The Rising: The Ballad of Mangal Pandey (2005)

मंगल पाण्डे

Another recent film with Aamir Khan, Mangal Pandey tells a historical tale of events in the 1850s that marked the beginning downfall of the British East India Company, which at one time ruled India like a governmental body.  Aamir plays the title character, a sipoy - one of the native Indian soldiers that work for the Company.  Tired of the persistent lack of respect with which sipoys are treated, Mangal Pandey ultimately plans and leads a revolt against the Company. 

I have heard complaints that Mangal Pandey played fast and loose with the history of real Mangal Pandey and his rebellion, but that doesn't bother me; it wouldn't be the first historical film to take liberties in the name of drama.  More troublesome to me is that the film takes itself so seriously; it verges on the ponderous and self-important at times, and one has the sense that the actors - especially Aamir Khan, who often strikes a better balance between earnestness and goofiness - believe that they are making an "Important Film." 

Mangal Pandey's main story is punctuated by two irrelevant and distracting love stories, one involving a feisty prostitute (Rani Mukherjee) and the other a destitute and terrified widow (Amisha Patel).  But the film does have its moments, and at those times it can be an interesting exploration of loyalty, friendship, and nationalism.  The most interesting relationship is not either of the romantic pairings, but rather the relationship between Mangal Pandey and his fellow soldier, British officer William Gordon (Toby Stephens).  The A.R. Rahman soundtrack is another highlight; whle not really among Rahman's best, it has a good texture and cohesiveness.  There is also one excellent dance performance by Rani Mukherjee.   

Comments

[माझी]

मंगल पाण्डे, पण्डे नहीं. ये फिल्म मुझे अच्छी नहीं लगी, काफी बोरिंग थी..

[carla]

शुक्रिया - मैं ग़लती को ठीक करूँगी |

(Majhi corrected my spelling error in the film's title and I said I would fix it, which I since have. Also Majhi didn't like Mangal Pandey and found it rather boring.)

[veracious]

This is weird, but I got to thinking about this movie and decided to check out what you thought of it. Mangal Pandey really worked for me on the first view. Perhaps it was my relative newbie-ism but I just bought into the whole world and especially Aamir's performance convinced me. It was one of my first Aamir ventures so perhaps I was only just discovering his talent as an actor, and even if the journey of Mangal was not his best performance ever, it had enough for me to be wow'ed by it. Then I rewatched the movie with a friend and the feeling wore off - the story just seemed kind of dull the second time 'round.

The friendship of Gordon and Mangal was indeed one of the best things about the movie. My favourite scene is the one at the end, when Gordon tries to appeal to Mangal at the hospital, but you can see it's too late, Mangal is far too into his own fanaticism.

Another reason I particularly enjoyed the movie was the glimpses of Aamir/Rani we saw. It's a sadly rare jodi, even though they can have great chemistry. Though of course, the true love of the film was Aamir and that moustache.