2007 Indian film
| Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Ram Gopal Varma |
| Written by | Sajid-Farhad |
| Screenplay by | Rahil Qazi |
| Based on | Sholay by Salim–Javed |
| Produced by | Ram Gopal Varma |
| Starring | Mohanlal Amitabh Bachchan Ajay Devgn Sushmita Sen |
| Cinematography | Amit Roy |
| Edited by | Amit Parmar Nipun Ashok Gupta |
| Music by | Songs: Ganesh Hegde Prasanna Shekhar Amar Mohile Score: Amar Mohile |
| Production company | RGV Film Factory |
| Distributed by | Adlabs |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 164 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹210 million |
| Box office | ₹227.3 million |
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (transl. Ram Gopal Varma's Fire), or simply, Aag (transl. Fire) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film features Mohanlal, Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Prashant Raj Sachdev, Sushmita Sen, J. D. Chakravarthy, and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi in principal roles.
The film is an adaptation of the 1975 Hindi film Sholay, upon release, it was negatively received by the critics. It is considered to be one of the worst films ever made.
Plot
Nashik-based Heerendra Dhaan and Raj Ranade are bodyguards of a politician, but after their employer is implicated in a scam, they end up assaulting a police officer and flee to Mumbai. Once there, they meet with Rambhabhai who, in turn, gets them employed with a gangster named Shambhu. After a short while the duo is apprehended by Police Inspector Narsimha, questioned, and after they agree to cooperate to bring down Shambhu, they will be let go. The two succeed in assisting the police arrest Shambhu, but they themselves are arrested, tried in Court, and sentenced to a year in jail.
After their discharge, they are again approached by Inspector Narsimha, who, this time, wants to recruit them to capture and kill dreaded bandit Babban Singh. Babban Singh had slaughtered his wife, Kavita, and son, Subbu, as well as cut his fingers off. He had done this as revenge for killing his brother, whom he really loved, and for having him sent to jail. Heerendra and Raj agree to carry out this task for 8 Lakh Rupees. They re-locate to Kaliganj, where Heerendra falls in love with an auto-rickshaw driver, Ghungroo, while Raj gives his heart to Subbu's widow, Durga. They then set out to capture Babban and meet with some success during Diwali, but Babban manages to escape. Babban then starts to ambush and kill the Kaliganj residents to compel them to surrender the duo to him.
Raj and Heerendra give in and meet Babban's henchmen in an abandoned building. They fight the goons, but Raj is killed in the process. Babban's right-hand man, Tambe, is badly injured, and later on, killed by Babban for failing. Babban has a final encounter with Heerendra and Inspector Narsimha, where Heerendra was about to kill him, but Inspector Narsimha tells him to spare and let the law decide his fate. However, Babban tries to escape, and he's shot dead (it is unclear as to who shot him since Heerendra was told not to kill him and Inspector Narsimha does not have fingers). The film ends with Heerendra getting arrested and Inspector Narsimha apologizing to everyone about it.
Cast
- Mohanlal as Police Inspector Narsimha
- Amitabh Bachchan as Babban Singh
- Ajay Devgn as Heerendra 'Heero' Chavan
- Prashant Raj Sachdev as Raj Ranade
- Sushmita Sen as Durga Devi
- Sushant Singh as Tambe
- Priyanka Kothari as Ghungroo
- Rajpal Yadav as Rambhabhai
- Malkeet Singh as Ghasti Sharma
- Suchitra Krishnamoorthi as Kavita
- J. D. Chakravarthy as Subbu
- Ravi Kale as Pradhan
- D. Santosh as Coolie
- Jeeva as Dhaania
- Abhishek Bachchan as Gypsy Singer (Special Appearance)
- Urmila Matondkar as Gypsy Dancer (Special Appearance)
Production
Soundtrack
Music director: Ganesh Hegde, Nitin Raikwar & Amar Mohile
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mehbooba," | Amitabh Bachchan, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Abrar ul Haq, Zoheb Hassan & Ali Zafar | |
| 2. | "Ruk Ja" | Sunidhi Chauhan, Vinod Rathod | |
| 3. | "Holi" | Farhad Bhiwandiwala, Ravindra Upadhyay, Shreya Ghoshal, Shweta Pandit, Sudesh Bhosle | |
| 4. | "Cha Raha" | Shweta Pandit, Vinod Rathod | |
| 5. | "Hai Aag Yeh" | Sunidhi Chauhan & Jamie xx | |
| 6. | "Jee Le" | Farhad Bhiwandiwala, Vinod Rathod | |
| 7. | "Dum" | Vinod Rathod | |
| 8. | "Hai Aag Yeh" (Instrumental) |
Release
Copyright infringement suit
The Delhi High Court fined Ram Gopal Varma ₹1 million (US$12,000) for the "deliberate act" of copyright infringement for the usage of characters such as "Gabbar Singh" of original Sholay.
Reception
This film received negative reviews from critics and also turned out to be a commercial failure. Rajeev Masand rated it zero out of five. The Times of India stated that Aag "destroyed Bollywood's greatest film" and acknowledged that some "consider it the world's worst film." Hindustan Times awarded it the "Lifetime's Worst Ever Movie Award." It came in first in a FHM India list of the 57 worst movies ever made. Total Film included it in their list of the 66 worst films of all time. Amitabh Bachchan later admitted that the film was "a mistake."
See also
References
- D'Souza, Martin. "Movie Review : RGV KI AAG". glamsham. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - An insincere tribute to evergreen ‘Sholay’ Film Review – ANDHRA PRADESH. The Hindu (1 September 2007). Retrieved on 2016-11-20.
- Box Office 2007. boxofficeindia.com
- "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag". Outlook. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- "A Decade of decadence". Times of India. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- "66 Worst Movies Of All Time". Total Film. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- "57 Worst Films Ever – II". FHM India. 12 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- Delhi HC imposes 10 lakh fine on Ram Gopal Varma for infringing copyright on Sholay. Livelaw.in (2 September 2015). Retrieved on 2016-11-20.
- "Delhi High Court judgement on August 24, 2015" (PDF). nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- "Ram Gopal Varma ke controversies". Rediff.com. 12 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- Chaudhuri, Diptakirti (12 September 2014). Bollybook: The Big Book of Hindi Movie Trivia. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 423–424. ISBN 978-93-5118-799-8.
- "Review: RGV Ki Aag is RGV ka daag". Archived from the original on 22 July 2009.
- "A Decade of decadence". The Times of India. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- "Review: Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag". Hindustan Times. 31 August 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- "57 Worst Films Ever – II". FHM (India). Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
- "66 Worst Movies Of All Time". Total Film. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
- "Amitabh Bachchan: 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag a mistake'". Digital Spy. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2013.