Avoidable. Review on Mangal Pandey - The Rising

I suggesting that you skip it. This is an avoidable movie on overall which could have been made better.

mongrel - n 1: derogatory term for a variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin; ''the architecture was a kind of b.astard suggesting Gothic but not true Gothic'' [syn: b.astard] 2: an inferior dog or one of mixed breed [syn: cur, mutt]

I think that one word really sums up the movie. But if I must add some more, let me give you ten reasons here not to see this movie:

Aamir Khan has allegedly charged Rs. 7 Crores for The Rising, his first movie in four years. I have a strong suspicion that as a result of this exhorbitant fee paid to Aamir, the producers could not make the payments to A R Rahman. Rahman, as a result, has probably given music to only one song - Mangal, Mangal... The other songs are all absolutely second grade.

Javed Akhtar's lyrics - substandard, to say the least, for a movie with such expectations.

The bastardization of the story with Mangal Pandey marrying a prostitute in his prison cell on the night before his execution. Of course, the same prostitute will be seen later donning the mantle of a warior a-la Rani Lakshmibai, burning away the Company's property.

The use of Amisha Patel has the good luck charm, playing a widow saved from being a Suttee. Now, I agree that Amisha Patel can look pretty sometimes. But, please give us a break. She has absolutely nothing to do in this movie. Oh, I forget the kissing scene. Mallika Sherawat watchout.

The item number, of course. It appears at the most inopportune time, and has such thrusting of various body parts that you start to wonder if the folks watching Bipasha Basu in ''No Entry'' in the adjoining hall should be called in here instead.

And, the Holi number. Pathetic choreography. Did I tell you that this song appears between the night when the mutiny (or war of independence) is planned and the actual war?

What are the other formula things missing? Well, ok, it has the Qawwali sequence too, in a Masjid in the night. Was the sequence needed? Hell, no!

The war sequences are unreal, superficial and worse that what you would see even in Kisna. Imagine!

There is absolutely no research done on the history - Lip service is paid to the war of independence in 1857 - Rani Lakshibai, Tantya Tope, Bahadur Shah Zafar have been given probably 1 minute in all.

The movie does absolutely no justice to the gravity and scope of the subject it tries to handle.

I don't think I have covered all the negatives really. This one actually compares with Ashoka - and I was wondering how they missed an item number just before the hanging of Mangal Pandey.

I believe that Lagaan was a hugely over-hyped movie, what with a nation with one billion (about one-fifth of world's population?) people falling over each other for an over-stretched formulaic movie to win an Oscar (India's third entry ever!). I have been watching a lot of Bollywood movies oflate - Paheli, Parineeta, Bunty Aur Bubli, Sarkar, Kaal, Waqt, Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya - and with the possible exception of Paheli and Parineeta, all others have been deeply disappointing. I will have to seriously keep away from the c@$% that Bollywood churns out with chronic regularity to preserve any semblence of sensibility.

Damn, what a waste!