Mangal Pandey - The Rising (2005)
Movie Overview
Release date: 2005
Runtime: N/A
Starring: Aamir Khan, Amisha Patel, Rani Mukherjee, Kirron Kher, Toby Stephens, Coral Beed, Mona Ambegaonkar, Varsha Usgaonkar, Dibyendu Bhattacharya,
Director: Ketan Mehta
Produced by: Ketan Mehta, Deepa Sahi, Bobby Bedi
Critics (2)
Users (4)
My Rating
The Rising is an epic tale of friendship, love, loss and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. British colonial rulers are plundering the country for all its worth, treating the locals unjustly and causing widespread resentment. Worst of all they are using the Indians as sepoys, the infantry of the army, to control and regulate the population.
After a hundred years of subjugation, India is awakening to the revolutionary prospect of change and self-rule.
During a fierce battle in the Afghan wars of the mid-century, Mangal, a heroic sepoy rescues his British commanding officer William Gordon. The event creates a strong friendship and binding loyalty between them that transcends consideration of rank and race.
The friendship is soon challenged, first by arrival of a charming and beautiful young aristocrat, Emily Kent, and then by the introduction of controversial new gun cartridges among the troops. The relationship is complicated further when Gordon saves a beautiful young native girl, Jwala, from the funeral pyre of her late husband, and falls in love with her.
The new cartridges require soldiers to bite through their greased casing, made of animal fat, and suspicion spreads that the British are ignoring religious beliefs in favor of cheap weapons, and polluting their Muslim and Hindu soldiers. Gordon assures Mangal that the cartridges are free from pollution and demonstrating his total trust in Gordon, Mangal bites the cartridge. They soon discover that it really is animal fat and the rumor of this imposed pollution is the spark that ignites the powder keg of resentment in the country. Mutiny breaks out with Mangal growing in stature to lead the Indian people to freedom.
Set in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, told across the divides of time, The Rising tells the tale of friends, lovers and enemies, exploiters and exploited, and the growth and awareness of a man and a nation.
This sweeping epic is based on real historical events, seen as a trigger for Indian independence. It has been filmed in India over 6 months with a mix of British and Indian cast.
Critics Reviews
His portrayal of Mangal Pandey is very befitting; the players will surely get many awards for their talent.
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.
... Full Review
Mehtas refusal to exploit his wonderful material does Mangal PandeyThe Rising in.
Played by Aamir Khan, esplendent in his pointed mooch and wavy hair, Mangal Pandey is a reluctant but risible krantikaari, whose action of taking on the British by the skin of his teeth in the summer of 1857 presaged freedom in the autumn of 1947.
... Full Review
User Reviews
Bignas1234 | 2008-05-03
a film on India's freedom from british rule. Aamir is a soldier, Rani is a prositute who is in love with Aamir and Amisha is a widow who is banging a white soldier. Basically the cartridges that contain the gunpowder is greased with cow and pig. Cow being sacred to Hindu's and Pig being haraam for muslims. They want these cartridges withdrawn but the Enliglish say No. So a rebellion is formed by Aamir to bring down Company Raj and…...
Latest News
Bollywood in 2005 Experimentation with different themes
The year 2005 saw Bollywood filmmakers experiment with different themes. However, even though all of them won a lot of critical acclaim, many of them were box office failures. Films like Sehar , My Brother Nikhil , 'Bose- The Forgotten ... Full Article
REVIEWS
MANGAL PANDEY - THE RISING Rated:NR For movie details, please click here . Moviegoers who feel that Hollywood doesn't mount sweeping historical epics the way it used to should make an effort to seek out the new Bollywood film Mangal... ... Full Article
