THE STRUGGLING. Review on Mangal Pandey - The Rising

Movie : Mangal Pandey - The Rising

Director:Ketan Mehta

Producer:Bobby Bedi, Deepa Sahi

Cast: Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Amisha Patel, Toby Stephens, Coral Beed

Music: A.R Rahman

Cinematography : Himman Dhamija

Choreography : Saroj Khan

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Before me getting on to story, I would like to Brief on the background of Sepoy Mutiny on which this movie is set.

Background:

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the British had come to believe they were a chosen race; chosen to distribute the benefits of western civilization to the backward areas of the globe. That the inhabitants of such areas often didn’t want these benefits and certainly not the accompanying British control of their lives was immaterial to Britain’s sense of a mission. Native opposition frequently required military force to be brought against it and few years passed without the British Army being involved, somewhere in the empire, in a continual series of border skirmishes and punitive expeditions.

Of course the British had been involved in European wars much more expensive in blood and treasure than any that ever occurred in the overseas possessions, but they didn’t seem to catch the imagination of the British public in the same way that colonial conflicts did. In 1857, the Indian Mutiny broke out and it rapidly became the greatest of all the imperial wars. It was followed avidly by the British public and as the myths of the Mutiny grew it came to be seen almost as a latter-day British Iliad with gentleman-warriors of homeric proportions manfully defending the position, dignity and God-given duty of their race.

It was even called the 'epic of the Race' by the historian Sir Charles Crostwaithe and though this may sound ridiculous to the modern ear it was nothing more than a reflection of the confidence, indeed arrogance, with which the British of Victoria's 20th year on the throne viewed the world in general and their empire in particular. It also reflected the shock and horror that the Mutiny had provoked in Britain and the pride that followed on the heels of Britain's ultimate victory; one seemingly achieved against great odds. Though the Mutiny dragged on for almost two years it was effectively fought and won in a six-month whirlwind of murder, siege, atrocity, forced marches, heroism, savagery and brutality. Women and children were butchered by both sides. Great cities were sacked and the British armies which swept across the north of India to relieve their besieged comrades and avenge their murdered compatriots were perhaps the most enraged and cruellest troops ever to have been put in the field by the government and people of Britain.

The Spark:

It began at Barrackpore at the end of March 1857. Mangel Pandey, a young sepoy of the 34th Native Infantry, shot at his sergeant-major on the parade ground. When the British adjutant rode over, Pandey shot the horse out from under him and as the officer tried to extricate himself Pandey severely wounded him with a sword. Drawn by the commotion the commanding officer of the station, General Hearshey, galloped to the scene accompanied by his two sons. The sepoy turned his rifle on himself and pulled the trigger. He survived this suicide attempt and was later court-martialled and hanged. As a collective punishment the 34th Native Infantry was disbanded; its shameful fate being publicly proclaimed at every military station in British India. Pandey achieved a certain kind of immortality in that his name entered British military slang as the general nickname for a mutineer and eventually a derogatory term for any Indian. Unfortunately for the British, the 34th Native Infantry were considered by the majority of sepoys to have been unjustly treated and soon came to be regarded as quasi-martyrs.

Now on to the movie

Story:

1857 AD. The entire Indian sub continent is ruled by … a company. The British East India Company. The most successful business enterprise in history. The company has its own laws, its own administration, its own army.

During a fierce battle in one of the Afgan wars fought for the Company in the mid-century, Mangal Pandey, saves the life of his British commanding officer William Gordon. And this in turn blossoms into a long lasting friendship. The friendship is soon challenged by the introduction of a new rifle called the Enfield. The new rifle has come with a new cartridge which is rumoured to be coated with the grease of cow and pig fat. The new cartridge has to be bitten before it is loaded, which ignites anger and resentment among the Indian sepoys. The cow is sacred to the Hindus, the pig forbidden to the Muslims. They will not touch such a kartoos, it would defile them.

What happened next is the famous Sepoy Mutiny (as British Called) or what we Indians call as the First War of Independence.

Ideally telling it is AAMIR’s movie outright, the perfectionist –he is, is quite evident in this powerful portrayal - he breathes and lives as Mangal pandey on screen thereby treating his fans to a grand fare who were made to wait for the past four years but what sounds as a historic revisit to Pre independence period boils down to a jarring and a boring plot due to its on screen treatment and one cannot stop boredom and the effect is as though one ends up watching a documentary.

On credit wise Saroj Khan’s Choreography, A R Rahman's Music, Himman Dhamija's cinematography each and every thing associated with this movie is good when like given separate attention but one cannot feel the symphony and synergy of this team is clearly missing.

There are few instances on the screen which are noteworthy,

1) Aamir telling Toby that he was thinking someone as Untouchable but then he realises Indians are the Untouchables at their own Mother land during British Raj

2) Rani's comment when Aamir curses the kotewalis

3) Aamir's reaction when he finds out about the reality and the following Confrontation with Toby

4) Toby's explanation on Opium War

5) Toby's outburst in court scene

6) And above all Aamir Twirling his mustache @ Court Trail.

Credits in One word :