Rahul Dholakia said he made Agni to bring attention to the work of Mumbai firefighters, whom he felt were undervalued and overlooked. He told Scroll that the film’s purpose became clearer after it was screened for firefighters and he heard their accounts of feeling ignored.
What led Dholakia to make a film about firefighters?
Dholakia’s interest grew out of two encounters with stories about firefighters. He had directed a documentary in the United States about the 2021 Police Unity Tour in New Jersey, an event commemorating police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. He was also moved by an account of a terminally ill boy whose wish to become a firefighter was fulfilled by making him fire marshal for a day.
Those stories prompted him to ask how firefighters in Mumbai viewed their work and the recognition they received. In conversations he recalled, personnel said their contribution to public safety went unnoticed. One complaint was that movie stars attended events organised by Mumbai police, while prominent people did not turn up for firefighters. Dholakia also recounted a Delhi firefighter’s view that firefighters worked hard for low pay.
These are accounts Dholakia shared in the Scroll interview published on 3 December 2024, not measured findings about all firefighters or fire services in India. He summed up his view of their social position this way: “These guys are marginalised in our society in every way.”
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How did those conversations shape Agni?
Agni follows a Mumbai fire-station unit led by Vitthal, played by Pratik Gandhi. As the firefighters respond to blazes, they confront the possibility that an arsonist is at work. Police officer Samit, played by Divyenndu, becomes involved in the investigation. The Prime Video listing describes a mysterious rise in fires and an uneasy partnership between a firefighter and a police officer.
Research into the station and its routines
Dholakia said the filmmakers researched emergency response as well as firefighters’ living conditions. The production built a replica of the fire-station chief’s actual house at Indira Docks, which he described as small and resembling a train compartment. He said other firefighters lived in small rooms with kitchens and bathrooms, and described flashing signs used to alert station personnel to calls. These details reflect the director’s account of the production’s research, not an independent survey of station housing.
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One choice was to leave out firehouse poles. Dholakia said firefighters told him the poles had been discontinued; putting them in for visual effect, he said, would have been inaccurate. The filmmakers made a different choice with the actors’ faces: although firefighters would wear masks or other coverings, the film lets viewers see the performers. Dholakia described that as a creative liberty.
Training and fire effects
According to Dholakia, the actors trained with professional firefighters for eight weeks, learning techniques such as holding hoses and carrying oxygen cylinders. An American firefighter who had consulted on a television series about the subject also advised the production, and real firefighters appeared in some background scenes.
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Dholakia said the action combined real fire and smoke with fake smoke and visual effects. He told Scroll that four VFX companies worked on the film.
When and where can you watch Agni?
Scroll reported on 3 December 2024 that Agni would premiere on Prime Video on 6 December, after the film’s plan for a theatrical release changed. Prime Video lists it as a 2024 film directed by Rahul Dholakia, produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Excel Entertainment Production, with a runtime of 2 hours 2 minutes. Availability and subscription terms can differ by region and change over time.
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What did reviewers make of the film?
In its review published on 6 December 2024, Scroll gave the runtime as 124 minutes and praised the film’s empathy for firefighters and its vivid fire sequences. The reviewer found the Vitthal–Samit rivalry and other plot strands unevenly connected, while singling out the station scenes and the camaraderie among firefighters as memorable. Those are the reviewer’s assessments, not a measure of audience opinion.
Dholakia said he did not fully grasp the importance of making the film when he started. After it was screened for firefighters, he told Scroll, “we realised that the film needed to be made.”
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