Soldiers, cops and gangsters are well-ensconced in Hindi cinema’s consciousness. But firefighters have never made it beyond a stray mention here or a passing reference there in Mumbai movies. Agni, writer-director Rahul Dholakia’s first film in seven years, is an emphatic departure from the norm.
Produced by Excel Entertainment and streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Agni is a consistently watchable thriller that not only gives firefighters their due but also redefines the notions of heroism that are perpetuated by conventional action movies.
It delivers thrills and drama in ample measure without having to take recourse to blazing gunfights and heart-pounding chases. The film’s intensity and impact are marked by a quiet, coiled-up quality. The dialogue written by Vijay Maurya lends Agni a timbre that is firmly rooted in the world in which it plays out.
Instead of gun-wielding heroes and villains, or glib-talking encounter specialists and super sleuths, Dholakia’s screenplay trains the spotlight on those who save lives or sacrifice theirs in the line of duty. These aren’t armed men. They fight infernos with hosepipes.
But the film isn’t only about the sorties that firefighters make. It is equally concerned with the emotional and psychological toll that the battles with monster blazes take on people in the thick of the action and their families.
With all the authenticity that it can pack into a story rooted in fiction but backed by research, Agni explores the emotions, frustrations and misgivings that inevitably come into play in severely fraught situations that call for split-second decisions. The frequently tragic aftermath of the brave actions of the firefighters constitutes a crucial part of the narrative.
The Pratik Gandhi-led film is a tribute to, and a celebration of, men and women who perform a dangerous job in complete anonymity day in and day out and receive little recompense from those that they serve or save. Showcasing their unsung heroism, Agni seeks to show the audience what courage under fire really looks like.
One of the key characters in Agni is a police officer, Samit Sawant (Divyenndu), who calls his team Avengers, but the story is principally about firefighter Vitthal Rao Surve (Gandhi) and how he deals with his vocation and the challenges around and beyond it.
A significant strand of the film revolves around Surve’s son Amar (Kabir Shah), who idolises Sawant and thinks nothing of what his ‘unglamorous’ dad does for a living. For the boy, the much-feted policeman is a real hero.
The contrast between law and order and firefighters’ calling is repeatedly underscored in Agni. In a party sequence, Surve cracks a stinging joke at the expense of the police when one of Sawant’s men ridicules firefighters as a tribe. There is obviously little love lost between the two groups of professionals.
Beyond the father-son relationship and the frosty equations between Samit Sawant and Vitthal Surve, the film explores larger personal and public issues that the firefighters confront as they go about their lives and jobs.
Medal chhor medical bhi nahin dete (forget medals, they do not even give us a medical allowance), veteran fireman Mahadev (Jitendra Joshi) laments in the course of a heart-to-heart with a drinking mate Surve.
Surve and Sawant, temperamentally dissimilar men, are related to each other. Senior Inspector Sawant’s sister Rukmini (Sai Tamhankar) is Surve’s wife. They inhabit parallel universes that begin to intertwine with each other when Mumbai is hit by a series of fires.
While the chief of the Parel Fire Station and his team battle blazes that are reported in quick succession from around the city – a busy restaurant, a residential building, a coaching centre and a garment factory are among the affected sites – Sawant and his men are deployed by the city administration to investigate the incidents.
The fire department, too, has its own internal probe officer, Avni Purohit (Saiyami Kher). She stumbles upon a bunch of violations of safety rules. She suspects sabotage and arson. However, no matter how diligently she tries to gather proof, a wall blocks her way.
Is a pyromaniac on the prowl? Is an unscrupulous builder out to raze existing structures in order to further his real estate business? Or are the fires mere accidents? Neither the police nor the Department of Fire has the answer. The search for the truth is riddled with imponderables.
Avni’s love interest, fellow firefighter Joseph “Jazz” Castellino (Udit Arora), provides an added dimension to the plot. The romantic thread that the relationship contributes to the film serves to strengthen its core argument about the perils of the profession.
Agni delivers an unexpected twist in the lead-up to the climax that puts in perspective the anger, disillusionment and helplessness that hounds men who put their lives on the line to keep the city safe.
Jwale mein jo jeete hain woh amar ho jaate hain (those who exist in the midst of fire attain immortality), says a disembodied voice in the film’s opening moments. The irony is stark. That line is repeated in the film’s final act to provide a context for the thanklessness of the firefighter’s job
The unconventionality of Agni as an action film springs primarily from the kind of man that Vitthal Surve is. He is shorn of the sort of masculinity that Hindi movie heroes are usually endowed with. He is frail but tough. He has weak lungs that often act up.
Surve is often precariously short of breath – a condition that makes him vulnerable when he has to barge into smoke-filled buildings and take on raging fires. But the gritty man’s spirit never flags. He labours on regardless.
Pratik Gandhi carries the film on his shoulders without letting the burden show. Divyenndu does not get his share of the action until the fag-end of the film but the role gives him enough leeway to make an impression. Among the others in the cast, Saiyami Kher and Jitendra Joshi stand out.
Agni is a deep dive into a world where each day is a matter of life and death. It is deftly crafted, instantly immersive and infused with unvarnished veracity.