Agni movie review: Pratik Gandhi does a fantastic job in Rahul Dholakia's wet movie.
Agni movie review: The film by Rahul Dholakia celebrates the dedication of brave firefighters to their work, despite their outspoken criticism of "the system" for failing to provide them with the assistance they require.
Ankush Pandey
Agni movie review: Hindi films have a history of experimenting with fire. Films like the 1980 adventure "The Burning Train," which may have been based on an earlier Hollywood blockbuster "The Towering Inferno," will be remembered by those with long memories, but those who put their lives in danger to put out the fires have never been in the spotlight.
"Agni," directed by Rahul Dholakia, aims to rectify this. The movie quickly places its bets on Vithalrao Surve (Gandhi), the chief of a Mumbai fire station, who commands his team of valiant firefighters from the front as they put out fires in crowded buildings.
At the core of the movie is the fact that firefighters are unsung heroes that the public never even recognizes. Their job description includes serious health risks, which seem to affect no one but their own families, who must cope with the ongoing precarity they must endure. And that does come through, even though the way that writers Vijay Maurya and Dholakia (the latter also wrote the dialogue, which is spread throughout the characters in his one-liners) approach telling the story occasionally conflicts with the film's generally realistic vibe.
In his portrayal of a movie cop who has witnessed too many other movie cops engaging in the swag, Divyenndu's Samit Sawant is surrounded by adoring lackeys who appear to be there more to cheer his jokes than to carry them out. We have seen this type of character before; there is also a neta who is more concerned with getting his pictures in the newspaper than with resolving the numerous arson cases the city is dealing with.
Both women perform admirably: Saiyami Kher, a feisty female firefighter, and Sai Tamhankar, Vithalrao's devoted wife who lives in constant fear whenever he goes on call. It's a nice touch, but you know how this will end, especially when the plot turns into a whodunit as it follows the mystery arsonist. The former also has to deal with a young son who believes that his police officer uncle, Samit, is the example to follow rather than his own father. This otherwise welcome lifelike strands' weakness is the need to include needless drama to make the story interesting.
When the movie stays true to its core purpose, it works. Deadly fires can be effectively reenacted in scenes with smoke and screaming. When a few characters are killed while performing their duties, we can see how serious the situation is: third degree burns are not romantic. These heroes' dedication to their work is evident even as they criticise "the system" for failing to provide them with the necessary assistance. The great Pratik Gandhi inspires faith in his Vithal, who has battled fires his entire life and will continue to do so.
| Movie | Agni |
| Director | Rahul Dholakia |
| Cast | Pratik Gandhi, Divyenndu, Sai Tamhankar, Saiyami Kher, Jitendra Joshi, Udit Arora, Kabir Shah |
| Rating | 2.5/5 |
