In 1984, a young lad was seen as Madan Sharma in director Ketan Mehta's film 'Holi'. Cut to year 2005, Madan Sharma of Ketan Mehta returns as 'Mangal Pandey' as the first martyr of the nation. Born on the banks of the most pious river Ganga in Northern India, Mangal Pandey is the hero of the First War of Independence. Born in a peasant's family in 1831, Mangal joined British Army's 34th Native Infantry at the age of 18 and he was killed when he had seen just 26 autumns of his life and was unmarried.
How a young man became the first martyr of the nation? And, what made this young sepoy to what is called as the first mutiny from the British point of view in history, makes the crux of the film 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising'. This film had its world premiere at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland only the other day as its opening film. The movie is released today (this Friday) world over with about one thousand prints, making a record for any Indian film. Other records that add to the mystery of this film is that it is the costliest one made in India.
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The film releases exactly after four years and two days since the release of last 'Dil Chahta Hai'. If the openings of the film are any proof of a film's popularity, Aamir is going to hit a hat trick of hits in a row after 'Lagaan', 'Dil Chahta Hai' and now 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising'. Ace Khan has been proved right once again in his conviction to bring an ambitious epic on screen after hard labor of last two and half years.
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'Mangal Pandey: The Rising' is an epic in many ways and has a very emotional connection with Indians all over the world. To watch the first martyr of the first War of Independence just before the celebrations of Independence Day falling only three days later is in fact a treat for more than a billion Indians. 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising' is the story of a 26- year -old sepoy who rose from being a commoner to be the hero of millions.
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The story of Mangal Pandey played by Aamir Khan starts from his posting in Afghanistan as part of the British Army. He befriends with his commanding officer William Gordon (Toby Stephens, the villain in James Bond flick 'Die Another Day') by saving his life. William likes courage shown by the young boy and makes him his trusted man. The friendship continues even when they return to India. Mangal Pandey is posted in Behrampur. The time is rife when Indian soldiers are ill treated in comparison to their British counterparts. The British rule imposes new rules that are more convenient to them. As a result, Indians get angry. Then the news reaches all corners of the country that the new supply of cartridges from Britain is greased with beef and pork.
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Sepoys have to remove this grease with their teeth before loading them to their rifles. Indias refuse to do so, but William Gordon who is once again the commanding officer of the Infantry, assures Mangal Pandey that there is nothing like this. Mangal trusts him and chews the cartridge grease only to know that he has been betrayed. He rebels and kills some British officers. British officers order his arrest, and when overpowered by the soldiers Mangal Pandey shoots himself but only to be left wounded. He is captured and courtmarshaled for the revolt and punished with death.
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As a director, Ketan Mehta has always tried to be different, right from his first film 'Madhya Surya' to 'Bhawani Bhawani' to 'Mirch Masala', 'Hero Hiralal', 'Maya Memsaab' and 'Aar Ya Paar'. He is a man of few words, but whatever he does he does it with a conviction. He had been nurturing a dream of making Mangal Pandey for the last 17 years, and it was when Aamir was camping in USA for promotion of 'Lagaan' for Oscars that Ketan approached Aamir for this role.
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Though Aamir was flooded with lots of offers for foreign films, yet he stuck to do a role that was more near to his heart. In 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising both Ketan and Aamir have come victorious. The film belongs to both, but the first credit goes to Ketan for his execution of a concept that was not an easy task. He made a film that can change the whole trend and scene of filmmaking in India. The historical trend may now grow following the success of this film. Ketan has done extensive research on the subject. He made the terrain of Maharashtra look authentic.
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He got the right cast to suit his roles, and more importantly, he could carry on the pain of this baby for more that two and a half years. The film took nearly one year in post-production. He got very good assistance in the form of scriptwriter Farooq Dhondi and also in getting background score by A R Rehman. Abbas Ali Moghul has infused life in action sequences. Besides, Ketan also gets good support from his costume department handled by Lovleen Bains and in the makeup by Penelope Smith and Slash Apeni Sandhu. Sets prepared by Nitin Chandrakant Desai are of very high value and rightly depict the era they are supposed to represent.
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Aamir Khan returns to the silver screen after a break of four years and wins millions of the hearts straight away. He shows why he is called ace Khan. His portrayal of Mangal Pandey is very befitting; the players will surely get many awards for their talent. If 'Lagaan' missed Oscars last time, there are chances that this film will succeed this time. Though Amisha Patel and Rani Mukherjee do not have much to do in the film, they have managed to be honest to their roles. Rani playing a prostitute is awesome and even Toby Stephens has done a marvelous job. On the whole, 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising' is a sure winner at box office and its success is going to give jitters to the forthcoming films. A perfect way to celebrate this year's Independence Day, isn't it?
