Film

Agneepath

Name: Agneepath
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Released: 2012
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Rishi Kapoor, Zarina Wahab

Other titles called Agneepath: the 1990 film.

A muscular, relentless revenge epic about a man clawing his way up Mumbai's criminal underworld to avenge his father's murder. Hrithik Roshan carries the film with physicality and barely restrained rage. It's long, violent, and operatic—a Bollywood action film that doesn't apologize for wanting to be big.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want a sprawling, operatic revenge saga where Bollywood melodrama, gangland menace and big emotional set-pieces are all turned up to full volume, and you enjoy a lead who commits completely.

Skip it if you find long, heightened melodrama tiring at nearly three hours, since its tone swings hard between grit and gloss and rarely eases off.

What it asks of you: Settle in for close to three hours of sustained intensity, with long stretches of brooding and sudden bursts of violence, and give it your full attention.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

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Khakee2004

A heist-thriller with Amitabh Bachchan and an ensemble cast orchestrating a gold robbery. Taut, clever, and focused—Bollywood crime done with real craft and momentum.

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Raees2017

Shah Rukh Khan as a charismatic smuggler building an empire in Gujarat. Slick production, strong supporting cast, and a genuine cat-and-mouse tension between crime and law.

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Agneepath

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Satya1998

Both follow a man's descent into Mumbai crime, but Satya is the anti-Agneepath—where Agneepath celebrates the rise, Satya asks what the cost actually is.

A young man drifts into Mumbai's criminal underworld and becomes a police informant caught between loyalty and survival. It's a document of how systemic violence corrupts everyone—cop, criminal, civilian. Visually inventive and genuinely tragic, not triumphant.

But The film refuses to make its protagonist heroic or victorious. If you need your revenge story to end in catharsis, this will feel bleak and unearned.

Drishyam2015

A man uses his obsessive film knowledge to outsmart a police investigation into a possible crime. Genuinely clever, tightly plotted, and Ajay Devgn gives a controlled, intelligent performance.

But It's a puzzle-box thriller, not an action film. Long stretches of talking and scheming, no fights or chases.

Sarkar2005

Amitabh Bachchan as a vigilante taking down corruption and organized crime through brutal efficiency. Angry, focused, visually stylish, and surprisingly effective at channeling righteous fury.

But It's essentially a hero-beats-up-bad-guys fantasy with minimal plot. The politics are stated rather than explored.

Natrang2010

A classical theater actor's life spirals into delusion and violence. Marathi cinema at its most ambitious—visually inventive, tonally fearless, and genuinely unsettling.

But It's deeply strange and won't feel like mainstream Bollywood. The second half abandons naturalism entirely, which some find brilliant and others find indulgent.

Rang De Basanti2006

A documentary filmmaker brings a group of friends into a political thriller about corruption. Spectacularly entertaining, with real warmth between the cast and genuine stakes in its final act.

But The first half is almost a rom-com romance drama. If you skip past character setup, you'll miss why the climax lands.

Sholay1975

The foundational Bollywood action-crime film. Two drifters hired to stop a dacoit. Endlessly rewatchable—it created the language modern Hindi cinema still speaks.

But It's nearly three hours long, and the pacing assumes you'll let it breathe. Some sections drag by modern standards.

Road to Perdition2002

Tom Hanks as a mob enforcer protecting his son while being hunted. A western-noir crime story with Roger Deakins' cinematography making every frame ache with mortality and regret.

But It's meditative and elegiac rather than exciting. Violence is rare and devastating, not cathartic. Some find it slow.

Once Upon a Time in the West1968

Same emotional engine—a man bound by vengeance, pursuing it across landscapes, knowing it will destroy him. But Leone suggests that vengeance is folly; Agneepath celebrates it as purity. Two opposite answers to the same question.

Sergio Leone's masterpiece about revenge, greed, and frontier justice. Spare, operatic, with almost no dialogue but tremendous visual storytelling. A meditation on why men kill and what it costs them.

But It's a western from 1968 and moves at a stately pace. Silence and stillness do the work. If you want quipping heroes or regular action beats, it will feel glacial.

The Man from Nowhere2010

Similar revenge-through-crime setup, but in a completely different register—intimate, controlled, northern Asian restraint instead of operatic scale. Shows how the same story shape works in a whisper instead of a shout.

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But It's a lean, efficient thriller without spectacle or humor. The tone is cold and serious throughout. Some find it distant where Bollywood is warm.