Thursday, August 25, 2005

'Mangal Pandey - The Rising'...Waste of time

Ketan Mehta has to learn a lot from Rajkumar Santoshi. Ketan has directed an absolute dabba movie.
My points on this movie -
1. Lot of unneccessary characters. Only the director can explain why Amisha is there is the movie. She is there to make some romance with the Britisher. There are some not neccessary village characters, rather they are not used properly.
2. Really very less coverage is given to the actual 'Rising'. 'The Rising' actually starts in the 2nd half and seems to move fast. But then the road bumpers come in the name of songs. This has diluted the theme further.
3. When you go for such a movie, one does not expect to see some exotic sets. The patriotic feeling should be aroused from the viewers. Ketan Mehta has miserably failed in this. Even the scene where Mangal is hanged does not arouse any special feeling. Watch the 'Legend of Bhagat Singh'. When the heroes are taken from their cells to the place where they are hanged, I remember that there were goose pimples all over the body. When I came out of the theatre, I still had a different feeling. This film does not generate that feeling.
4. Cheap jokes and shots spoil the serious theme of the movie. Was there a need to show the fan-man fantasising the Angrez ghori? Was there a need to show people having sex? Was there a need to show Kiran Kher in such a deep dress? Absolute stupid item song! Ketan Mehta has tried to please the masses, but fails in that too.
5. The first half tries to showcase the social setup during the 1850s. Also highlights the events that eventually end up as the 1st battle of Independence. Though the events are shown well, this is a bit drag. So there is less time to show the actual Rising.
6. At the end of the day, you did not learn anything new and good about Mangal. Whatever we have read about him in one paragraph of history is shown here.

What has Ketan Mehta to learn from Rajkumar Santoshi (director of "Legend of Bhagat Singh").
1. Have a couple of soul stirring patriotic songs instead of some prostitute song and item songs.
2. Have a clean sense of comedy.
3. Have a real strong script and punch dialogues.
4. Hold the attention of the audience and take this attention to the peak at the last. The film starting as flash back is itself a flop idea i feel.
5. Do a strong research on the theme.

If you have better things to do on a weekend, avoid this movie.

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