'Prior to release, we heard only exemplary things about the film, so the failure came as a complete shock to my father.'
Mukul Anand's Agneepath fetched Amitabh Bachchan a National Award for Best Actor. But this gangster epic's destiny was enormously stormy.
"My father's production Agneepath released in 1990. My father had pinned a lot of hope on it. When it flopped, for various reasons, it left my father disillusioned. He truly believed Agneepath told a great story," Karan Johar tells Subhash K Jha.
One reason for its failure was Bachchan's voice which he transformed into a gravelly baritone for his character of a gangster.
When Agneepath showed no signs of gathering momentum at the box office, Bachchan re-dubbed the dialogues and the film was put out with his normal voice on the soundtrack.
"By then, it was too late for the film to do a turnaround," Karan says.
"I believe Agneepath was ahead of its times. Fourteen years later, I decided to remake Agneepath as homage to my father's labour of love. I gave Director Karan Malhotra the freedom to do anything he wanted. Hence, the changes in the original were all his idea, including the item song Chikni Chameli."
The success of the Agneepath remake was a personal triumph for Karan after the failure of the original. "I would say it was my revenge on my father's failure. I remember when I watched the remake with the cast and crew, I had tears in my eyes. I could feel my father's presence all through the making of the remake."
Sorely missed by Karan from the cast of the Agneepath remake is Rishi Kapoor.
"Chintu Uncle played an out-and-out villain for the first time, and what a performance! He won all the antagonists' awards that year," Karan says.
"He had three back-to-back successes with our Dharma Productions -- Agneepath, Student Of The Year and Kapoor & Sons -- before he passed away. It made him feel very happy.
"Agneepath will always, I think, remain my father's own favourites among the films my father produced till, of course, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai because obviously his emotions for his child will take over. But till up to Agneepath, it includes Dostana, Duniya, Muqaddar Ka Faisla, Gumrah, Duplicate...
"He was very proud of Amit uncle's (Amitabh Bachchan) performance and expertise.
"I remember sitting up with him at night while he would just say that, you know, I hope Amitji wins a National Award for this film. And he did eventually."
At the previews and trial shows, Karan remembers everyone raving about Agneepath.
"The trial reports of the film were like it's going to be a huge juggernaut at the box office and would explode at the box office. Unfortunately, when the film released in February 1990, there were mixed opinions.
"Prior to release, we had heard only exemplary things about the film, so it (the failure) came as a complete shock to my father."
Karan is pleased by the cult following Agneepath has acquired.
"I realised over the years that the kind of cult love it has gleaned is what you call 'truly cult'. I think we use it incorrectly sometimes because cult is like a film that maybe doesn't have mass mainstream numbers but has a huge following.
"I feel like Agneepath got so much cult love. The day Amit Uncle won the National Award, I remember it was announced in May 1991, my father felt all his dreams had come true. I always say it's validation.
"Agneepath is one of those films that live beyond box office numbers, and in the memory of cinema."
"Somewhere, Agneepath is the reason why I'm in the movies.
"Because in 1992, I remember Anil Thadani (later, a well known film distributor) came up to me in college -- and I was somebody who was keeping my father's film industry status very quiet because I didn't want to say I'm from the movies because I was shy about it.
"So he came up to me and asked, 'Did your dad make Agneepath?' So I was like, yeah.
"And he said, 'My friends are crazy about it. We've seen it about a hundred times on video.'
"And I was like, oh really?
"Adi (Aditya Chopra) was very close to Anil Thadani and I connected with Adi through him. So I feel somewhere Agneepath paved the way for me in many ways."
Though the box office didn't live up to expectations, Karan claims the satellite version gets a massive response from the Gen Z even today.
"When we at Dharma renew rights for screening, Agneepath is on top of the list of the older Dharma lot that people really want and to watch. Amit Uncle's dialogues from Agneepath are quoted even today.
"The texture of the voice that everyone wondered whether it was the right decision or not, that voice is always mimicked, quoted, dialogues are quoted, and that very voice became the signature way of fans expressing their love for Mr Bachchan."
"I believe that Mukul Anand's instinct as a filmmaker were bang on. I believe they needed to do something pathbreaking with the character. Changing Amit Uncle's voice was one big, strong decision.
"I don't believe that's the reason why Agneepath didn't work. I feel it was ahead of its times in terms of its texture. There was pressure, I suppose, from exhibitors and distributors, and Amitji's voice was redubbed. But I stand by the voice.
"Amit Uncle's instinct as an artist was bang-on. He says it's his best performance to date."
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