Agni movie review: Pratik Gandhi, Divyenndu, and the thanklessness of being a firefighter

Agni movie review: Pratik Gandhi, Divyenndu, and the thanklessness of being a firefighter

Rahul Dholakia’s new film on the oft-ignored, taken-for-granted everyday valour and sacrifices of our firefighters is a flicker of hope. In the age of more is more, Agni shows how impactful less can be.

Written and directed by Dholakia, Agni is strikingly different from his last outing, the hugely mounted Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Raees (2017). If the gangster-drama aimed for the sky, Agni roots itself firmly in the ground. Set in 2017 in Mumbai, Agni is a superbly cast thriller featuring some of the most underrated actors working in Hindi cinema today. 

Agni follows Vitthal Rao (Pratik Gandhi), the chief of the Parel fire station, as he goes about fighting a losing battle each day with his motley group of colleagues. They douse bellowing fires, save lives risking their own, and work punishing hours only to disappear into the shadows sans any recognition or applause. 

To show just how thankless it is to be a firefighter in a city like Mumbai that appears to be teetering on the verge of collapse, Dholakia cleverly juxtaposes Vitthal’s ordeals against the unscrupulous glory of his brother-in-law, Samit (Divyenndu), a charming police inspector with an easy conscience. Pratik Gandhi and Divyenndu reunite a second time this year after the runaway success of their laugh-riot Madgaon Express, also produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment. Their palpable, prickly chemistry shines through, compounding the stakes and the film’s central conflict.
Despite being set in a largely male profession, Agni makes enough room for its women to have their moment. Saiyami Kher is solid as Avni, a young, hardworking investigative officer in the fire department filled with righteous rage. But it’s Sai Tamhankar as Vitthal’s wife Rukmini who steals the show here. She is terrific as the constant peacemaker between her husband, brother, and son, a woman continually trying to balance her house of cards. Acutely aware of the hazards of her husband’s incendiary profession, she chooses hope over fear, her belief rewarded each night Vitthal returns home unharmed. 

Much like the film, Vijay Maurya’s dialogue hits hard without being didactic or preachy. In one scene, Avni’s boyfriend, who is also her colleague at the fire station, asks her, “Ek joke sunau? (Shall I tell you a joke?)” In no mood to humour him, she says flatly, “Apne system se koi bada joke hai toh suna. (Our system is the biggest joke).” Maurya deftly oscillates between wit—“Mira Road ka Donald Trump,” Samit calls a suspect—and poignant: “Medal chhod, medical bhi nahi dete (Forget medals, we don’t even have medical insurance),” Mahadev (Jitendra Joshi), Vitthal’s friend and fellow firefighter, laments at one point in the film. Maurya even spins Gully Boy’s memorable Apna Time Aayega and turns it into a haunting prophecy, “Sabka number aayega (Everyone’s turn will come).

Not just this, Agni also pays homage to other popular Excel movies. In the beginning, a man sells Choochaa (from Fukrey) face masks at a traffic signal. Everyone dances to Gallan Goodiyaan (from Dil Dhadakne Do) at Avni’s birthday party. Even if you miss the credits, Agni will tell you sufficiently that it is an Excel film. However, it’s not all that jarring, considering Dholakia keeps self-indulgence in check, ensuring it never overpowers the storytelling or the performances. 

From the lighting of matchsticks to the morning aartis, stove burners or entire buildings consumed by flames, fire is a recurrent motif throughout the film. Agni also wonderfully captures the irreverent banter and camaraderie that such high-risk professionals share when not throwing themselves in the line of fire. The scenes at the Parel station are some of the film’s best. 

At 124 minutes, Agni packs enough nuance to also show how the best of people can break when forced to bend over backwards for too long. No one can really explain the extent of damage that marginalisation—whether social, financial or professional—can wreak on a person’s psyche, altering it irrevocably. But shows such as Delhi Crime 2 (2022) and films like Sector 36 (2024) and now Agni try to explore the interiority behind the nefarious.

Though Divyenndu has a crucial part to play, Agni is a Pratik Gandhi film. He is all kinds of wonderful, just like he was in Modern Love Mumbai (2022), Madgaon Express (2024), and Do Aur Do Pyaar (2024). Go for the film’s keenly observed commentary, stay for him.

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