta hai Dinkar Rao. Topi samhalo, ud jayega. (Cue 55 seconds and 1.6 minutes)
Jaan ki bheekh mangta hai,fir jaan dene ki baat karta hai (Between 2.14 and 2.39)
Ey Kancha, sala bandook bhi dikhata hai, aur peeche bhi hatata hai (9.45 to 9.58)
P.S.: Note to self: Ey sala, hafte ke pehle din who karta hai jo akhri mein karna chahiye.
P.P.S.: Come to think of it, ‘Hawa tej chalta hai Dinkar Rao. Topi samhalo, ud jayega’ fits the current times perfectly, in the Middle East as well as in India.
