MesmeRISING the audience. Review on Mangal Pandey - The Rising

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

• Zig Ziglar

The above aphorism conveys the importance of a person taking an initiative and who pioneers a revolutionary act that bears fruits in the long run. A freedoms movement always faces difficulties and to overcome these obstacles one needs self-belief, courage, attitude, and an initiative. But an initiative requires motivation. Without motivation the power of the mind remains inactive. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.

Mangle Pandey provided this first spark for freedom struggle. Mangal Pandey- The Rising is the story of a brave sepoy in the British Army. It’s the story of his loyal friendship with a British commander. It’s the story of man who has to endure treachery in exchange of loyalty. It is the story of a man who was the first to rebel against the British rule. It’s the story of how he instilled fear in the British that prompted them to hang him. It’s the story of how he became a source of inspiration to many Indians to carry on with their fight for freedom. It’s the story of the Mangal Pandey’s sacrifice for a cause. We remember leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, etc who fought for India’s freedom. But is it not a travesty of justice that Mangal Pandey who was the pioneer of India’s freedom movement was not given his due. The movie gives him his due. Mangal Pandey is the one who ushered the now famous leaders to the path for freedom. Ketan Mehta says “The movie is a historical epic with contemporary significance for the entire world. The contemporary significance stands out in today’s time. The British played with religious sentiments of people; today’s leaders & politicians are doing the same. The British ruled us economically and socially under the garb of helping us. The US is doing the same to developing countries today. The British ill-treated the Indian workers; the management’s hegemony and workers’ subjugation exists even today. Mangal Pandey and others rebelled when pushed to the limits, the workers today rebel when injustice is done.

STORY

The British East India Company’s ill treatment of Indians and plundering of India’s wealth aroused feeling of repugnance in Indians. They wanted freedom from this servile atmosphere. Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan) is a sepoy in the British army. During one of the British wars Mangal Pandey saves William Gordon (Toby Stephens), a British commanding officer resulting in strong friendship. Mangal Pandey loves Heera (Rani Mukherjee) a nautch girl. William falls in love with Jwala (Amisha Patel) who he rescues from the ritual of Sati. One day the British introduce a new rifle and its bullets had to be bitten before use. Rumours fly that the bullets are coated with Pig and cow fat, which offends the religious sentiments of Hindus and Muslims. William Gordon assures everyone that this is a baseless humour but when Mangal Pandey finds out that the rumours were not baseless he feels betrayed by William’s act. This incident acts as a catalyst for a freedom movement initiated by Mangal Pandey. He leads the 1857 mutiny and was finally hanged.

PROS

The scenes showing an Indian woman breast-feeding a British child that does not leave enough milk in her to breastfeed her own child, the hapless servant fanning the British woman the whole night, the humiliation of servants, etc.

The scenes where Aamir endures humiliation of his subordinate, when he is forced to fire upon the Indian villagers, when he has bite the offending bullet, etc culminates in Aamir venting his pent up anger on a British officer who misbehaves with Rani.

All the scenes between Aamir and Toby Stephens – their pranks, their views on the British Company, their confrontation regarding the offending bullets, Toby’s explanation about the working of British Indian company, Aamir’s explaination about the difference between Indians and British, their friendship falling apart, Toby’s defending Aamir before the British, etc.

The scene where the British order the Indian sepoys to bite the offending bullets that provokes Aamir to react.

The collage of scenes showing tensions, meetings, and plans about the impending mutiny and finally resulting in the pioneering event brings the audience to the edge of the seat.

The scene where Aamir Khan is shown standing alone confronting the large cache of British Army brings out the passion in his fight against the British.

The execution scene :(

CONS

The romantic track between Toby and Amisha Patel is totally unnecessary and footage could have used to give some more scope to the role of Tatya Tope, Rani Laxmibai and Bahadur Shah Zafar in the freedom movement.

Amisha Patel.

TECHNICAL CREW

Director Ketan Mehta has brought alive the first freedom movement not only though some well directed scenes but also with the excellent characterizations of the actors. The juxtaposition of culture, the folk events, and the love stories with the freedom movement is well etched out.

Story and Screenplay by Farrukh Dhondy is first rate. Since not much material was available on Mangal Pandey some fictitious events and characters had to be incorporated. But they don’t disturb the core of the movie. The events and circumstances leading to the mutiny are shown in a gradual manner through effective screenplay.

Editor Sreekar Prasad should have ensured that some scenes and songs were snipped.

Production designer Nitin Desai’s sets show that he has done a tremendous research. The authentic sets add to the impact of the story.

Cinematographer Himman Dhamija captures the various moods of the characters, the authentic environment and the action sequences very deftly.

Costume Designer Loveleen Bains’ authentic recreation of attires of British, local clothing, jewelries and accessories does justice to the periodic setting of the movie.

Music by A.R.Rehman is disappointing though lyrics by Javed Akhtar are excellent. The title song “Mangal Mangal” has three versions that are situational and Javed has done excellent word play. Javed again excels in “Takey Takey” song that epitomizes devaluation of friendship and trust. AR Rahman is in form in the Mujra number, “Tumhari Ada pe main Vaari Vaari”. The “Holi” number and the item song “Rasiya” are big let down.

CAST

Aamir Khan not only succeeds in creating an impact with his looks but he also succeeds in portraying the various facets of Mangal Pandey in the situations that he had gone through. We laugh with him when he plays pranks, we feel proud of his friendship with William, we feel sentimental about his love for Rani, we feel sorry for him when he is betrayed by William, we see the passion in him when he gives his first call for freedom and we feel proud of him when he goes to gallows. That’s the Aamir Khan effect.

Rani plays the role of a nautch girl, Heera, with élan. She is marvelous, like always.

Amisha Patel plays the role of a young widow. Period.

Toby Stephens is extremely competent and manages to hold himself in his scenes with Aamir Khan.

Kirron Kher, Varsha Usgaonkar, Habib Tanwar and other junior artists have all given excellent support to the main cast.

CONCULSION

Mangal Pandey is a palatable combination of historic events mixed with folklore events.

VERDICT

Do not miss the movie.

Before “rising” out of your seat, leave your comments :)

AMJAD K. MARUF™