Mangal Pandey - The Rising :: Review

I went with high expectations to this movie. Aamir does lot of groundwork for his characters. But, I should have paid closer attention to the director. Ketan Mehta and his obsession for putting his heroine Deepa Sahi did not stop me from watching his previous incarcerations like Maya Memsaab.

I took the risk.

The movie is rated 'U'. The censor board should revamp its rating scheme. There is blood, gore, smooches, nothing left to imagination cleavages-revealing-sex-romps, Sati & caste adult themes. But, the movie is rated fit for kids. Probably they want Indian kids to have immature genesis of casteism and prostituition.

Ketan Mehta usually needs a director to direct him. He is like a yahoo directory page with full variety of consummate web URLs. Somebody should manage him to restrict the amount of characters and enable characterization.

There is a rented mother for feeding milk to an angreji memsaab. There is a Behrampore jawaan. We need a Muslim character to show secular India. So, that leader is a Muslim. Now, 'Sarfarosh' rings a bell and the Mukesh Rishi comes into focus. That Salim will remain etched in my memory. Not this military commander.

The movie is about confused brahmin Mangal Pandey. He is a loyal servant to the East India Company. He saves the life of his captain. The english captain becomes indebted to him. They develop a long lasting bond. The captain himself, is well acquainted with the quirks of the land. He feels an underlying connection to Hindustan, having spent his youth and adulthood away from his native country.

He abhors Sati. Captain saves Amisha from the burning pyre. This should have been a classic scene of the evils of male chauvinism; but somehow teeters into a sword fight for the protagonist. The saved woman takes refuge with the captain. Having a failed love affair with a rich man's daughter, the captain accepts her magnanimously.

Jwala, a simple village girl, becomes a metaphor for the relationship the British have with India. As the film says: 'You may share your bed with a native -- not your loyalties.'

I am not an expert in the historical happenings around 'The First War of Indian Independence'. And being a bollywood movie, the 'Rising' should have its own liberties. So, we will leave the inaccuracies to the historians.

Mangal keeps offending his english officers by attacking them in brothels, pulling pranks on them in the parties. But, somehow, he does not get reprimanded for those blasphemies.

Farrukh Dhondy's dialogues save the movie.

* 'Don't involve yourself in anything, if you don't understand'

* 'Salt is a small component; nevertheless it will be missed if not present. But, there are more important things in this world than salt.'

* English Officer: 'bhol... thuuu kuthey'

Mangal: 'Thuu Kuthey'

* 'Rebellions don't need leaders; Any rebellion needs blood'

I could go on. My poor memory stops me.

Alas, the voiceover of Om Puri was impeding the proceedings to start with. It became a nuisance sometime along the intermission. It became irritating and a complete turnoff as the movie developed. Why in US, there are stupid hindi narrations for english dialogues. To add some salt to the wound, they put sub-titles to Om Puri's hindi explanations of the english conversation.

But, I was happy to see that the ubiquitous Amitabh was not used for the narration.

The movie has excellent mini intros on how the East India Company survived. The opium trade, Company's links to the Lords, the quagmire of middlemen, the British class system, inner-workings of the East India Company corruption politics, and Indian caste superiority notions. But, fails to make a lasting impact for the same exact resaons.

The vast coverage makes me think like its a 'Green Mile' told in the 'Nayagan' style of an 'Annamalai' with the baggage of 'Dil Se' trying to cheaply imitate 'Braveheart'.

(I made a big list here. Green Mile for its capital punishment impact scenes and the beatings of a fellow officer. Annamalai for its brotherhood turned into rivalry with heroism as the backdrop. Dil Se for compromises being done for two languages and failing in both of them.)

It is supposed to be the life story of 'Mangal Pandey'. We don't get to pick his mind. He likes to fuck a prostitute; but have a heavy affiliation with his brahmin vedic ritual roots. He hates biting the cow for the ammunition; but does not mind having toddy.

Contradictions galore. But, thats human nature. The irony is those are told as a matter of fact. Not as a point to ponder.

The moment to cherish was the scene when the serpent crawls over the listless bodies locate its master among the dead. The other coolest scene is - Mangal, after refusing to speak in private to Captain William Gordon, joining him for a friendly chat.

Nayagan sketched a person's life from moulding till mending. Mangal Pandey also has the 'Mangal... mangal...' three times appearing like 'Thenpaandi seemayiley' with devastating effects. When it comes for the final time, theater viewers were looking for the magical remote to fast forward through it.

The climax in which they show Rani Mukerjee fighting evokes laughter among the audience; not passion. These kind of 15 second portrayals of characters will never get the viewer to identify with the characters. It makes him difficult to locate, who is in the frame before they vanish and another nameless appear. I was glad to know that they did not show a 10 second clip with Rani Laxmi Bai fighting in the battlezone. The ignominy of showing a face for five seconds was enough though.

Luckily the movie does not scream big budget; which might be considered as a drawback. The fights are minimalistic. The number of warriors on horses could be counted. There are no rich palaces or mansions. At times it looks like a Doordarshan's rich epic TV serial.

The songs were must-repeat-indefinitely-in-ipod  before watching them in the movie. From the unimaginative Holi number till the 'Septemer maatham' fame Sophia's item number 'Rasiya' are duds. The 'Takey Takey' which had some philosophical undertones, like world is a 'bazaar' where you have everything for a 'price', is done like a Vijaykanth's 'Saamigale... Samigale...' heroine-ditched-me songs of the 80s. The crown of anti-priyadarshan-picturisation goes to the three adaptations of 'Mangal... Mangal'.

Quality actors, slick editing, mesmerizing background score, stuning locales, invigorating conversations cannot rise a movie. A better director and a focused screenplay would have given a Rising heart to the Mangal Pandey.

- Balaji