Agni Varsha

Agnivarsha: The Fire and the Rain
Directed by	Arjun Sajnani
Written by	Girish Karnad
Screenplay by	Anil Mehta Arjun Sajnani Jayshree T. (credited as T. Tayashree)
Produced by	Kashish Bhatnagar
Starring	Amitabh Bachchan Jackie Shroff Nagarjuna Raveena Tandon
Cinematography	Anil Mehta
Edited by	Jabeen Merchant
Music by	Sandesh Shandilya Taufiq Qureshi
Production company	I Dream Productions
Distributed by	Cinebella
Release date	30 August 2002
Running time	130 Minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Box office	India: $51,549

Agni Varsha is 2002 critically acclaimed epic Hindi film produced by Kashish Bhatnagar on I Dream Productions banner, directed by Arjun Sajnani. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Nagarjuna, Raveena Tandon in lead roles and music composed by Sandesh Shandilya & Taufiq Qureshi. The film is a silver screen adaptation of Girish Karnad's Mahabharat play "The Fire and The Rain". The film's art direction was handled by Shashidhar Adapa and Choreography was handled by Prabhu Deva. The film recorded as flop at box-office.

Plot

In a kingdom stricken with drought for past few years, Arvasu (Milind Soman), a brahman loves Nittilai (Sonali Kulkarni) a tribal girl, who seeks approval of her father and village's elders before marrying him. Arvasu's brother, Parvasu (Jackie Shroff) has been conducting a major prayer ceremony to appease the god of rains, Indra (Amitabh Bachchan). Arvasu's father, Raibhya dislikes both his sons and suspects Vishaka (Raveena Tandon) Parvasu's wife, of having an affair with Yavakri (Nagarjuna),based on the fact that Yavarki and Vishaka loved each other, before Yavarki left village to worship Devraj Indra. On a day of his return, Yavakri finds Vishakha returning from well. She, at first, refuses him but ultimately gives up and they start making love in the woods. Nittilai and Aravasu see them.

Upon reaching home, on being accused of adultery by Raibhya, Vishakha enraged tells him that she was with Yavakri. An enraged Raibhya summons a Brahm Rakshas (Prabhu Deva) to kill Yavarki. He also declares that Yavakri can save himself if he enters the ashram of his father, this shall declare him as a coward. Yavakri, wanting to prove his strength waits for the demon to arrive. Vishakha warns him and tells him to flee to his father's ashram, which shall force Raibhya to immolate himself. The demon slays Yavakri in one shot. Vishakha pleads Arvasu to cremate him; this delays his appointment with Nittilai's father and her village elders, and, as a result, she is forced to marry a fellow tribesman.

Parvasu sneaks in the night to meet Vishakha. Vishakha confesses everything and begs him to kill her, but Paravasu raises the arrow and shoots at his father. The next day when Aravasu comes to the city after cremating his father Paravasu subsequently blames Arvasu for this and has him badly beaten up. When Nittilai hears of this, she comes to the rescue of Arvasu and finds that she is being hunted by her husband and her brother, who will kill her on sight for dishonoring the tribe's customs.

Sutradhar (Raghuvir Yadav) arranges an act to entertain the Devas and chooses Arvasu an important role. During the act, under the influence of bhang, Arvasu goes berserk, destroying the haven and throwing the offerings to the starved locals. Nittilai, in an attempt to stop Arvasu, exposes herself and is killed by her husband; Parvasu admits failure, confessing his murder of his father and cremate's himself in the yajna's pyre. Finally appeased, Devraj Indra appears, and Arvasu is allowed a wish of his choice. Brahm Rakshas comes and begs him to set his soul free while Aravasu himself wants Nittilai back to live. Aravasu, with teary eyes, asks Indra to set the Demon's soul free, which is followed by rain.

Cast

• Amitabh Bachchan - Indra
• Nagarjuna - Yavakri
• Jackie Shroff - Paravasu
• Raveena Tandon - Vishakha
• Milind Soman - Arvasu
• Prabhu Deva - Rakshasa
• Mohan Agashe - Raibhya
• Kumar Iyengar - Senior Courtier
• Sonali Kulkarni - Nittilai
• Deepti Bhatnagar
• Raghuvir Yadav - Actor Manager (Sutradhar)
• Nikita Athena Rajwade

Soundtrack

Untitled

Music composed by Sandesh Shandilya. Lyrics written by Javed Akhtar. Music released on T-Series Ausio Company.

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Anchal Ki Chhaya"	Pamela Jain	5:34
2.	"Chal Re Sajan"	Jaspinder Narula	5:10
3.	"Din Andhiyaare"	Ustad Sultan Khan	4:12
4.	"Dole Re"	KK, K S Chithra	5:09
5.	"Prem Ki Varsha"	Alka Yagnik	5:02
Total length:			25:07

References

• http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa091502a.htm
• Mast-Mast off the beaten track... The Hindu, 2 September 2002.
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110717022335/http://archive.thepeninsulaqatar.com/component/content/article/348-indiaarchiverest/64239.html
• The agni in Arjun The Hindu, 2 September 2002.
• Agni Varsha (2002) Yahoo! Movies

External links

• Agnivarsha: The Fire and the Rain at IMDb
• Agnivarsha - The Fire and the Rain at Box Office Mojo