Fighting Fire:
Soldiers and police officers have been lionized in many films; Rahul Dholakia’s Agni (on Amazon Prime Video) asks why firefighters, who also risk their lives to save people, are never given their due. “Can you name a single firefighter?” asks a disgruntled character in the film, and it’s true, the layperson would not be able to. Because their live-saving work is taken for granted.
As the protagonist of Agni, Vitthal Surve (Pratik Gandhi), observes bitterly, not even his son is proud of him. The kid admires his uncle, a swaggering cop, Samit Sawant (Divenndu Sharma), whose exploits are always in the media, while firefighters only appear in death notices. Samit lives in a swanky apartment, while Vitthal lives in a tiny flat over the fire station. His wife, Rukmini (Sai Tamhankar) has a removing the evil eye kind of ritual she performs every time he comes home, because she is never sure he will return after entering a burning building. At the fire station a team member also performs an elaborate routine, every morning, as if to appease the gods.
Often the firefighters under his charge—including the sole female, Avni (Saiyami Kher)—go without sleep for days, because every time a call comes, they have to be ready to rush to the site. Avni has a romantic interest in fellow firefighter, Jazz (Udit Arora). In focusing on Vittal and his resentments, Dholakia misses out perhaps on an interesting Avni story, like how did a woman decide on joining the Fire Brigade?
Having chosen an unusual subject, Dholakia and his co-writer Vijay Maurya come up with a paint-by-numbers script, talking about more than showing the causes of fire in Mumbai – the flouting of fire safety rules, corruption in the department in charge of enforcing regulations, and political apathy. The deputy CM (Anant Jog) is portrayed as a buffoon, who is not bothered about the increasing case of fire in the city. The population density makes Mumbai a disaster waiting to happen. There is often arson involved, and an unscrupulous builder taking advantage by buying charred properties cheap. The film picks up real incidents of major fires in Mumbai—like the one in a hotel, or coaching class; apart from fires there have been several building collapses too, which would come under the purview of the Fire Brigade. However, the thriller and far-fetched revenge aspect that is added on – it would be a spoiler to reveal details—negates a lot of points Vitthal raises in the film. The climax could not have been more predictable!
The fire and rescue scenes are terrifying, nevertheless, and the courage of the firefighters is exemplary. Which is what makes Agni a worthy tribute to the bravehearts of the Fire Brigade.
Pratik Gandhi brings alive his role—the humour in his interactions with a traffic cop, the sniping with brother-in-law Samit, and tenderness with his wife—he gets it all down with remarkable ease. Divenndu Sharma does not have much to do, but he lightens up the sombre mood of the film when he is on screen. It’s also admirable how the women, Saiyami Kher and Sai Tamhankar, are not side-lined, but are given parts that convey their strength of character.
For all its flaws, Agni is a clutter-breaking film, and its portrayal of the lives of firefighters, is a case of better late than never.
(This piece first appeared in rediff.com)
