Agneepath (1990) - Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty

Agneepath released in the year 1990. It starred two of the leading superstars of that era- Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty. This was the first film that the duo did together. The title of the film is taken from a poem penned by Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan’s father. The poem is recited by the main characters through out the film. This is the film which fetched Amitabh Bachchan his first National Award as Best Actor.

The film begins with school teacher Dinanath Chauhan (Alok Nath) and his ten year old son, Vijay (Manjunath) where the former teaches his son the poem Agnipath, that teaches one to tread upon the path of good no matter what. Dinanath lives in the village of Mandwa where infrastructure is non-existent as it is being used by underworld don Kancha Cheena (Danny Denzonpa) as his landing dock. Dinanath tries to bring development to the small hamlet and thus becomes prey to the evil schemes of Cheena and his cronies. Kancha buys off a local merchant Dinkar Rao (Goga Kapoor). Dinkar Rao stages a scandal where the upright Dinanath is lured to the town brothel, drugged, and found to be in bed with a local prostitute. The angry villagers lynch Dinanath before his wife Suhasini (Rohini Hattangadi) and his young children Vijay and Siksha. Suhasini and the children are forced to flee Mandwa. Young Vijay swears to avenge his father.



Vijay soon finds himself working for three underworld dons, Terelin (Sharat Saxena), Usman Bhai (Avtar Gill and Anna Shetty (Deepak Shirke). He grows up to be a underworld lord himself and now running his own empire. His one time benefactors, Terelen, Uman Bhai and Anna Shetty, decide to finish him off as he has become bigger than the. He is shot at point blank range by these three. But the timely intervention of a coconut water seller Krishnan Iyer MA (Mithun Chakraborty) saves his life. The dons try to kill him in the hospital, but he is again saved by Krishnan, and nursed back to health by Nurse Mary Matthew (Madhavi). Vijay appoints Krishnan as a bodyguard for his sister Siksha (Neelam).

Soon Siksha and Krishnan fall in love and decide to settle down. On the other hand Vijay whose mother has distanced herself from him due to his life of crime finds solace and love with Mary. Vijay’s growing stature in the underworld brings him face-to-face with his old enemy Kancha Cheena and he buys off Mandwa from him without the latter being aware of his true identity. Vijay tries to punish Cheena by handing him over to the police but the wily Cheena escapes and kidnaps Suhasini and Siksha hostage as he demands an open confrontation with Vijay. The climax of the film finds Vijay and Krishnan defeating Cheena and Vijay dieing in his mother’s lap reciting Agneepath, having finally found his redemption.


AWARDS WON

National Film Award for Best Actor-Amitabh Bachchan

Best Supporting Actor-Filmfare Award-Mithun Chakraborty

Best Supporting Actress-Filmfare Award- Rohini Hattangadi

Songs from the movie:

1. We are made for each other (link)

2. I am Krishnan Iyer MA (link)

3. Ganapati Bappa Moriya Re (link)