Rahul Dholakia’s Agni bravely goes into the life of firefighters who put their lives at utmost risk and get nothing in return.
Not even a thanks, as one embittered firefighter Mahadev Nigade (Jeetendra Joshi) tells his colleague in the best take-out moment when the two share drinks, in a film that has a lot going for itself…until the climactic twist which is not just redundant and irrelevant, it also takes away from the overall impact of the gritty production, turning the lofty spirit into pulp in a gulp.
Making a film on the lives of firefighters might not be much of a compensation for the lives lived thanklessly on the edge. Rahul Dholakia enunciates the struggles of this tireless tribe of heroes without romanticizing it.
There is our hero Vitthal Rao( Pratik Gandhi, who as usual demonstrates his joyous immersion into his character) whose own young son shows scant respect for his father and prefers to be dazzled by his uncle Samit Sawant(Divyendu Sharma playing the part in a stream of sarcasm).
The two actors do their yin and yang without tripping over the live wires that are strewn all over the narration especially towards the end. Sai Tamhankar too is reliably dedicated in her cliched role as Vitthal’s disenchanted but supportive wife.
The female actor who gets the rawest end of the stick is Saiyami Sher as Avni. As the only woman among the firefighters we needed to know more about her struggles. Sadly, even when her soul mate Jazz (Udit Arora) perishes in the line of duty, the plot gives Avni little room to grieve.
There is no room to breathe in Dholakia’s world of agni truth. Speed, sadly, suits a fire brigade. Not a film on those who ride to grave risk in it. We would have liked to see more about their lives beyond the ungrateful rescued, unsupportive families and of course selfseeking politicians. That said Agni gets its emotional quotient right. You may not get a chance to view every character upclose and personally. But the fire that rages in their lives will singe you for sure.
