did anyone else find that they sped up the music? it seemed as if they were embarassed that the film had songs so they sped up the music scenes about 1.5X the normal rate. or am i crazy?

Saw it today and think it's a very very good film, but not great, due to Bollywood conventions, which could and should be avoided. Aamir Khan was absolutely marvelous and Toby Stephens also is really good. It's a pity when I think of what it could've been, but not everyone is a Farhan Akhtar or a Ashutosh Gowariker. Just watch it like the usual Bollywood ishtyle film and you won't be disappointed. I just hope they won't send this film to the Oscars and neither BLACK, but rather RAINCOAT or SWADES instead, as those films are better.

8/10

I agree with Anwar - As I have noted before Indian Cinema is often called a Cinema of Interruptions and Mangal Pandey falls victim to this orthodox. Even with so much talent on/off screen Mangal Pandey only briefly surfaces the 'sea-of-success' while the weight of bollywood convention pulls it down to the abyss of failure

I liked it in parts and yawned at others - overall i rate it 6/10

Sad to see so much wasted effort - in the box-office I think it will average out and at least breakeven

My verdict;


7/10..just because of Aamir!

Potentialy good period film in bad hands!

Film do have its goods, but in the end you walk out with the flavour of more ikky bads in your mouth.

As I said this film will have humango task of comparison with Lagaan, and where it miserably Fail!

This is one of those films where they are by AAmir, For Aamir etc and Aamir does do Justic to that.

If this film does do favourable buisness in the long run, it will be solely, due to Aamir Khan and YRF publicity etc and not to mention, deteriorating audience taste for screwed up films of any MAGNITUDE!

It is BADLY scripted film with immensely cheesy B Grade dialogues not worthy of its Calibre and Honor of the Subject. Here Patriotism takes a Back Seat and Commercial Masala runs amok all over the place.
Scenes like Rani's Sale and Whereabout, Hideously vulgarity based Brothel coming out straight from Chandni bar and devdas combo, trying to inch from Kisna, amisha's out of wedlock, vidwa sleeping with English Man, Sleezy love makings of british officers and Indian guy drooling while fanning, couple scenes of Breat exposition for What???

Patriotism, Intensity of Freedom Fight???? I do not think so, these things along with immensely 3rd class dialogues in a film of 50 crore, just weigh it down from all the honour, prestige the subject of Hindustan, Hindustani, Freedom, Patriotism that it should have been associated with.

The news reel at the end with Gandhi ji conveys that better than the entire 3 hours of film..First long half, with Tons of songs, bed room scenes, exotica, makes you think, oh the director has a different vision and direction to take you too, sadly.

Rehman's music, back ground and songs fails miserably due to bad script and misplacement of songs, that even if are not too many, over shadow the first half at all wrong moments to hugely distract audience from feelings of Mangal Pandey!

I have not seen a worst Mujra than "tumhari Ada" here with Rani, trying to do, that is not very classy period flavored, per choreography, rani, costumes are unworthy and do not go with that mid 1800 feel.
Simillar to that gypsy girls, coming straight from Ramu ke 21st century ke sholay instead!

The set of vilage in 50 crore film stinks like shit!

Editing is jerky, and film has been chopped out of his life e.g the opening battle scene, with Afghanistan, armies come together, blanked and then you see dead without fighting...holly cow! Wasnt the film about, mutiny, fight and struggle about freedom???Hullo!!??

In Second half, you dont know sepoys are Where??? too confusing jerky, by chopping all important scenes between different batallions and their plans, with Bakht Khan, non introduced and then dumped some where!
Go look for Hathi decorated, Snake Charmers etc, Indian Holi, Bazar, Kotha! and not to mention, Damn Rani Fighting on the horse in the end with Turban like She Taliban, Damn it..My God!

Bad Story telling by the Director, who really imho, dishonored a pure, honest, thematic film about freedom fight/patriotism, by trying to make it an expensive amalgamate of too many fake things. Very Bad Editing/Chopping making the whole real thing of freedom fight, chopy, disjointed, in effective!

No doubt Aamir was Good, Toby was better than I expected, other Goras did well too! Om Puri's Narrative despite my worry, work extremely well!
amisha/Rani whatever they were told to do, did with honesty!

but it is the film that lacked Honesty and True Path!making it even Less Sensitive than LOBS!

Go watch it for some color, a few good scenes between aamir and Untouchable guy, Toby Stephen larger than himself performance , aamir Khan trying every now and then to RISE all above that!

Ladies and Gentlemen I present THE RISING OF AAMIR KHAN AND THE FALL OF MULTI MILLION HINDI CINEMA!even lower!

Mangal Pandey: Just cleavage and cliché

Raja Sen | August 26, 2005 17:29 IST


With the release of Mangal Pandey: The Rising, Ketan Mehta's historical epic exploring India's First War of Independence in 1857, it's rewind time for Bollywood.

So, we decided to look back at more Hindi cinema set in that crucial period of Indian history. This is the final in a three-part feature. After exploring Satyajit Ray's masterful Shatranj Ke Khilari, and Shyam Benegal's unforgettable Junoon, we come to the Aamir Khan starrer, Mangal Pandey: The Rising.

...

I'm astonished. What was Aamir Khan trying to do with Ketan Mehta's Mangal Pandey? Going by the historical inaccuracy, detailing inconsistency and utter inanity of the finished product, one can merely hazard a guess. Perhaps, on some bizarre level, the actor was envious of Shah Rukh Khan's much-lampooned Asoka and decided to make his own history-rogering film where he could sport long hair and emerge gloriously out of bathwater. Tsk.

Ketan Mehta can craft a solid, historical biopic, as the director showed us with the neatly made Sardar with Paresh Rawal as Sardar Patel. This film, however, is not about history. In fact, it's hard to pinpoint what it is about.

While understandably favouring a more popular Mangal Pandey viewpoint than the Rudrangshu Mukherjee version, Mehta's film fails even to capitalise on a powerful myth, eventually handing us a protagonist chock-full of red-eyed bluster.



Mangal Pandey was a sepoy. Going by lore and the three paragraphs our history books devoted to him in school, he was incensed by greased cartridges, stood up in defiance to the British, and was ultimately executed, becoming the first martyr in India's war for independence.

Mangal Pandey paints the picture of a young soldier given to mid-afternoon glasses of bhang, easily stirred and pretty seriously confused -- which is a state of affairs we share almost throughout the film. Especially when he barks orders to established leaders of the freedom movement like Bakht Khan and Tatya Tope.

Also, what's with the hair? As far as I can recollect, the British were sticklers for neatness and regularity, and while they might possibly have made exceptions for some of their officers -- the Frank Zappa/Nikhil Chinappa goatees still seem a stretch -- they would surely have frowned on a rockstar-haired young Indian. Also, his decidedly hostile attitude wouldn't help. So, weren't crew cuts standard then? Well, Pandey's descendants have gone on record saying that their legendary ancestor had a single plait, like any traditional Brahmin of the time. But it won't be Aamir without a sensational 'look' gimmick now, innit?

Even as a legend driven to action by cartridges, Aamir sure digs the ham. The constantly-furious actor is in a state of perpetual seething, and this overdone intensity makes sure the audience doesn't relate to the caricature he plays. He glares, he yells, and gruffly turns around to march his way solo, his ponytail bobbing crossly behind him.

Then, inexplicably, there are the women. Rani Mukerji plays a bosom-baring prostitute christened Heera, in love with Mangal. The two cavort merrily during Holi celebrations, a day after plans to free India have been hatched, and his Brahmin background that previously forbade him to come in contact with untouchables seems forgiving enough when he wetly embraces this nautch-girl.

In an equally needless role, Amisha Patel plays conveniently named sati-to-be, Jwala. Saved by Captain Gordon (Toby Stephens in a relatively better written character), she turns into his meek mistress, weeping copious, irritating tears during their lovemaking.

This film's full of skin, by the way. Besides the fact that everyone, including Toby, shows off their upper body to its pushed-up limit, there are Englishwomen who writhe and stretch sensually in bed, and Sophia Haque who comes out of nowhere to perform an item song! Oh, and really, the lesser said about A R Rahman's sleepily composed soundtrack, the better.

The Rising is full of annoying sub-characters, none of whom have much to do in the overall picture of the film, except paint a picture of Indians at the time as a disgustingly servile lot. In terms of mainstream cinema, some jingoism is crucial to portray a national hero, if only to perpetuate a myth. This film takes another extreme, and shows a rather sorry bunch of Indians for the most part.

Despite the inconsistent switching around of his English inflections, Toby Stephens does a commendable job in the film, holding his cardboard character's head up higher than the rest of the cast. And, as is the staple with 1857 cinema, Tom Alter -- seen in both Shatranj Ke Khilari and Junoon -- brings out his cufflinks and potters around, but is sadly given nothing to do.

Coming from Ketan Mehta of Mirch Masala, a director who knows how period cinema can and should be handled, this is a waste. Coming from Aamir Khan, the most highly regarded 'actor' among Indian leading men over the last two decades, this is a disaster.

Mangal Pandey is just cleavage and cliche, signifying nothing.

How pathetic is the film? Well, it almost made a certain long-haired movie critic hack off his humble curls. Mangal, mangal, forsooth!


*** I agree, tuff on Aamir/Mehta team! Pranksters!add Cleavage/cliche and moonch!

I saw it today at Silver City, where all theatres are THX certified.

Wow, had never heard audio this good from Indian films before. Perfect DD sound with thundering bass hitting in the chest (like you get in rock concerts; but crystal clear). Mangal Pandey shoots and you look back towards the projection room, what exploded. You look back, who is talking that loud and no one is there. Audio was that good and distinctively directional.

told you!! now beside being, loud, directional, great thx !What do you think, did Pandey had extraordinary back ground music? or I was smokin? or as a matter of fact any thing extra ordinary, besides aamir's moonch ka bal and baalon ka kham..curl!

It reminded me exactly the hoopla 32 crore Sunny deol ka HERO!

Did you mean Jhansi Ki rani?? I did not see this scene in the film. There was one scene where Jhansi Ki Rani is talking to others in her palace, though.

Music: I can't comment much on music.
Seemed OK for 1857 period. I could not have expected Rock music anyway.

Rana!! Darn!! It was not Jhansi ki Rani show piece for a scene but Mangal ki Rani, after hanging Ghode par sawar ho kar, became baghi and was fighting killing with sword in kinda akhri halla! yaar

and re Music..I might be smokin, but I too, was not expecting any mettalica, rock and roll or pop, mozart in there either!

Music was overall a let down in the film, but overall, I liked CD SOUND TRACK, out of context of the film though!

I was talking about BACK GROUND SCORE! though! any way never mind! do not bother, I'll try to see if I can possibly watch dvd when it comes out in my own home theatre, louder and while non smokin!

Are you sure - i dont think its Mangal ki Rani , infact i am pretty sure it is Jhansi ki Rani . Anyone else can confirm this ?

Well, I think you did not see that film till the end or you slept through it possibly lol I can only proove once dvd comes out, Rani the Prostitute with turban/pagdi, cholla on horse back, killing goras etc!

All i remember is that in a flash there was woman riding her horse killing folks and i assumed it was Jhansi-ki-rani - if it is infact Mangal's girl friend then it is pretty lamho

I wish it would be more footage of history and facts than pseudo, fantasy, commercialism!

I saw someone exactly looking like Aamir Khan Mangal Pandey at the ticket window and going in the theatre. Hair, Moonchh and Moonchh Taav, dress, looks. We said hello to each other and (I) realized, he was our friend/ acquintance for over 12 years and he always wears this get-up (hair style, Moonchh, dress etc).

Yeah, it was Rani (Mukherji) with the turban on fighting.