http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=reviewsNews&storyID=2005-08-04T225150Z_01_N04171978_RTRIDST_0_REVIEW-REVIEW-FILM-BALLAD-DC.XML
Film review: 'The Rising -- Ballad of Mangal Pandey'
Thu Aug 4, 2005 6:52 PM ET
By Ray Bennett
LOCARNO, Switzerland (Hollywood Reporter) - Ketan
Mehta's sweeping epic, "The Rising -- Ballad of Mangal
Pandey," is a kind of Bollywood "Braveheart" as one
courageous and doomed man confronts the might of the
British Empire, plus there's singing and dancing.
Sumptuously designed and beautifully shot, the film
will delight Bollywood fans but likely will fail to
capture mainstream audiences with its melodramatic
style and jarring combination of stirring action,
brutality and musical numbers.
For 100 years, the East India Company was the face of
the British Empire, ruling one-fifth of the world and
dominating the Indian subcontinent with the help of
300,000 Hindu and Muslim soldiers called Sepoys.
In Mehta's tale, the introduction of a new rifle in
1853 brought down the most successful private company
in history. The rifle used a cartridge that soldiers
had to bite the end of in order to pour the powder
into the barrel. But the company used the grease of
pigs and cows to seal the cartridges, and so placing
them in their mouths violated the Sepoys' faiths.
Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan) is one of the bravest
Sepoys, having served with distinction in places like
Afghanistan's Khyber Pass, where he saved the life of
Capt. William Gordon (Toby Stephens).
At first, trusting the Company lie that the cartridges
do not use pig or cow grease, Pandey bites the bullet,
but when the truth is revealed, he leads the Sepoy in
a rebellion that for the first time unites all the
various creeds, tribes and castes of the region. It
sows the seeds for the end of the East India Company's
reign, though India would not gain its independence
from Britain for about another century.
The saga is told in black-and-white terms with a clear
division between good guys and bad guys. The dastardly
villains are the ones in the red uniforms who speak as
if they've just swallowed a plum. The only good
British officer is, inevitably, Scottish.
The Bollywood style is so bouncy and optimistic,
however, that it's difficult to sustain the effect of
an oppressed nation when everyone, even untouchables
and slave girls, all appear so jolly. The hero is
savagely beaten by five Company men, but shortly
afterward he joins the beautiful pleasure house girl
Heera (Rani Mukherji) in a jaunty dance number.
Although the film is expertly rooted in its period,
Heera seems to have been parachuted in from the 21st
century with her cover girl eyes and MTV choreography.
There are many bold statements about freedom and
peoples' rights to their own cultures and faiths and a
suggestion that there are modern versions of the East
India Company at work in the world, which might well
be true, but the message gets a bit lost amid all the
happy singing people.
Cast: Mangal Pandey: Aamir Khan; Capt. William Gordon:
Toby Stephens; Heera: Rani Mukherji; Emily Kent: Coral
Beed; Veer Pretap: Amin Hajee; Lol Bibi: Kiron Kher;
Jwala: Ameesha Patel.
Director: Ketan Mehta; Screenwriter: Farrukh Dhondy;
Producers: Bobby Bedi, Deepa Sahi; Director of
photography: Himman Dhamija; Production designer:
Nitin Chandrakant Desai; Editor: Sreekar Prasad;
Composer: A.R. Rahmaan.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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