Mangal Pandey

Decent Movie., but wondering what went into 4 years of it's making. 1)There is no epic proportion drama 2)The character is not real, the village, the look & the love triangle all cooked up (bollywood eh?) 3)There are no war sequences 4)No story which could encompass the period of history 5)Too many songs, yet again (will our directors ever understand?) 6)Too much emphasis on "kartoos" pig & cow ... 7)poor dialogues, uninspirational at times when war is about to begin 8)Bad cinematography 9)Music for the first time by ar rahman is uninspirational. 10) After 18 reels, I don't think anyone in the theatre felt patriotic enough to fel bad about or feel proud about. Mangal Pandey - who? In short its just an instance of kartoos & its attached melodrama coupled with songs & mangal pandey fighting for it. The rising almost looks like a short story/chapter from a history book than an epic. One would expect more from Amir & a 4 yr production work (not to mention 1 yr post production). Songs were unnecessary & the dialogues were uninspirational too. (imagine mangal pandey shouting all to 'raise' for a war by saying "chalo chalo" ) But yeah, Amir did an honest job & so did Toby but then history should have more drama & war & bloody gore to show an impact as powerful as it should have been. At the end of the movie I did not feel a thing for Mangal Pandey or India, perhaps this is why I couldn't appreciate the movie so well. Talking of two recent movies - Bhagath Singh & Swades at least questioned my patriotism. That, I think is a great success!

A movie about India's first mutiny against the Englishmen then ruling the country. Its is a story everyone is well versed with but for the benefit of those who aren't, it is about Mangal Pandey who started the Sepoy Mutiny because he and his fellow soldiers were asked to bite of the cover of cartridges made by cow and pigs fat. Cow being religious to Hindus and pigs being banned for the Muslims, the soldiers refuse to use the cartridges which sparks off the mutiny. The Director and the scriptwriters though didn't have much freedom with the movie(as the story is true) the have done absolute justice. Aamir Khan who portrays Mangal Pandey does a brilliant job. This being his second consecutive patriotic movie the emotions are visible even in his eyes. Rani Mukerji's and Amisha Patel though have done their part their roles seemed a tad unnecessary. Toby Stephens playing William Gordon does an excellent job at his role. He stands out as the best performer. The fact that the language of the film is one he is not familiar with doesn't stand in his way. He is simply marvelous. All in all definitely a movie to be watched. In fact it is a movie not to be missed!!!!!

The Rising grossly distorts the story of British rule in India, rewrites history and seems to vilify the British just for the sake of it. The UK Film Council gave £150,000 to the backers of this film and I want my money back! This film will have very serious political overtones. It is extraordinarily foolish to release a film like this that makes claims that are not true, especially at such a sensitive time. The film fails to mention that there were 34,000 European Soldiers and 257,000 Indian soldiers and the vast majority of Indians supported the British during the uprising. Even 148 years after the event and after a considerable amount of research on the subject, there is little or no precise knowledge about Mangal Pandey. I find this film both offensive and racist!

I got to see Mangal Pandey yesterday and I though I was lucky enough to get the tickets. But my luck was only till credits started rolling. The expectations were sky high, the most anticipated movie ever, almost like an event in itself, considered to be first ever crossover film in true sense, Ketan Mehta who made Sardar and Maya Memsaab, A. R. Rehman, Bobby Bedi probably the most gutsy producer of our times and then off-course Amir Khan. The movie was supposed to revolutionize the movie going experience. But the only saving grace of movie are Amir and Tobey. The only reasons and probably very good reasons to go and watch the movie. So where all does movie falters? Almost every where. In scripting, character development, narration, pace, cinematography (probably I was expecting Lawrance of Arabia), Direction and Music (other than Mangal, Mangal). And finally Amir was not the "Ghost Director" of Lagaan, other wise "The Rising" would had been a similar fair bordering towards classic. More so because it could have had a lot of content which was evidently missing. I wouldn't have missed the movie even if it was the worst rated movie in IMDb but I'll not go and watch it again.

Kudos to Aamir Khan for the dedication he put into the production of The Rising, an unfairly over-hyped film, that sets out to deliver the story of Mangal Pandey. The fact that Aamir took 4 years to make this film complete with growing his locks and that awesome moustache along with tons of research is an anomaly in the Bollywood film industry. Films are churned out 3/day at the last estimate, but Aamir being the professional he is, waited years to make this movie after the unprecedented success of his Oscar nominated Lagaan. Without a doubt Aamir carries the film on his shoulders. There were many naysayers about the fact that Aamir may have been a bit lacking in the height department for the role of a freedom fighter, but when you see his towering performance on screen, his small frame is all but forgotten. The man is Indian Cinmas answer to Edward Norton from Hollywood. A great actor for his generation who is going to continue to bring Indian cinema (not bollywood masala flicks) to the international audience....i think it's his calling. Amitabh Bachchan seems to have chickened out of this task of elevating Indian cinema to an art rather than a mockery that it usually is. Without a doubt another actor who comes close to stealing the film away from Aamir is British actor Toby Stephens... i was under the impression that his role would be quite small. Instead he has a fully fledged three dimensional character who is in the entire movie. And on top of that, he acts the entire movie in Hindi. A best supporting actor nod is in order. This film could theoretically get an Oscar nod (unfortunately a win maybe a hard sell). The songs are probably distracting for a Western audience, but they'll have to live with them. The film does fall short of being an all time classic. But i think we may have to wait for the initial hype to settle down, because the movie is without a doubt the best one of 2005. The film is slow to start, with the first half being an introduction of all the characters. But pre-interval, the story and Aamir Khan rev into the 6th gear, getting ready for the inevitable Rising post interval. Get this. I think the movie could have been a bit longer. A little more development was needed with some of the glossed over aspects of British rule. But, all in all, a magnificent effort from all involved, especially Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens. 8/10

It's a shame when India gets represented by a director like Ketan Mehta- he defiles the cherished legend of Mangal Pandey, criminally distorting facts and rewriting history to suit his own base desires, callously insulting the age-old values of purity and chastity. In doing so, not only does he clearly display a complete lack of understanding of the roots of the culture he comes from, but also a comical lack of skill and talent: What with the American flag flying above the British HQ, and numerous instances of the most basic examples of inconsistencies: mistakes a student would be ashamed of abound in the film! With Lagaan, Aamir Khan had briefly presented the image of a man who favoured universal, spiritual values. Such a shame as we see our hopes about him dashed to the ground and smothered, as he merrily dances along like a mindless, soulless, indeed unrighteous puppet to Ketan Mehta's inauspicious tunes. With the generous glorification of the scenes with prostitutes, and the nonsensical way such elements have been written into the plot, it is clear that what is playing before our eyes are the evil ghosts of lust and greed for fame and money. Thus 'The Rising' is actually 'The Sinking' of Kehtan Mehta and Aamir Khan, as they dance hand-in-hand with these inner enemies of humanity towards a doubtful destiny, shamelessly declaring to all and sundry that they are foremost voluntary members of 'the company'. But don't worry, Ketan Mehta! And don't worry, Aamir! The truly spiritual people of India and indeed the world thank you for showing us your true face. We also thank you for displaying how out-of-place men can sound when they attempt to talk about higher values which they know nothing of. We will not be among those who follow you in your descent. Ziya Dikbas

What made this movie get such a high rating is patriotism, not the quality of the movie. One can actually watch this movie and look at Mangal Pandey (the lead role of the film) as a prostitute-patronizing, drug-addict, who had no sense of direction until just the last 15 minutes of the movie. If we take the jarring, irrelevant and unnecessary shows of cleavage and erotic gestures aside and take a look at the movie as a movie, it fails miserably. The plot leads nowhere, and the story that you had gone to watch this movie for, simply doesn't show up until much, much later in the movie. It seems like the producers wanted to earn quick bucks by appealing to an Indian's sense of patriotism and love for soft * (which is apparent in about 85% of Bollywood films anyways). I was rather appalled when I heard that this is one of the most expensive movies made in Indian history, AND that it took 4 years to make. It makes me wonder what was going on in A.Khan's head (lead actor) when he accepted this project... I am aware of the fact that he has done movies much better than this, but the simple lack of any skills, quality and expression on anyone's faces (take a look at blank looks on everyone's faces in any scene) made the mind reel (pun unintended). My advice: Avoid this movie altogether. Else you'll feel as lost as the script.

I went to see this movie with a friend of mine from India. I was going because of her, expecting to be bored to death. I was wrong! The Rising is one of these movies that are larger, bigger than life. The amazing powerful music sets the tone to a legend of a great folk hero for Indians. The acting, in most cases, was haunting. The cinematography was breathtaking and the songs, and I am not a big fan of people singing and dancing in movies, were magical and helped move the story along. Of course, it was a big history lesson form me (though the producers warn you that some of this is fictionalized), but I have a better understanding of the Indian culture now. I finally get to see Toby Stephens\playing a role that doesn't involve him being mean, a villain or plain evil.

This epic tale of the first Indian uprising (mid 19th century) has so much going for it, it's hard to know where to begin. Firstly, it documents a period of history that tends to be airbrushed under the carpet in British history lessons. Germany and Japan are still constantly reminded of the atrocities their countries committed, but we have to go back a bit earlier to look at the British East India Company - the most successful business enterprise in history, controlling one fifth of humanity, and having its own army. The value of being reminded brings a certain sense of humility. It maybe even helps to explain some of the feelings one can sense just walking about Delhi today as a white person. It's also a rare treat to have an epic of this scale, told from an Indian point of view, in English (or mostly in English). It successfully merges factual history with cultural norms, mythology, song and dance, grand battle scenes, touching romance and heroism. The British East India Company was subject to the uprising or 'mutiny' largely because of a failure to understand and respect local customs (from a purely military point of view, George Bush should consider bringing more or better historians to the White House). Having been subjected to abominations and still helping the Company fight wars, Indians rallied over a deeply held religious insult and attacked the British rulers. It is a great credit to the filmmakers that the British have not been demonised. There is no dwelling on the greatest excesses and neither are the Indians portrayed as flawless. For instance, we see a British soldier preventing a local (forced) sacrifice of a young wife at the burning of the corpse of her 60yr old husband, and the excesses of the British depicted are those common in most armies where power has led to degeneracy. We see not only the forced cultivation of poppies, but shady dealings with the resultant drugs and the Indians always coming out the losers. We see houses of prostitution set up to 'keep the troops healthy'; Indian soldiers treated as second class citizens with brutal punishments for minor slips handed out by self-important British officers. But whenever it gets too grim to watch, it springs the Bollywood trick of bursting into song and dance. The only other genre that routinely manages such a happy switch is grand opera. The slave courtesans sing joyously with double edged lyrics about being a slave to love. The spectacle of glorious colour and wonderful dancing spectacle entrances us. Many great conquerors have been also ruthless and uncaring to those they abused. The British East India Company was perhaps no different, and at worst should perhaps be judged more by the morality of the time than present day international law. But that way of thinking is a get-out. Invading another country is almost always for selfish reasons, glossed over in one way or another according to the double-talk of the day. History usually sides with the victors. The Rising will not get the marketing it deserves in the UK: many will avoid it because of the Indian songs. But it is a film well worth catching. My main quibble is that India is constantly portrayed in movies (including this one) as incredibly clean. I have never found this so, except in 5 star hotels enclaves. There is a great water shortage and most streets are pretty unhygeinic by Western standards. If Calcutta was the paradise of colour and good health depicted in The Rising, then it's gone backwards, whatever the improvements in basic freedoms and human rights. But realism it not Indian cinema's forte.

The first thing you would want to do is stop comparing it to movie like Lagaan and Bhagat Singh. This movie brings a new freshness and perspective to Indian Cinema. It's the story for a SIPOY called Managal Pandey who began the first revolt against East India Company rule in India. The story is not very gripping but that's were it makes a big difference. Aamir Khan who plays the role of Mangal Pandey is so much into the character. It's not being a Hero or how he inspired the freedom movement. Moreover, it's about how a man realizes the true meaning of freedom, self respect and courage. This movie completely revolves around Mangal Pandey and William Gordon (Toby Stephen who plays the role of Captain in the East India Company). Toby has quite a role and he lives up to it. Rani Mukhurjee and Amisha are more like guest appearances as they don't drive the story. Rather they are very aptly used in the movie. This movie is a must watch. The look in the eyes of Aamir Khan and Mangal Mangal Song is what you would take back home. Aamir khan is a legend in making!