“Halla Bol....”. Review on Mangal Pandey - The Rising

There is this classic Tamil movie that stars veteran comedian/character actor Nagesh in the lead role (don’t exactly remember, if it is Neerkumuzhi or Server Sundaram) in which he says “Show people a blank paper with a black dot on it and ask what it is, everyone would promptly say it’s a black dot, ignoring the fact that more than 99% of the paper is flawless white!” We are tuned to looking for the minutest of mistakes in what we see around us that a whole lot of good is often dumped without even mention. I am human too, I am prone to error and yes I am a critic by nature!!

I watched Mangal Pandey - The Rising (MP-TR) on 15th August 2005, sadly enough I could not get a ticket at INOX Bangalore that evening, or else I could have met Aamir Khan, Toby Stephens and Ketan Mehta live while they were on their PR tour to promote the movie in the city. If I had, I could have asked them a few questions about this movie on behalf of Mouthshut members. They would have been on the following lines -

Forget being a method actor Aamir is not even a good actor and my justification for the same is that he has been smiling the same way from QSQT to MP-TR. Forget the fact that Al Pacino or Marlon Brando speak in the same deep throaty voice irrespective of the characters they play, forget the fact that if you isolate clippings of Tom Hanks from several movies he played, you would rarely be able to identify the film, because he looks and behaves the same way in most of his films, forget the fact that the personality of Mel Gibson towered over his portrayal of Braveheart, also forget the fact that the character played by Russell Crowe in Gladiator looked more urbane than Mangal (though the Gladiator is set in an era much earlier to Mangal., who incidentally is a character who lived in the Nineteenth Century, but as a Critic I can commit the mistake of mentioning it as Eighteenth Century and still get away unscathed). They are all great actors, worthy of Oscars and bouquets, but Aamir??

And what about exploitation of women characters in the movie. In an age and time, where even a market leader in the watch segment (read Titan, from the house of none other than Tata) uses vulgar, crass and downright cheap portrayal of “educated liberated college going ladies” with their new ad campaign for “Fastrack” watches, how can Ketan Mehta, show prostitutes and women who were traded as slaves in a relatively darker era, wearing clothes that suited their roles? Also, not to forget the now infamous Kirron Kher scene, which has less than 2 minutes of screen time in a three hour long movie, definitely is an issue worth asking a question or two. The fact is that Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman or Kate Winslet can shed clothes and get away with it or for that matter Halle Berry can act in an explicit love-making scene (read Monsters Ball) and win an Oscar for it, but then Rani Mukherjee better be clad in clothes from head to toe even if she plays a prostitute, or else who will save the Indian culture?

I can pronounce the words like Rendezvous, Sayonara and Gewurztraminer without any flaw though I have no formal exposure to French, Japanese or German but how can I condone the character of a sepoy who has spent a considerable amount of time with the East India Company, fighting on it behalf and constantly listening to words like “fire” “company” and “factory”, pronounce them flawlessly? I am intelligent and pick up words from foreign languages quickly but why should Mangal be credited with that possibility?

But since I could not meet up with the team at INOX as I mentioned earlier, I had to keep these questions to myself. Its then that the white paper and black dot analogy struck me and I began to wonder if there was anything wrong in giving the team that created the movie some credit and view their effort more objectively. The result is as follows:

I never thought Lagaan was a great movie; it was a good one nothing more nothing less. Yes, as an Indian entry to the Oscars there were times when, I wished it would win it, that’s before I saw “No Man’s Land” that actually won the award. I would not bracket MP-TR, with Lagaan but would rate is as a good movie on the whole. For one, I don’t think its right to compare a movie that is based on 5% facts and 95 % fiction (Lagaan) with a movie which is probably something like 50% fact and 50% fiction (MP-TR).

I would not question the authenticity of the storyline either, for I do not have any valid proof to substantiate that what is shown in the movie is not credible. Did the real Mangal practice untouchablity (probably yes), did he fall in love with and end up marrying a prostitute named Heera, the day before he was hanged (probably not), was he really the brave man who stood up against the Company or was he a fall guy who was brainwashed by his peers and accidentally happened to be right place at the right time? These questions will never have an answer that is conclusive.

I would also not question as to why there is so much of screen time for Mangal and Captain Gordon, and so little for every one else. I guess that the Movie is about Mangal who happened to be the cause for the 1857 revolt rather than it being a movie about the 1857 revolt which was initiated by Mangal.

I do have complaints about the movie and that starts with the music, which is good in patches, but a trifle disappointing when judged from the standards that A R Rahman has set for himself. Song/ Lyrics also do not reflect the class that one normally associates with someone like Javed Akthar. Editing and screenplay are lackluster. I felt that there were times especially in the first half when the movie appeared to be going no where and sensed a sort of rush to finish telling the story towards the end. This probably is a result of the director wanting to split the movie into two halves with the rift in the friendship between Mangal and Gordon serving as the interval. Whatever be the reason the slow aimlessly meandering first half is as big a negative as the unnecessary song sequences in the form of Qawwali, Holi and the Item number.

All these notwithstanding I would still rate MP-TR as one of the better Bollywood movies for its achieved a reasonable balance between fiction and non fiction, it talks about a pertinent subject very relevant in today’s age and time – Freedom. I found the acting to be of very high standards and the cinematography to be even better. The nature of the movie did not permit any of the other characters, other than the two main protagonists to display their prowess, but what ever little part they had, were essayed with sincerity. There are also some really strong scenes that will remain etched in my memory for sometime like the one where Heera and Mangal talk to each other for the first time and she says “Hum tho sirf shareer bechthe hain, aap log…”, when Mangal agrees to use the Kartoos based on the statement made by Gordon, the parade scene where Mangal steps forward at the count of 9, Gordon’s testimony in the courtroom and of course the scene where Mangal stares at us through the noose and shouts “Halla Bol....”

As the curtains came down on the show and the theatre lit up to allow the predominantly college going audience out of the hall, I could see, in almost every eyes that met mine a hint of tear and sense of pride, to that end MP-TR is definitely worth a recommendation!