The overall opinion of MANGAL PANDEY was discouraging in some ways. Most of my friends and family members had advised me to skip it due to its boring genre. I agreed. Basically I am a very contemporary guy. I haven’t taken a liking to Hollywood movies like TROY and LORD OF THE RINGS only because of their boring genre.

So when it comes to period films, I am not quite a big fan. I won’t like to go catch one on big screen with friends. But yes, if I catch something as hyped up as MANGAL PANDEY in the comfort of my home, I don’t mind. Now that the original master print is out, I was quite content in renting it to make an opinion of my own about the movie. I was pleasantly surprised once the movie concluded. My opinion is---thumbs up!

Compared to many other period films, especially based on issues such as pre-independence eras, MANGAL PANDEY excels. It has all the qualities of a classical tribute. First of all, the hard-hitting climax, as well as a strong screenplay and performances identify the reason why this movie has a class of its own. My opinion has strengthened. I caught the film with a neutral point of view and quite frankly, I fell in love with many parts of it.

The authenticity with which the natives’ interaction is shown with the British rulers is quite commendable. It can safely be said that in the area of realism, MANGAL PANDEY is again in a very good position. Only the facts are stated, no tampering done with any of them.

So there again the art of consuming the viewer into the narrative despite such a simple and non-fancy execution needs to be praised. The artwork on the whole is quite impressive---entertaining and yet taking nothing away from the reality factor of the movie. The sets thus show that they are expensive, yet simple and symbolizing of the pre-independence era.

While all these technical aspects such as direction and screenplay are praise-worthy, one factor that stands out as a weak point of the movie is its music as well as the placement of the songs. ’’Tumhari Adaaon’’ is the best track and yet is wasted in the narrative. Ditto for Holi Song that was absolutely uncalled for in an otherwise smooth, simple narrative. In the movie, the best track appears to be the title track. It gels well and elevates the proceedings reasonably well. Overall, the technique factor is good enough to maintain the hard-hitting impact of the movie.

THE RISING definitely belongs to Aamir Khan. The guy rocks in a role that gives him ample footage to create histrionics and contend for the best actor award this year. However this role cannot be said as uniquely tailor-made for him as the role of LAGAAN’s Bhuvan was. There, Aamir’s performance demonstrated how no one could’ve done the role better. In case of MANGAL PANDEY---THE RISING, Ajay Devgan can also be imagined as an adequate choice. Yet, there should be no comparisons between THE RISING and LAGAAN. Both are quite different movies and have the element of class in quite different ways. So coming back to Aamir’s performance, on the whole it can be described as fantastic!

Another actor that impresses a great deal is Toby Stephens. Although he was expected to be just another British character like the antagonist from LAGAAN, he turned out to be a lot more dynamic a character than that of the British antagonist from LAGAAN. This character of Gordon has a great deal of positivity into it. It is true that a British captain aided the Indian revolution for independence as shown at the end of the movie. So therefore Toby’s character of Gordon becomes easily identifiable and the viewer is able to take to the guy’s performance and appreciate it a great deal. His Hindi diction is also praise-worthy. Overall, an unmissable fantastic performance from the guy.

However, the girls are virtually wasted. While Amisha has precious little to do as a simple widow (yet she impresses), Rani is wasted in an even more inconsequential role as a prostitute from the era. Although the actress tries her best to make the role have a decent impact, the character simply misses the bus and unfortunately so does Rani’s performance. The supporting cast comprises of a bunch of focused, talented actors and all of them do justice to their parts.

Overall, MANGAL PANDEY---THE RISING, despite being declared just an average success, is a very well made tribute to the historical character. The movie is definitely more classy than the poor Oscar-bound PAHELI and I would prefer MANGAL to PAHELI any day. So for the sake of all the above mentioned pros, go catch the movie if you haven’t done so yet!

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Somewhat revealed
Best to watch with:	No Comment
Movie Genre:	No Comment
Best part in the movie:	No Comment