The 'Rising'
Feeling particularly patriotic on the eve of the Indian Independence day, I decided to accompany a few friends to theatre to watch 'Mangal Pandey'. The movie is called 'The Rising' for reasons that became clear to me only when I watched it. The freedom fighting spirit (that creeps into my heart very very seldom) and zest associated with spending an independence day outside India was well washed out by the movie. Instead of the hair-raising, pride-filling, goosebump-giving movie that I had expected, I got to watch extremely rauchy and lustful women singing and dancing after every ten minutes. So in the end, I did get goosebumps but for a totally different reason.
Rani Mukherji, conveniently inserted into the story as the character of a sexual slave (or something like that), flashes more than just her smile; normally, I would have totally appreciated this extravagant display but this time it spoils whatever little seriousness the movie tries to build otherwise. One moment you have Tatya Tope and his advisors planning the first war of independence in all solemnity and the next moment the screen is filled with lusty women clad in the most revealing ethnic Indian village dresses doing a club dance to modern musical instruments. Any foreigner who waches this movie would surely think: 'Indian villages are where the party is ! Look at all those hot women !These guys sure had a rocking time fighting for their independence!'
Amisha's role in the storyline was so superfluous that one begins to think why she was there at all. Between burning on a funeral pyre and making out with WIlliam Gordon she utters about 5 words in the movie. I consider myself a very bad actor.. ver very bad. But I can cry better than Amisha patel! Her acting suckkks.
Finally, I didn't enjoy a single song in the movie, and by then end of it I began to wonder whether hostory had been played around with in depicting the facts. Did Mangal Pandey really marry this girl he met at a mujra house while he was in prison ? Did British soldiers actually open fire at farmers for growing opium without permission ? Did the jallad assigned to hang Mangal Pandey really flee on the morning of the hanging ?
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Rani Mukherji, conveniently inserted into the story as the character of a sexual slave (or something like that), flashes more than just her smile; normally, I would have totally appreciated this extravagant display but this time it spoils whatever little seriousness the movie tries to build otherwise. One moment you have Tatya Tope and his advisors planning the first war of independence in all solemnity and the next moment the screen is filled with lusty women clad in the most revealing ethnic Indian village dresses doing a club dance to modern musical instruments. Any foreigner who waches this movie would surely think: 'Indian villages are where the party is ! Look at all those hot women !These guys sure had a rocking time fighting for their independence!'
Amisha's role in the storyline was so superfluous that one begins to think why she was there at all. Between burning on a funeral pyre and making out with WIlliam Gordon she utters about 5 words in the movie. I consider myself a very bad actor.. ver very bad. But I can cry better than Amisha patel! Her acting suckkks.
Finally, I didn't enjoy a single song in the movie, and by then end of it I began to wonder whether hostory had been played around with in depicting the facts. Did Mangal Pandey really marry this girl he met at a mujra house while he was in prison ? Did British soldiers actually open fire at farmers for growing opium without permission ? Did the jallad assigned to hang Mangal Pandey really flee on the morning of the hanging ?
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4 Comments:
hmm yeh some things could've been avoided. infact, to verify parts of the story i did a google search on mangal pandey, mangal pandey biography, mangal pandey history, mangal pandey hanging, magal pandey 1857..changing the keywords every time i got some searches. why!?? coz!! all i got were reviews and more reviews of the movie and all the preparations aamir had to make(read: pains taken to grow his veerappan moustache and long tresses) to play the role or who stood by aamir at the music launch! who cares! i wann aknow more bout the real mangal pandey..coz as far as i remember, my history book back in school only dropped in his name in ONE paragraph of the relevant chapter.
I saw Mangal Pandey too, and was as disappointed as you were. Yes, they glorified Pandeyji a bit by mucking around with history, but I still can't imagine an orthodox brahmin who would refuse to bite beef-laden cartridges going to a qawwali and dancing with nautch girls.
As for history, Mangal Pandey was hanged 10 days before the set date of execution, along with the sepoy who refused to arrest him.
Totally agree with you on that. The item number was a bit too much. The reason why India is still this way is because of those 4 kafirs who were always on the hookah and at the item numbers in the night. What a life they led da!!
lolat these lines- "Indian villages are where the party is ! Look at all those hot women !These guys sure had a rocking time fighting for their independence!'"
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