Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Jackie Shroff | ... | Paravasu | |
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Kumar Iyengar | ... | Senior Courtier |
Raveena Tandon | ... | Vishakha | |
Nagarjuna Akkineni | ... | Yavakri (as Nagarjuna) | |
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Ashfaq Rauf | ... | King |
Milind Soman | ... | Arvasu | |
Sonali Kulkarni | ... | Nittilai | |
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Gopal Piplani | ... | Junior Courtier |
Prabhu Deva | ... | Rakshasa (as Prabhudeva) | |
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Tarun Kapoor | ... | Courtier |
Raghuvir Yadav | ... | Actor Manager (Sutradhar) | |
Mohan Agashe | ... | Raibhya | |
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Veena Sajnani | ... | Actor Manager's Wife |
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Sandeep B.G. | ... | Vishwa |
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Zul Vellani | ... | Andhaka |
This is the story of wronged and misunderstood Arvasu (Milind Soman), a brahman by caste, who has become a performing actor. He loves Nittilai (Sonali Kulkarni), who reciprocates his love, but seeks approval of her father and her village's elders before marrying him. Arvasu's brother is Parvasu (Jackie Shroff) who has been conducting a major prayer ceremony to appease Devraj Indra (Amitabh Bachchan) so that their region may get rain. Arvasu's father is Raibhya (Mohan Agashe), who dislikes both his sons, and wishes that he cremate them before his death. Raibhyu, suspects Vishaka (Raveena Tandon) Parvasu's wife, of having an illicit affair with Yarvaki (Nagarjuna), and detests her. Yavarki loves Vishaka, but left her to worship and pray to Devraj Indra for 10 years, and on his return found her married to Parvasu. Parvasu married Vishaka, lived with her happily for 3 years, before leaving her to conduct the prayer ceremoney for Devraj Indra. On finding that Vishaka has met with Yavarki, ... Written by rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)
In these days of paper-thin plots and the MTV-inspired pastiche that passes of as 'style' you seriously wonder if you'd ever again get to see a reasonably thoughtful, cultured film; and then a film like 'Agni Varsha' drops into view. I must say I was expecting to be very disappointed, that it'd be a half-baked venture with a few sops. But man, was I wrong. The film isn't flawless and some of the bad patches are serious, but it has a genuine thought process and its heart is in the right place
Raveena Tandon immerses herself into the sensuous Vishaka and, given her past body of work, comes across as stunning, yes, positively stunning. Director Sajnani comes across splendidly in most part, with a feel for the genuinely dramatic element and a fearless use of erudite symbolism. The film harks back in spirit to Benegal's "Bharat -Ek Khoj" serial where multiple techniques were used, blending cinematic and theatrical elements into a meaningful whole. A few failings, mainly in the spirit of enhancing the film's commercial value, but still what vision!