Why I watched: Lataji sung “dushman na karey kaam yeh dost ne kiya hain, Umr bhar(3 hrs) ka gum hume inaam diya hain”. ;-) yes, I went only bcos of friends. But being a sholay fan I was

curious to see this, so relented to pressure from friends.

Preamble: Having watched Sholay as recently as 15days back on TV, memories were fresh in my mind. http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Sholay-80264-1.html is my view on sholay. Aag has failed to overwrite sholay in my mind. Much as I would like to see the two as different movies, its difficult because all thru Aag has been portrayed as ‘remaking of a classic’. Also the similarities between characters, story line etc kept re

minding me of sholay even as I am watching Aag! At every scene in Aag that my eyes are watching, my inner eyes see the corresponding original sholay images. to add to this Aag uses some of Sholay background music & bcos of this I am in a dilemma as to enjoy what memory is thowing at me or that which is in front of the eyes… even if it was Nisha Kothari ;-) Only the ones who have not watched sholay can watch Aag without preoccupation or expectation. The truth is its difficult not to compare this with the original.

Plot: RGV seems to have tried to rape the sholay story without consent (from the original makers) by taking her (the sholay storyline) into dark dingy set, hoping that the audience cant catch this (her screams) in the midst of loud noise (music) & he even tried distracting them by showing them some flesh. Finally, thankfully the rape didn’t happen (movie failed) & ended up as a case of molestation & outraging the sanity of the viewers. ;-).. I am sure real sholay fans will forget/forgive this RGV scar on sholay, for they know he has only touched her body, while her soul is still intact & she has her place in their hearts ;-) By now the whole world knows the adapted story of RGV ki Aag, so wont repeat.

Cast: I am one of those who believe the script is the hero/heroine of the movie. Big B, was the only man who acted in both, so he became the lowest common denominator!! He played Gabban which reminded me of Raju srivastav doing a spoof of a malnourished, feeble, old Gabbar whom even samba doesn’t obey!! Amitabh did act as he was asked to, but when Gabban first laughed I couldn’t make out if he was coughing or laughing ;-) He couldn’t even spit properly & ended up doing a weak ‘pooh’ ;-) Mohan lal as narsimha did well, but his slow motion hindi dialogues?? Ajay Devgun as Heero, & a lanky yuvraj singh look alike played Raj. Both did whatever they could manage. Lol @ sushmita as widow Durga, Nisha Kothari as Ghungroo was cute, though monotonous with her expressions. She looked the same –whether angry or happy.

Baaki sab: I wonder if RGV used low quality film for shooting because all thru the movie there was a brownish hue to the picture. I surely have no Browndice (a variant of Jaundice), so this surely is from the film..or please tell me if it’s a ‘Trend’ these days ;-) The set for mehbooba dance was good. The camera, stunt, choreography all looked just ok to me, as I was watching all these on a big screen after a very long time. Though humor was less in supply one does get manage to smile forcefully with hopes of getting something tickets worth ;-)

Observations: here narsimha loses only fingers & in an age of electric blades Babban uses Hack saw to cutoff the fingers. 2 great actors & music all didn’t make any face flinch, where as ‘yeh haath humka de de’ ‘nahin gabbar’ made us sympathise with thakur. Only thing RGV got right was the discount. Here the rickshawalli ghungroo asks for 150 instead of 200,  while dhanno had asked for 1.5Rs instead of 2Rs. Counting inflation this is a exact calculation! ;-) sholay has a certain old world charm in it, which just couldn’t be recreated here.

Babban asks thambe ‘hume pakdne ke liye police ko paisa kaun deta hain”
“aam aadmi”
“toh humare dushman koun"
"aam aadmi“
“toh marta kaun hain”
“aam aadmi” ... i felt like going to screen & tearing it apart, then chose to be a Calm-aadmi ;-)

My Reco: Please don’t think I am recommending this movie with a 2 star just because I spent money watching this & want others also to lose money. Though the thought looks good for the economy ( spending is good) I don’t have any such sadistic thoughts. Here are my reasons for recommending it. History will tell you I never wrote a revu not recommending a movie, bcos I am a think positive ;-)

a)theory of relativity: I always tell a movie is a relative product. There is a story & a director trying to tell it using actors, music etc. Now how I like/dislike his story telling depends on a lot of factors including my mindset when I am watching it. This being my 2nd hindi movie in around 7 years & my 6th visit to a movie hall in as many years, like you I also know I am no movie expert. Nor do I know movie making trends, recognize directors & camermans by looking at a mere shot. The movie I enjoyed may be a total bore to someone else because each one is watching the movie with a unique set of eyes n minds & not all are seeing the same thing. Example, in this movie in a particular scene I was looking at Nisha’s fingers, while my friend was looking at her Rickshaw driver dress. That was because I like ladies finger & he likes red!! ;-) .. you see its all relative ;-) Yes, I have seen sholay & can see it again. But no regrets seeing this once.

b)one can also watch this movie to learn how not to make a remake! ;-)

c)on humanitarian Grounds: just think about this. RGV is human with abt 433 grams of brain. If this is what he could think of as a story, lets accept & respect it, for his thoughts & imaginations also deserve an expression. Giving him the benefit of doubt, I will choose to think ‘deliberately RGV will not want to make a bad movie & spoil his name & that of cast, crew’. If you think it was a mistake on RGV part to make this movie, let us remember only those who made mistakes made something.

If you intend to watch, just keep your expectations low & go for time pass. If possible keep your brains & sholay memories in the fridge & go ;-)

Thanks for reading, RGV’s fire was received cold, don’t worry. There is a bonfire in comments space, come there & light your bidis ;-) .. unless you have any ‘bidi jalaile… “ for a neighbour ;-)

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Somewhat revealed
Best to watch with:	Friends
Movie Genre:	Action Movie
Best part in the movie:	Not sure