NO! It is not bollywood’s movie of the year. It will be Bollywood’s movie for years to come. The movie is spectacular and some of the scenes in the movie will go down as the best ones ever to grace cinema screens of the country. Spectacular performances from the entire cast, the recreated India of the 1850’s and fabulous background score makes this movie a must watch.
Ketan Mehta succeeds in taking you to Bengal of the 1850’s where the seeds for the Indian Independence struggle were sown. What began as a small unrest in Barrackpore, West Bengal became a revolution which succeeded 90 years after Mangal Pandey sacrificed himself for the freedom of the country.
Mangal Pandey was a infantry man in the 34th Native Regiment 5th company who revolted against the British East India Company because the company issued cartridges greased with fat of cows and pigs for the new Enfield rifle. He was sentenced to death and is regarded to be the first martyr of the Indian independence struggle. The movie is not an exact biopic of Mangal Pandey and the director has taken quite a few liberties in portraying his life.
Mangal’s character sketch is quite interesting. He is not your all conquering hero with immaculate behavior. He has his faults, he beats away the lower-caste person, and fires upon innocent villagers when ordered to, and is not particular about saving the lady from being thrown into her husbands funeral pyre. He has great leadership qualities , good “general knowledge”, because he knows that there is democracy in England and also wants democratic machinery to be in place after the struggle for independence.
Aamir khan has given a sterling performance as Mangal Pandey. It will be hard for someone else to beat him to next year’s National Award unless it is the same senseless jury which decided the best actor this year. Aamir becomes Mangal Pandey in the movie and with this performance he has turned an obscure name from history textbooks into a legend. Historians say Mangal Pandey is not a hero and doesn’t deserve a biopic but the fact that he was the first martyr of India’s independence struggle makes him one.
Toby Stephens plays Captain William Gordon who becomes Mangal’s friend after he saves the captains life in Afghanistan. He is from a Catholic family and is not really been made part of the “British team”. Stephens has played his role well. The scene at the court room where he pleads the judge to let Mangal go is quite memorable
Rani plays Heera a prostitute and Pandey’s love interest. Her role is small but she looks beautiful whenever she appears on screen. Jwala, played by Amisha Patel is an unwanted character in the movie, she and Captain Gordon fall in love after the latter saves her from being forced to commit Sati.
One thing about the movie that everyone will remember after coming out of the cinema will be the “One Man against the Empire” scene where the background score and the very sight of Mangal standing up against the all-white Rangoon regiment makes it one of the best scenes in Indian movie history.
Something I didn’t like about the movie was a couple of misplaced songs. They could easily have been avoided and also what happens at the end of the “One man against the Empire scene” which although is what happened in reality could have been changed for the movie. And one other mistake, something which the editors overlooked was the presence of quite a few “Indian” soldiers in the all white regiment sent to Barrackpore
This is one of the few movies after which one feels really proud about being an Indian
Mangal Pandey-The rising therefore, is a must-watch for every Indian.