Hrithik, not Abhishek to star in 'Agneepath' remake

Mumbai: Anyone would think that Abhishek Bachchan would be the natural choice to play Amitabh Bachchan's role in a Agneepath remake. However, Hrithik Roshan has been roped in to play the part in the new-age Agneepath, while Mithun Chakraborty's award winning character has been completely done away with.

"When the idea of re-making Agneepath came to producer Karan Johar, he right away locked in on Hrithik Roshan. It was a commitment to the actor, who is very keen to give his own interpretation to the character," a source revealed.

In fact, it was presumed by a very large section of the entertainment industry that Abhishek would play the eponymous part of Vijay Dinanath Chauvan. And Jaya Bachchan would play Vijay's mother, played with brilliant poignancy by Rohini Hattangadi in the cult original directed by the late Mukul Anand.

However, contrary to popular opinion, Abhishek was never offered the role in the remake.

"Hrithik will play it closer to Al Pacino in Scarface than Mr. Bachchan in Agneepath," says a source.

Agneepath, it would be recalled, was deeply influenced by Scarface. The remake, written and directed by debutant Karan Malhotra purports to pay homage to Scarface.

While refusing to discuss the cast, producer Karan Johar says, "All I can say is that my Agneepath is radically different from the Agneepath that my (late) father (Yash Johar) produced. We've completely done away with the south Indian character played by Mithun Chakraborty in the original."

With that information, Mithun's dreams of seeing his son Mimoh cast on the role he originally played also goes up in flames.

Karan Johar's Agneepath would be a solo act featuring Roshan Jr, who will experiment with the rasping dialogue-delivery that Big B had attempted in the original 1990's gangster film.

Many thought that it was his gravelly way of speaking in Agneepath that made the movie a hit. But, Hrithik is determined to prove all the self-appointed soothsayers wrong.

"My father was very proud of Agneepath. I hope I don't let him down with my version of the film. Amit-ji had won the National award for it, it's a tough act to follow for any actor," Karan says.