Aamir Khan movies, right from 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' to his last release 'Dil Chahta Hai', have always boasted of quality music and the trend continues. On the whole, 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising' lives up to the expectations with just the three versions of the title track alone are worth the album, the others being a bonus. However, from a critic's point of view 'Bose - The Forgotten Hero' was better (though it did not get the success it deserved). It will be 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising' that will succeed commercially, thanks to the Aamir-Rani-Amisha star power and the expectations from the movie.

Rating: 8/10


http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/31/5281/5/

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/07/29/stor ... 210100.htm

Rising with a patriotic cry

SREEDHAR PILLAI

Aamir Khan returns with "Mangal Pandey — The Rising" after a four-year gap.

My passion for my work shows on screen... I thoroughly enjoy the work I do.



EPIC TALE: Mangal Pandey — The Rising pivots on how one man can change history.

For the past six months, irrespective of the film being screened, the audience at Chennai's Melody theatre gives a standing ovation to the trailer of "Mangal Pandey — The Rising." The 90 seconds theatrical trailer showing Aamir Khan walking in shackles with the patriotic song "Mangal ... Mangal ... ," tuned by A. R. Rahman, in the background creates a stir.

An Aamir Khan film is releasing after four years and the trade feels that "Mangal Pandey — The Rising" is sure to take a bumper opening worldwide as it releases on August 12 for the Independence Day weekend.

Four years without a release! It's something unthinkable for a top Bollywood actor but Aamir Khan's box-office ratings remain the same.

His "Lagaan" (2001) was a path-breaker, which was not only a huge commercial hit but also took Indian cinema into the International arena.

It was followed by "Dil Chahta Hai" the same year, a stylishly-made trendsetter that was also a hit. Now Aamir is back with "Mangal Pandey... " and a lot is riding on the film directed by Ketan Mehta.

It is an epic tale of friendship, betrayal, love and sacrifice set against the backdrop of what the British called the `Sepoy Mutiny' (of 1857), but for the Indians it was the First War of Independence.

Aamir was in Chennai recently for a day to dub Om Puri's voice over at Four Frames, the state-of-the-art studio of director Priyadarshan.

Om Puri is the narrator of "Mangal Pandey ... ," something similar to what Amitabh Bachchan did for "Lagaan."

In an exclusive interview Aamir Khan chats about his long break and ``Mangal Pandey." Excerpts:


They say that you are an elusive star and media shy... .

I have not given an interview to any Mumbai film magazines for 15 years and have my own reservations about mainstream media. I subscribe to The Hindu, Chennai edition. I like it because it is one of the few newspapers in the country that reports news unlike some others that are full of trivia (smiles).

You seem to be a perfectionist going by your choice of films

I am honest with my work. I only do films that I believe in and am extremely passionate about it. My passion for my work shows on screen. To be honest I thoroughly enjoy the work I do.

What are your criteria for selecting a film?

First I expect a bound script from my director. When I read the script for the first time, I put myself in the audience's seat. I follow my instinct and if it excites me I will do it.

Your last release was "Dil Chahta Hai" nearly four years ago. Was this long break intentional?

To be precise, "Dil Chahta Hai" opened on August 10, 2001 and the release date of "Mangal Pandey ... " is fixed for August 12. This gap is unplanned. I was going through some traumatic time in my personal life and for two years, I was dealing with that problem. Then it took me 18 months to grow my hair and moustache for the Mangal Pandey look.

So how long did it take to finish the film? Where are the locations?

The actual shoot took 180 days. We shot in Super 35, it gives you better quality in cinemascope. Unlike other films where only the special effects are shot on DI (Digital Imaging), Ketan did the entire film on DI. The locations varied from Pataudi Palace in Haryana, j to some exotic places in Maharashtra. In Mumbai film city a set was erected that depicted the Sepoy basti.

What attracted you to this theme?

Obviously the script, based on the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, excited me. The film is set in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, told across the divides of time... It is the tale of friends, lovers and enemies, exploiters and exploited, and the growth and awareness of a man and a nation. The basis of the story is about how one man can change history... This sweeping epic is based on real historical events, seen as a trigger for Indian independence. It is extremely contemporary in topic.

Does the film have any message?

Basically it is the concept of freedom ... and the right of a man to hold his head as high as the other. As I told you earlier it is extremely contemporary.

What is the difference between Bhuvan in "Lagaan" and Mangal Pandey?

Bhuvan is cool and level-headed, while Mangal is a hot headed reactionary. Though Mangal's character is historic, there is no record of his personal life. So the scriptwriters Farooq Dhondy and director Ketan Mehta took some liberties.

And you have sang a song... ?

(Laughs) It is Rahman's fault as he encouraged me to be part of the song "Holi Re... " There are six songs, in the film though Mangal appears in only this "Holi... " song as per story requirements.

Dhondy has projected Mangal as a symbol of freedom ... a spirit of that time ... a person who represents the spirit of those days who rose against the East India Company. Mangal was able to awaken the conscience of the society.

What are the film's highlights?

Toby Stephens who played the villain in the James Bond film "Die Another Day" is theBritish commanding officer William Gordon here, with whom Mangal strikes up a friendship.

Toby is truly amazing and so are Rani (Mukherjee) and Amisha (Patel) who have done their roles well.

Added to that A. R. Rahman's soundtrack and the patriotic flavour he has given is awesome. Ketan Mehta and Farooq Dhondy have done the research adequately and I'm sure "Mangal Pandey ... " will be accepted by our audience.

What are your forthcoming ventures?

I have just completed "Rang De Basanti" directed by Rakesh Mehra and is about to start work on Kunal Kohli's new romantic film, "Fanah" for Yashraj films.

I have also started writing a script, which I will direct next year.

The Craze For ´Mangal Pandey´ Is "Rising"
By: Abid
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The craze for Bobby Bedi's 'Mangal Pandey-The Rising' is , well , only rising with each passing day . The reasons for the heat the film is generating are several . For one , Aamir Khan will have a release after three years . Secondly , Aamir's get-up ( long hair , moustache) in the film has been liked by the audience , as evident from the response to its trailors . Thirdly , the trailors themselves are being keenly discussed by the film buffs . Fourthly , the historical is being publicised on a lavish scale . All the above-cited reasons have led to a lot of craze for the film which is due for release on 12th August with a record number of prints . This , despite the fact that it is directed by Ketan Mehta who is not a 'commercially hot' director !

Mangal Pandey’: Will history repeat itself for Aamir?
MAMTA SHUKLA

INDIATIMES MOVIES



Surf 'N' Earn -Sign innow

Rating: ***

Cast :
A amir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Ameesha Patel, Toby Stephens, Coral Beed, Kirron Kher, Varsha Usgaonkar, Habib Tanveer.
Crew:
Director : Ketan Mehta
Producer : Bobby Bedi, Deepa Sahi
Music : A.R Rahman
Lyrics : Javed Akhtar
Director of Photography : Himman Dhamija
Editor : Shreekar Prasad
Screenplay : Farrukh Dhondy
Stunts : Abbas Ali Moghul
Choreography : Raju Khan, Saroj Khan, Sandip Soparrkar
Costume Design : Lovleen Bains

The four year long wait is over for the fans of Aamir Khan. And for them ‘Mangal Pandey’ would be well worth the wait. He has excelled as always as Ketan Mehta’s ‘Mangal Pandey’.







Continued
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http://movies.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1197953.cms

darn what happened to rani?



madhuri vs rani


and the winner is

The Rising: History comes alive

Lindsay Pereira | August 12, 2005 12:35 IST


Aamir Khan is a rabble-rouser. It's a role he has mastered to perfection. His nostrils flare up, eye sockets pop and righteous indignation spills across the screen. It's no surprise, then, that it is this Angry Khan plastered on all posters for Mangal Pandey: The Rising.

Luckily for him, as well as his audience, the rabble-rousing works. He did it in Lagaan. He does it again here. Only this time around, he's better dressed for the occasion.

The difficulty with historical epics like Mangal Pandey is that everyone knows how they're going to end. There may be twists and turns, but we know who's going to hit the bucket. All we can do is wait, patiently, for the denouement. Which is where Ketan Mehta's skill as a director comes to the fore. From the moment the film begins -- a coloured lithograph morphing into a real-life setting on the banks of a river -- you know you're in safe hands.

Mangal Pandey: The Complete Coverage

That feeling is reinforced when confronted with certain scenes like the attempted burning and eventual rescue of a sati (Amisha Patel) from the hands of a fanatic mob. She sits motionless, cowed by religion or opium, until the heat of the flames brings her to her senses. Then she shrieks, tries to get off the pyre, and is forcibly kept on by men wielding sticks. It's then you realise Ketan Mehta is a man who believes in doing his homework.

It is the year 1857, and India is firmly under the rule of the British East India Company. It has been in control for a century now, and the cracks are beginning to show. Resentment is widespread, and the introduction of a rifle with cartridges supposedly coated in animal fat only makes things worse. The setting is perfect for a hero to make an appearance. Enter Mangal Pandey.

Mehta's palette is huge; his colours, well defined. He takes a good history lesson and gives it shades all his own.

Holding this lesson up is the friendship between Pandey (Khan) and British officer William Gordon (Toby Stephens). Pandey the sepoy saves Gordon's life during an earlier war in Afghanistan and earns his respect. Soon, they are as close as an Englishman and Indian can be, getting into friendly bouts of wrestling, playing pranks on British officers, drinking bhang and roaming the streets singing bawdy songs.

It is the Enfield rifle that causes a rift. Gordon believes the greased cartridge story is a rumour. Pandey trusts him and uses the cartridge, risking defilement. When the rumour gathers momentum, he accuses Gordon of treachery, then decides to take on the Empire.

From a minor standoff, a rebellion begins to take shape.

Running between these two narrative points are other sub-plots. The sati -- aptly named Jwala -- is rescued by Gordon and promptly falls in love with him. Pandey, on the other hand, gets weak-kneed when confronted by a nautch girl called Heera (Rani Mukerji) who somehow manages to conduct a mock marriage ceremony with him before he is hanged. Yes, there's no escaping the mock-marriage scene in our historical epics either.

Mehta understands that what the British referred to as the Sepoy Mutiny was actually India's First War of Independence. He knows when to let the songs flow, when to reign in the strings. He is also a master of what literary critics call 'the objective co-relative', often using the external landscape to reflect a character's inner turmoil.

Yes, there are incongruities. The Englishman's love for a sati, for instance, or the idea of a commanding officer and sepoy having a boy's night out. There's also something strange about a righteous Brahmin like Pandey taking on his superiors over a religious issue while carrying on with a casteless whore. Then, there's that little matter about his public execution -- not quite plausible considering he was hanged quietly, 10 days before the actual date, to help the British avoid any unrest.

There are also unfinished tales -- of Jwala, Heera, Kamla (Mona Ambegaonkar) and Gordon's first English flame, Emily (Coral Beed), along with other annoyances such as Gordon's often indecipherable Hindi, the damage done to the narrative pace by switching from English to Hindi, and Om Puri's deadpan, schoolteacher drone explaining things as if to an audience collectively afflicted with Down's Syndrome.

Taking pot shots at these issues is easy. It is the larger picture that demands attention. Like the fact that a talented director and equally talented cast manage to make you sit through three hours of cinema despite your being more than well-acquainted with the plot.

The stuff of Bollywood is all in place -- colour, music, the obligatory Holi number, men refusing to die from bloody wounds. It's the themes that carry this one through. When a wounded Pandey tells Captain Gordon, 'We are all untouchables,' you realise Mehta has managed to depict a man coming to terms with personal demons. That's when the incongruities fade away and you begin to find something believable.

While Khan and Stephens are superb, their skill, coupled with well fleshed-out roles, often make the other characters seem naive. The Englishmen are all painted as villains. And the other soldiers could well have comprised the guys Aamir played cricket with in Lagaan.

Rani Mukerji looks delectable and puts in a spirited performance. Saroj Khan does what she has always done -- choreograph a song like nobody else in the business. A R Rahman's music, though sometimes incongruous, still captures the moods asked of him. There's also a chorus, much like Greek theatre, only this one sits atop an elephant and sings snatches of song at various points.

Himman Dhamija's cinematography ought to get him a couple of awards. And Kirron Kher shines in the 15 seconds allotted to her as the brothel keeper Lol Bibi. On the other hand, Tom Alter (playing an officer called, simply, Watson) is present for reasons known to him alone.

Mangal Pandey brings into play a remarkable set of references (thanks to Farrukh Dhondy's screenplay), ranging from the East India Company's opium trade to the role of other freedom fighters such as Rani Laxmibai (Varsha Usgaonkar), Nawab Azimullah (Shahbaaz Khan) and Tatya Tope (Deepraj Rana). The pieces of the puzzle may not be sharply etched. And yet, three hours later, they somehow manage to fit.

Go watch. Aur Halla Bol!



Want to see this movie? Check out Rediff Movie Tickets

Bollywood star rises to the challenjge...CNN

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[http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/12/khan.profile.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

MUMBAI, India (AP) -- He demands scripts before agreeing to a movie, acts in an unheard-of one film at a time, and his last new project was four years ago.

Yes, Aamir Khan is a Bollywood superstar. Now he's taking aim at the rest of the world with "The Rising," an English-language colonial epic that is being called the most expensive Indian film ever made.

"I've been very fortunate that right from my first film, I've really seen huge success and by and large I've been able to maintain it for 17 years now," Khan told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

"I don't think (success) mattered. I was more interested in what I was doing and I don't think I'm distracted by the success of it."

You wouldn't believe this from any other actor in movie-mad India, where the poor spend an entire day's wage of 50 rupees (a little more than a dollar) to see the latest film.

Bollywood stars are flamboyant, larger than life, just like their towering billboards which are plastered all over the country. But when Khan says he's not drunk on success, you believe him.

Bollywood actors often straddle more than four films a year, jumping between various sets in a single day, so people snickered when Khan said he wanted to complete one movie before starting another.

"I've been advocating it as far back as 1994-95," said Khan, casual in jeans and a gray sweatshirt, sipping tea from a large mug in a producer's office in central Mumbai (also known as Bombay).

"But at that time it was a very alien concept for filmmakers," said Khan.

He put it into practice when he acted in and produced "Lagaan" ("Land Tax"), a historical drama which won India's third-ever Oscar nomination.

Long before then, Khan, 40, had a huge following among South Asians living around the world.

But the Oscar nomination drew notice from fans unfamiliar with Bollywood's musical spectacles, and Time magazine profiled him as the young standard-bearer for India's movie industry.

"The Rising," which cost about $20 million to make, aims to break new boundaries by targeting a mainstream international audience. Set in 1857, it's about a failed uprising against the British, who ruled India for 200 years before independence in 1947.

Khan, playing the Indian soldier who triggered the rebellion, says the film is about freedom and liberty: "It's completely about today, it's extremely contemporary."

"The Rising" is short by Indian standards -- just under 2 1/2 hours. It also includes eight song-and-dance numbers.

While Western audiences are often flummoxed when lead actors in Indian movies launch into a coordinated series of gyrations with no link to the plot, Khan compares dance scenes in Indian films with musicals made in the West in the 1940s and 50s.

"This is our form of cinema," says Khan, whose foot-tapping dance moves often draw wolf whistles from audiences.

In "The Rising," the dance scenes are also part of an ancient Indian oral traditions, where traveling folk singers told tales -- this time the tale of the soldier Khan plays -- to villagers.

He grew a scraggly mustache and sported unkempt shoulder-length hair for the movie. "It took me very long -- more than a year -- to grow my hair," laughed Khan, his brown eyes crinkling. "My mustache took me six months to grow."

Notorious for wanting to be involved until the final cut and peppering a director with questions, Khan has often been criticized for his hands-on approach. And in an industry where stars are commonly handed their scripts on the first day of filming, Khan also demands to see the script before agreeing to a project.

But veteran director Ketan Mehta, who worked with Khan in "The Rising," described him as dedicated and focused.

Blockbuster debut "Which Indian actor would give more than 2 1/2 years to one project?" asked Mehta. "And he's an actor at the peak of his career."

Known for his research, Khan visited libraries and read letters, books and memoirs about the mid-19th century for his latest movie.

"Aamir is one of a kind. He is one of the rare guys in the film industry who has a certain credibility attached to him," said Rauf Ahmed, jury member for India's national film awards. "He analyzes and questions everything."

Khan's blockbuster debut came in 1988 when he played a romantic youth who fights his family for the girl of his dreams in "Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak" ("From Doomsday to Doomsday").

But it was in the 1990s that he emerged as a major star in a wide range of roles, from street-smart, Mumbai tough guys in "Rangeela" ("Colorful") and "Ghulam" ("The Slave") to a no-nonsense cop in "Sarfarosh" ("Martyr"), to a smooth city slicker who doesn't believe in love in "Dil Chahta Hain" ("What the Heart Wants").

"I enjoy the love I recieve from my fans and my audience," said Khan. "But I think I know what is real for me and what is not."

His son and daughter are part of his reality check.

"My son is a harsh critic," grins Khan. "He's 12 and he's rarely impressed by what I do. The best he has ever said to me was, 'Not bad."'




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Replies:

Mangal Pandey / The Rising





By Taran Adarsh, August 12, 2005 - 09:30 IST

An Aamir Khan film is special. And if the actor happens to take a [almost] 4-year sabbatical from work and returns with a period epic, MANGAL PANDEY, you wait with bated breath for the overtly choosy actor to mesmerize his fans and cinelovers yet again.

Aamir's teaming with director Ketan Mehta as also producer Bobby Bedi, names synonymous with quality cinema, conjures images of an ambitious epic that could well be India's answer to the Mel Gibson classic BRAVEHEART.

Talking from the economics point of view as well, there's a lot riding on MANGAL PANDEY. The stakes are high, the industry can't afford biggies to bite the dust.

A slice of history that explores the mutiny of 1857, MANGAL PANDEY balances form and content beautifully. Lavishly mounted and recreating the era with precision, MANGAL PANDEY suits the term 'landmark cinema' and has all it takes to help Bollywood take a giant step into world cinema with pride.

Ketan Mehta's execution of the subject leaves you tongue-tied, the visuals appear true to life, the performances [so essential in a film of this genre] are absolutely spellbinding, the sequence of events that led to the mutiny are carefully explained. Result: The viewer cannot help but get transported to an era when British ruled India.

Recreating history is difficult and making you glued to your seats for the next 3 hours could be taxing if the content doesn't live up to your expectations. But MANGAL PANDEY talks about the martyr, his heroism, his contribution to India's freedom movement so effectively and immaculately that you can't help but salute the great freedom fighter.

To sum up, MANGAL PANDEY is a brave attempt on the part of its makers to bring to life an important chapter from history. And make you realize that the freedom we enjoy today is only because of our predecessors, who gave their blood for the nation. The film succeeds in arousing patriotic feelings without a shred of doubt!

Mangal Pandey [Aamir Khan] is an Indian sepoy serving Britain's East India Company. Mangal rescues his commanding officer William Gordon [Toby Stephens] on the battlefields of Afghanistan and the two men develop a friendship. The Hindi-speaking Gordon is sympathetic towards the locals, which is in stark contrast to most of his white colleagues.

The story takes a turn when the British introduce a new set of rifles. To use them, the sepoys are required to bite the bullet. The paper cartridges encasing the gunpowder contain beef and pig fat.

Neither Hindu nor Muslim soldiers are prepared to use the new cartridge on religious grounds. Trusting Gordon that the cartridges do not use beef and pig fat, Mangal bites the bullet, but when the sepoys learn the truth, Mangal revolts and leads a rebellion that sows the seeds for the end of the East India Company's reign.

Attempting a period film in an era when the focus is on candyfloss, escapist cinema is nothing short of a challenge. It's a risk, as the storyteller just cannot deviate from history, indulge in cinematic liberties, throw songs whether or not the situations warrant them or try to balance serious with light moments. If you talk of national heroes, you ought to remain faithful to the subject-material. And that's precisely what Ketan Mehta does while narrating the story of a great freedom fighter.

MANGAL PANDEY grips you from the very start. A number of sequences [screenplay: Farrukh Dhondy] leave you spellbound --
The very start of the film, when Aamir is being taken to the gallows.

The fight between an English officer and Aamir, when the former forcibly tries to molest Rani soon after the mujra.

Toby rescuing Amisha from the funeral pyre.

The turning point of the film, when Aamir uses the gun cartridge that has been greased with cow and pig fat.

Aamir angrily confronting Toby Stephens at the intermission point.

Aamir facing the British army alone and when he realizes that he would be overpowered, trying to commit suicide by shooting himself.
The sequence in the hospital, when Toby tells Aamir to apologize, but Aamir sticks to his stand.

The finale, when Aamir is publicly hanged and a brief B & W newsreel follows.

Besides, the battle sequences [stunts: Abbas Ali Moghul] have been executed with flourish.
Any loopholes in an otherwise perfect film? The songs seem forced in the narrative. Ideally, the film could've done with two songs, 'Mangal Mangal' and 'Teri Adaon Pe Main Vaari Vaari'. The Holi track as also the romantic song [filmed on Aamir-Rani, Toby-Amisha] can easily be deleted since they only act as barricades in the otherwise smooth narrative.

Another drawback is that certain characters remain underdeveloped. The women don't have much to do in the film. Even the track of the maid [Mona Ambegaonkar], who feeds the British woman's infant, appears incomplete.

Since the film deals with history and British rulers specifically, the usage of English language is imperative, but Om Puri's voiceover in those scenes makes it easier for the average Indian moviegoer to decipher and fathom what's being spoken on screen.

While Rahman's music may not be ever-lasting, his background score has that international feel, befitting an epic. Cinematography [Himman Dhamija] is exceptional, again matching global standards. The locations and the colors only accentuate the visual impact. Special mention must also be made of the production design [Nitin Chandrakant Desai], costumes [Lovleen Bains] and makeup [Penelope Smith, Slash Apeni Sandhu]. Dialogues are natural to the core.

MANGAL PANDEY would look incomplete without Aamir's awe-inspiring portrayal of the great hero. Not once do you realize that the role is being 'enacted'. It's Aamir's splendid performance that makes the film a memorable affair, besides Mehta's storytelling of course. It goes without saying that his performance in MANGAL PANDEY should rank prominently in his enviable repertoire.

Toby Stephens is simply amazing. For an English actor to deliver lines in Hindi and match it with appropriate expressions is no ordinary task. The actor compliments Aamir at every step and delivers a knockout performance that would only draw applause from Indian moviegoers.

Both Rani and Amisha don't get ample footage. Rani is wonderful in a small role, but Amisha is relegated to the backseat completely. Kiron Kher is effective in a neat cameo. The film has a number of actors, but those who make their presence felt are Mukesh Tiwari, Sohrab Ardeshir and Amin Hajee.

On the whole, MANGAL PANDEY is a film of epic proportions. A genuine attempt at bringing alive a great hero on celluloid, the film will only bring pride and prestige in the domestic market as well as on the international platform. At the box-office, with the distributors flooding the market with extensive prints and multiplexes performing 12-15-18 shows a day, the first 4-day weekend [Monday, 15th August is also a holiday] will witness historic collections, with the distributors recovering a major part of their investment from the proceeds of the first week itself. Overall, the merits coupled with its business will undoubtedly make MANGAL PANDEY a big grosser.

The film deserves to be tax-exempted in every state of India, so that the heroic fight of a great freedom fighter has an extensive, wider reach.

****

First impressions are quite disappointing to say the least....I was hoping to be told of the things MANGAL PANDEY was and was not....i was hoping to see a conflict of 'epic' proportions and came away with a very mixed take-away. Ultimately Ketan Mehta has not stayed true to the story nor his audiences. One amongst many is if there was reason to show the romance angle for either of the 2 protagonists (oh yes, Toby's character is one too). Could it not simply have been a story of 2 friends? The possibilities would have been immense.

In the end Toby Stephens steals the thunder from right under Aamir's nose, who does not even realise it. This will be one of those scripts that Aamir in later days will say he should not have said yes to.

For academic purposes watch it, but this is nowhere in the league of a LAGAAN or a classic. My take is, one will forget it in about a month's time.

i thoguht this movie was pretty good..everything was top notch..

yes i did feel that the romantic angles were forced into it..but u need that for it to sell in india..after all it is an indian movie..luckily the love angles arent the main foray of the film..

i guess if they didnt have that angle than ppl would question what about mangals personal life? his family? the ppl he loved? he pretty much had no1 (as indicated by himself cooking dal-roti alone in his hut )

it did feel a tad bit stretched and there are a few songs that could be excluded...but i must say..watching them on the big screen with excellent sound and picture quality is amazing..picturisation is pretty good.

i havent heard anything about the international version? hopefully that will rid maybe 2 songs..and Om Puris voice over(which is ok for a while..but they shouldnt have voiced over the english dialogues..i really wanted to hear what some of them were saying!)

in the end..when mangal finally meets his fate..u do feel outraged as an indian and hope to god something drastic happens! (which it does eventually 90 years later..1947 )

acting is pretty good..aamir khan and toby stephens were really convincing..

i learnt quite a few things about indian history from it aswell...like a suttee( i had no idea what that was before the movie), india has always been corrupt since then,and that indians dadis would get high during the day

id rate this movie 8/10
if anything it was probably missing 1 massive battle scene..

is the story slow and boring as peheli ( didnt like the movie) or is it on the terms of pace such as lagaan/devdas? is it worth to see it in the theaters? thx

I certainly rate this over PAHELI and certainly watchable in the theatre...but bridle your expectation....dont go expecting that since it is an Aamir Khan film(attributed with a lot of intelligence when choosing projects he works in), there will be great things happening. I would lay the blame squarely on Mehta and his script writing team with Farrokh Dhondy. Production values look strained, they have tried their best. The film city set looks like it is a set. The Tajikistan battle scene looks like it could have done with at least a few thousand more participants.....Aamir breathes fire and brimstone every once in a while, but Toby Stephen comes away as the revealation. He has the better dialogues and his conflict feels genuine.....for some strange reason, Mangal Pandey's characterisation seemed weaker. He could have done with more screen time than Toby's character got.

Some one's not happy about the ‘historically accurate’ claim



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 151152.stm

Ali

It's late into the night, so I'll only add my brief thoughts on the film(maybe, I'll add some extended comments later on);

This is a film I really, really wanted to love(not just like), LOVE!. Had it been a short feature film about Mangal Pandey containing footages of only the last 10-15 mintues of the film, I might have gotten what I wanted, and interestingly, it would have worked too, had it been conceived that way originally. I would have saluted Ketan Mehta & Aamir Khan for making a grand film within risticted, ill-favoured Bollywood territory. In my opinion, it would have atleast established Aamir Khan upto greater heights within the art of the filmmaking process. However...(long pause, silence)..., as it is, a large portion of the film is completely hollow, terribly cliched, senseless and almost a waste of time and space. The latter, ever since post-2001, I would have never imagined that it would be associated with anything to do with Aamir Khan.

It was quite a good film, but would've been better without Amisha and Rani's characters. There was no need for them, unless they were historical characters, which I doubt. Also I doubt the sati incident actually happened like in this film. It was just a way of showing not all British were bad.

But what is the difference between the Indian cut and the International version? What's missing or added?