From the maverick director Ram Gopal Varma comes the much publicized film that is said to be the remake of the cult classic Sholay , that was earlier titled Ram Gopal Varma Ki Sholay , but now, due to legal hassles, has been renamed as 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag'.
In the dark underbelly of Mumbai City a nihilistic new leader has risen to rule the fetid underworld. His name is Babban Singh played by Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan . Cruel beyond imagination, psychotically violent and far more devious than any gangster the city has ever known. Babban perceives other human beings as objects to amuse or occupy him with. When he speaks, he does so to voice his own thoughts. He does not engage in conversation with anyone. He likes to play with his victims. When Babban is angry, his eyes take on a glazed look. He seems to be looking at you as you speak, but the focus of his gaze rests in the middle distance. It's as if he's looking right through you. He loves people who challenge him, as then he can enjoy killing them more.
Hirendra Chavan alias Heero ( Ajay Devgan ), Raj Ranade ( Prashant Raj ) are two young men from Latur, who arrive in the megapolis of Mumbai with as big sized dreams of buying out the city. It's another matter that Heero and Raj are jobless and don't have enough money even to buy a decent meal. Childhood friends, their loyalty is absolute with the younger Raj looking up to the elder Heero.
Portrayed by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal , Narsimha's eyes retain composure at all times. Dark circles collected over sleepless nights betray the fact he is a man tormented by his own past. Nobody has ever seen Babban and if they did, they didn't survive to tell the tale. But one man believed in his existence. And that is inspector Narsimha, an encounter specialist who has a single-minded determination to finish Babban. His thoughts have single point of focus: Babban.
Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen is Durga Devi - a trained nurse her life blossomed when love happened... and then tragedy struck. Stoic, dignified, silent, her demeanor hid an inner strength that at times raised itself beyond what one would expect from a woman.
Sex-bomb Nisha Kothari is Ghungroo, who drives a 'rickshaw' named 'Laila'. Laila is her best friend and confidante. Ghungroo is Mumbai city's only woman rickshaw driver. She knows all the shortcuts in Mumbai city. She talks switching between Marathi, Hindi and English. She'd like you to believe she's a man. But deep inside, she is all woman.
Within a week of their arrival on the recommendation of an old acquaintance of theirs called Soorma ( Rajpal Yadav ) who runs a dance bar, Heero and Raj find work with Shambhul Seth, a criminal with heavy underworld connections and also high on the police scanner.
In his pursuit of Shambhul, Inspector Narsimha comes into contact with Heero and Raj. On meeting them, he realizes that these were no hardened criminals. Small time hoodlums, perhaps, but deep inside their values were still intact. He chose to appeal to the honesty in them.
Inspector Narsimha exposes Heero and Raj to Shambhul's criminal past, who are surprised by this. They agree to help in whatever way they could. The inspector in the process of trying to get Shambhul got into a deadly trap and both Heero and Raj in a show of extraordinary courage and strength managed to rescue him and managed to finish off Shambhul Seth. But in the bargain, Heero and Raj are arrested as well for associating with a criminal and for a while went to jail.
Much later, when Inspector Narsimha needs help in his hunt for Babban Singh, his brief impression of Heero and Raj returns to him. Since Inspector Narsimha cannot expect the police to help in a quest for personal revenge, and his principles would not allow him to turn to the underworld for help, he decides to enlist the help of Heero and Raj.
How Inspector Narsimha takes his revenge on Babban Singh with the help of Heero and Raj then forms the crux of the story.
Though the film is widely conceived to be a remake of 'Sholay', Ram Gopal Varma gives his own interpretation to the film that is regarded as the Bible of Hindi cinema. And true to his nature, Ramu doesn't cease to surprise and says he has changed many things in his modern version of 'Sholay' like the title itself and also the names of the characters.
Thakur in 'Sholay' has become Narsimha in Ramu's movie. Radha has become Durga, Basanti has become Ghungroo, Veeru has become Heero and Jai has become Raj, Gabbar Singh will be called Babban Singh. Apart from the names, the characters themselves would be different. Babban, for instance, will have much larger footage in the film. Also, he would be more vengeful, almost like a psychopath. Instead of chopping Narsimha's hands, Babban only cuts his fingers. Durga has a muted aggression in her character. She is clad in black, and has suppressed anger within. Since the movie is set in Mumbai, Ghungroo drives an auto rickshaw and not a tonga. Even the roles played by Ajay Devgan and Prashant Raj are different.
A major attraction of the film is Urmila Matondkar gyrating to the modern version of one of the most famous dance numbers from Hindi cinema Mehbooba Mehbooba The promos show the hot looking Urmila in a sexy, low-neck, red colored outfit shaking her enormous bust and booty to the techno composition by choreographer Ganesh Hegde.
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