Sholay is evergreen. It takes a lot of courage for a director to remake Indian Cinema’s most memorable movie ever. Ram Gopal Varma took up the challenge, but does he deliver?
Babban Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) a psychotic gangster has killed the entire family of Police officer Narsimha (Mohan Lal). Narsimha takes help from two small time crooks Heero (Ajay Devgan) and Raj (Prashanth Raj) to kill Babban Singh. The childhood friends arent aware that they are fencing themselves into such a deadly war that had just two options, win or die!. Their life of hardship finds peace in love. While Heero falls for tom-boyish Ghunghroo (Nisha Kothari), Durga (Sushmitha Sen) after facing a massive tragedy felt her life blossom in an unspoken bond developed between her and Raj.
The battle which involved revenge, anger and fire had just one way of winning, and that is the death of the other….
The name of the characters has changed. Amitabh Bachchan portraying the legendary character of Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) is now Babban Singh. Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) is now Narsimha. Veeru (Dharmendra) is Heero, Jaidev a.k.a Jay (Amitabh Bachchan) is Raj, Basanti (Hema Malini) is Ghunghroo and Radha (Jaya Bachchan) is Durga.
Comparisons with the original are inevitable. So here we go..
- The chemistry and friendship shared between Heero and Raj (Jay and Veeru in the original) is completely non existent.
- RGV has messed up big time with the casting of the legendary characters. Except for Amitabh and Mohan Lal, the others disappoint.
- The emotions, drama and thrill is missing.
- Aag isnt a scene to scene rip off of the original. The story is the same, the scenes are completely different. But the Aag script leaves a lot to be desired.
- The scene that I was looking forward to most, was the suicide scene. Ajay devgan is so bad that you feel like burying your head deep into the pop corn tub. The direction and writing is worse!
- The choreography is pathetic.
- The songs are way below average.
- Ram Gopal Varma has got it all wrong, his execution is horrible to say the least.
The best thing about the movie is without doubt Amitabh Bachchan. He is brilliant as Babban Singh. Mohan Lal as always is top notch. Ajay Devgan is a mis-cast. Sushmitha Sen is good. Sushanth Singh deserved a meatier role. Prasanth Raj is expressionless throughout. Nisha Kothari cannot act! Urmila Matondkar is extremely hot. Abhishek Bachchan appears breifly for the song Mehbooba. The rest of the cast is strictly okay.
Overall, Ram Gopal Varma Ke Aag / Sholay is a below average product that desevers to be rejected by the audience. Take my advice, buy yourself a DVD of the original Sholay. Trust me, although you have already watched it several times, your gonna enjoy it a 1000 times more!
Sorry RGV, your upgraded version of Sholay is unbearable.
Courtesy & Source : indicine.com
