bandook bhii dikhaataa hai aur peechhe bhii haTtaa hai

Film : Agnipath

Year of release : 1990

Spoken by : Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Kaancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa)

Dialogue writer : Kader Khan

One of my pet peeves about this film is that everyone calls it Agneepath. While the Johars might have numerological reasons to do so, the people who speak the language have no such reasons. It is, and shall remain for all times to come - AGNIPATH. Now that I have ranted, we get back to this line.

This is a film that got Mr Bachchan his first National Award, though it seemed like the kind of film which justified taking back all rewards given until then. I liked Danny much more than Amitabh and the lesser said about Krishnan Iyer yum yay the better. Roles where accents are required should generally be given to people who either have a neutral accent or the required accent. Mithun has not been able to speak Hindi properly all his life, and he dares to attempt a Tamil accent. Oh the miseries heaped upon us by M/s Johar and Anand. Since both of them are dead, I shall say nothing further.

But I have met a lot of people who adore this film. This film has been part of growing up for many of my friends (like Shiva for me). And I cannot ignore such overwhelming feedback.

Hence I have seen this movie three more times to see what they see in it. I have now put it down to their oculists. But I cannot deny that there are some interesting and stylised lines in this film.

Towards the end, Vijay lures Kaanchaa to his old village and once he has set his trap, he reveals to Kaancha that he is actually the son of Master Deenanath (the man who was brutally lynched to death by Kaancha's henchmen), A cornered Kaancha takes out his revolver and simultaneously, almost instinctively, backs up a few steps. He says

"tumko bhii pataa nahee.n chalegaa, ki kitnee jaldee tum maasTar dinaanaath ke raaste pe chal paDe ho. "

"ei...kaanchaa...saalaa bandook bhii dikhaataa hai aur peechhe bhii haTtaa hai. hai.n. peechhe nahee.n haTne kaa kaanchaa. "

"एई...कांचा...साला बन्दूक भी दिखाता है और पीछे भी हटता है. हैं. पीछे नहीं हटने का कांचा."

Having observed a lot of street fights, I do know one thing. Having a weapon does not always give you the confidence to attack. The confidence to attack or the killer instinct comes naturally. There is a great Damini dialogue about that. I will feature that later.