Can Two Hours Capture Timelessness. Review on Mangal Pandey - The Rising

~~~Oh yes! A long silence is finally broken. It has been a month or more. I have been holding my breath for very long. It pushed through me, rebelled, but I held my breath back all this while. I have finally exhaled. Is this another ‘rising’? ~~~

~~ The Review ~~

Moviemakers derive their creative inspirations from the market. Moviemaking is now and industry and movies are only products. The ‘work of art’ concept is now very old. Believing that producers create movies because they will spread a social message isn’t right all the time, nor is saying that all movies made on old national or social heroes are made out of patriotism correct. It’s business, baby!

But it is also not correct to simply cast movies away as profit-motive driven finished products of an industry. There is a considerable ‘art work’ element in the process of making a movie.

In this review, we look at The Rising from a different perspective. We look at it as a movie, as a piece of art and as a businessman’s offering to the entertainment market. I do speak like a commerce guy, don’t I?

~~ The Plot ~~

‘Mangal Pandey- The Rising’ is based on the life and times of the legend Mangal Pandey. As India completes 58 years of independence, it was nice to watch a movie honoring the first martyr in India’s long and tiring battle for independence. I don’t think I have much to speak about the story designed for this movie. That is because I believe Mangal Pandey’s life was not documented properly enough. He had little time as a hero.

The story begins with Mangal Pandey as a very loyal and brave soldier of the Company Army. Then the Enfield rifles turn up that have cartridges greased with lard and cow-fat. The discontent among the Indian soldiers grips Mangal Pandey, who was otherwise a faithful servant of the Army. The injustice done to them enrages him. Along with Bakht Khan, another brave Commander in the Army, Mangal conspires with Tatya Tope and the rest of the Indian kings to raise rebellion against the Army. But they are betrayed by one of their own men.

In between, there is a woman Mangal and his English friend Capt. Gordon save from being burnt alive in her aged husband’s pyre. The woman lives with Gordon as his wife, or should we call them the first live-in couple involving an Indian woman? Then there is this prostitute with whom Mangal Pandey falls in love. I don’t really want to comment.

~~ Performances ~~

AAMIR Khan, with his locks and his moustache mirrors the fiery spirit called Mangal Pandey, if not complete, quite substantially. (This is how Jawaharlal Nehru had described Indian independence in his speech on the 15th of August, 1947). I’ll give Aamir Khan 8 out of 10 for the job.

WHOEVER worked as Capt. Gordon did a good job of that as well. That is all I would like to say.

AMISHA Patel as the rescued sati and RANI Mukherjee as the prostitute were reasonable. Their performance, though satisfactory, was coated with unnecessariness.

THE Supporting cast added to the flavor of the movie. Nothing significant can be said about their work. All in all, the acting department was good, held tight purely by Khan’s superb job, but nothing spectacularly breathtaking (apart from AK).

~~ Screenplay and Music ~~

What makes Mangal Pandey so watchable is its screenplay. Scenes shift from one to the other in a coherent flow. I believe that it was this department that supported Aamir Khan, the combination bringing about an effect that is commendable. 7 out of 10 for this.

I know the music was A R Rehman’s. I know it was publicized for ages. I know it was fast paced and based on folk music. But it was not that good. A. R. Rehman fails to deliver. Particularly after raising heaven with his music for ‘Bose: The Forgotten Hero’, the songs in The Rising fail to make an impression. Don’t go away thinking that I’m disrespecting folk music. I guess the music is unimpressive because it doesn’t suit the voices of the over-hyped and shallow Kailash Kher, nor the strange voice of Kavitha Krishnamurthy.

Trust me, Kailash Kher isn’t worth it. Hey wait… you actually liked ‘Mangal, mangal, mangal…’? Whoo! Well, to each his own!

~~ Random Ramblings ~~

The Rising is artistic in it’s background music. The Rising is artistic in it’s portrayal of Mangal Pandey’s character. The Rising is artistic in its screenplay. The Rising is a sincere attempt to capture a timeless legend in lens and present him in two hours. But this noble attempt is dilute. It is diluted by adding women to it. I don’t know how accurate, historically, is the role of those two women. I don’t know if there really was a prostitute with whom Mangal Pandey fell in love. I don’t know if Capt Gordon was his friend. And even if he was, I don’t know if he sheltered, fell in love with and slept with a sati.

It feels very unbecoming of a gentleman to say this, but… Those women add no art to the movie. They only add ‘mass appeal’. Once again, a movie that uses women to make money… I just cannot call it art.

And that is why the attempt to bring Mangal Pandey to life fails. You cannot worship a legend and hope to earn money on it. That just won’t happen.

~~ The Verdict ~~

If you go purely by the cinematic aspect of the movie, Mangal Pandey is well made. Good acting and great screenplay, apt direction and well-created sets have combined together to make a good movie, from the cinematic point of view. It is a good product to offer in the business.

But if it is the legend called Mangal Pandey you were looking for…

My apologies, Aamir Khan…