Well, writing a review after such a long time after the release probably does not make sense. But here is my rant anyways, for what it’s worth.
There is never much which inspires me to watch Bollywood potboilers. I don’t believe that I should patronize the Mumbai underworld with my hard-earned money. But, Agni Varsha seemed different. I ignore reviews by the kiss-ass movie journalists of the ’’Times of India’’ or MSN.com either. So I got my initial good impressions from the movie promos ..... A movie based on a book (one from Girish Karnad nonetheless), probably a one of its kind in Bollywood.... a mythological - a movie genre which the sundry moronic producers of Bollywood will never make .... lots of cool shots in ancient ruins....
The actual movie experience leaves a lot to be desired. The look and feel starts to disappoint from take one. For one, the characters look remarkably well-fed .This is a drought-infested area for god’s sake and Yavakri is supposed to have undergone a ten-year penance. Everybody seems to be clad in designer clothes. The story is set in ancient India so the dialog with its sprinkling of Urdu words (as noticed by the other reviewers here) is jarring.
Get past this and you come to the bane of any good Hindi movie .... the songs. Unless they complement the story line, even the very best songs always, repeat always break the story line. The songs in this movie being forgettable and really of the lowest quality, veritably destroy the flow. The music is jazzy, not suitable for the settings. Wonder why the simple act of walking, in Hindi movie has to be accompanied by some sort of music.
The performances are mixed with Milind Soman’s perennial stupid boy look and Prabhu Deva’s amusing attempt to improvise on how a demon looks and behaves... His ’’entry’’ though is spine-chilling and features one of the best special effects to grace the Hindi movie scene. Mohan Agashe, as a ruthless manipulator and arrogant sage is brilliant. Jackie Shroff acts as if he is sleepwalking. His attempts at conveying a somber sage is totally off target. Sonali Kulkarni is also very good as a angry hunter girl who despises all Brahmins, except her lover.
In general, one gets the impression after a while that this movie intends to dazzle instead of telling a story and that, at least for me, was a letdown. It seems too intent gazing upon itself to tell the story set in ancient times with its lot of forbidden love, lust, superstition and sacrifice ... a mixture of emotions which only the stories of the Puranas seem to weave magnificently in every one of its epics.