Karan Johar: Why Agneepath Flopped

‘Prior
to
release,
we
heard
only
exemplary
things
about
the
film,
so
the
failure
came
as
a
complete
shock
to
my
father.’

Mukul
Anand’s

Agneepath
fetched
Amitabh
Bachchan
a
National
Award
for
Best
Actor.
But
this
gangster
epic’s
destiny
was
enormously
stormy.

“My
father’s
production

Agneepath
released
in
1990.
My
father
had
pinned
a
lot
of
hope
on
it.
When
it
flopped,
for
various
reasons,
it
left
my
father
disillusioned.
He
truly
believed

Agneepath
told
a
great
story,”
Karan
Johar
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

One
reason
for
its
failure
was
Bachchan’s
voice
which
he
transformed
into
a
gravelly
baritone
for
his
character
of
a
gangster.

When

Agneepath
showed
no
signs
of
gathering
momentum
at
the
box
office,
Bachchan
re-dubbed
the
dialogues
and
the
film
was
put
out
with
his
normal
voice
on
the
soundtrack.

“By
then,
it
was
too
late
for
the
film
to
do
a
turnaround,”
Karan
says.

“I
believe

Agneepath
was
ahead
of
its
times.
Fourteen
years
later,
I
decided
to
remake

Agneepath
as
homage
to
my
father’s
labour
of
love.
I
gave
Director
Karan
Malhotra
the
freedom
to
do
anything
he
wanted.
Hence,
the
changes
in
the
original
were
all
his
idea,
including
the
item
song

Chikni
Chameli.”

The
success
of
the

Agneepath
remake
was
a
personal
triumph
for
Karan
after
the
failure
of
the
original.
“I
would
say
it
was
my
revenge
on
my
father’s
failure.
I
remember
when
I
watched
the
remake
with
the
cast
and
crew,
I
had
tears
in
my
eyes.
I
could
feel
my
father’s
presence
all
through
the
making
of
the
remake.”

Sorely
missed
by
Karan
from
the
cast
of
the

Agneepath
remake
is
Rishi
Kapoor.

“Chintu
Uncle
played
an
out-and-out
villain
for
the
first
time,
and
what
a
performance!
He
won
all
the
antagonists’
awards
that
year,”
Karan
says.

“He
had
three
back-to-back
successes
with
our
Dharma
Productions
—

Agneepath,
Student
Of
The
Year
and

Kapoor
&
Sons
—
before
he
passed
away.
It
made
him
feel
very
happy.

“Agneepath
will
always,
I
think,
remain
my
father’s
own
favourites
among
the
films
my
father
produced
till,
of
course,

Kuch
Kuch
Hota
Hai
because
obviously
his
emotions
for
his
child
will
take
over.
But
till
up
to

Agneepath,
it
includes

Dostana,
Duniya,
Muqaddar
Ka
Faisla,
Gumrah,
Duplicate…

“He
was
very
proud
of
Amit
uncle’s
(Amitabh
Bachchan)
performance
and
expertise.

“I
remember
sitting
up
with
him
at
night
while
he
would
just
say
that,
you
know,
I
hope
Amitji
wins
a
National
Award
for
this
film.
And
he
did
eventually.”

At
the
previews
and
trial
shows,
Karan
remembers
everyone
raving
about

Agneepath.

“The
trial
reports
of
the
film
were
like
it’s
going
to
be
a
huge
juggernaut
at
the
box
office
and
would
explode
at
the
box
office.
Unfortunately,
when
the
film
released
in
February
1990,
there
were
mixed
opinions.

“Prior
to
release,
we
had
heard
only
exemplary
things
about
the
film,
so
it
(the
failure)
came
as
a
complete
shock
to
my
father.”

Karan
is
pleased
by
the
cult
following

Agneepath
has
acquired.

“I
realised
over
the
years
that
the
kind
of
cult
love
it
has
gleaned
is
what
you
call
‘truly
cult’.
I
think
we
use
it
incorrectly
sometimes
because
cult
is
like
a
film
that
maybe
doesn’t
have
mass
mainstream
numbers
but
has
a
huge
following.

“I
feel
like

Agneepath
got
so
much
cult
love.
The
day
Amit
Uncle
won
the
National
Award,
I
remember
it
was
announced
in
May
1991,
my
father
felt
all
his
dreams
had
come
true.
I
always
say
it’s
validation.

“Agneepath
is
one
of
those
films
that
live
beyond
box
office
numbers,
and
in
the
memory
of
cinema.”

“Somewhere,

Agneepath
is
the
reason
why
I’m
in
the
movies.

“Because
in
1992,
I
remember
Anil
Thadani
(later,
a
well
known
film
distributor)
came
up
to
me
in
college
—
and
I
was
somebody
who
was
keeping
my
father’s
film
industry
status
very
quiet
because
I
didn’t
want
to
say
I’m
from
the
movies
because
I
was
shy
about
it.

“So
he
came
up
to
me
and
asked,
‘Did
your
dad
make

Agneepath?’
So
I
was
like,
yeah.

“And
he
said,
‘My
friends
are
crazy
about
it.
We’ve
seen
it
about
a
hundred
times
on
video.’

“And
I
was
like,
oh
really?

“Adi
(Aditya
Chopra)
was
very
close
to
Anil
Thadani
and
I
connected
with
Adi
through
him.
So
I
feel
somewhere

Agneepath
paved
the
way
for
me
in
many
ways.”

Though
the
box
office
didn’t
live
up
to
expectations,
Karan
claims
the
satellite
version
gets
a
massive
response
from
the
Gen
Z
even
today.

“When
we
at
Dharma
renew
rights
for
screening,

Agneepath
is
on
top
of
the
list
of
the
older
Dharma
lot
that
people
really
want
and
to
watch.
Amit
Uncle’s
dialogues
from

Agneepath
are
quoted
even
today.

“The
texture
of
the
voice
that
everyone
wondered
whether
it
was
the
right
decision
or
not,
that
voice
is
always
mimicked,
quoted,
dialogues
are
quoted,
and
that
very
voice
became
the
signature
way
of
fans
expressing
their
love
for
Mr
Bachchan.”

“I
believe
that
Mukul
Anand’s
instinct
as
a
filmmaker
were
bang
on.
I
believe
they
needed
to
do
something
pathbreaking
with
the
character.
Changing
Amit
Uncle’s
voice
was
one
big,
strong
decision.

“I
don’t
believe
that’s
the
reason
why

Agneepath
didn’t
work.
I
feel
it
was
ahead
of
its
times
in
terms
of
its
texture.
There
was
pressure,
I
suppose,
from
exhibitors
and
distributors,
and
Amitji‘s
voice
was
redubbed.
But
I
stand
by
the
voice.

“Amit
Uncle’s
instinct
as
an
artist
was
bang-on.
He
says
it’s
his
best
performance
to
date.”