The Rising: The Ballad Of Mangal Pandey
Jonathan Romney in London 04 August 2005 00:01
Dir: Ketan Mehta. India. 2005. 150mins
The story of the Indian Mutiny gets a swashbuckling spin, complete
with musical numbers, in The Rising, a film that director Ketan Mehta
originally planned to make in 1988.
The presence of Aamir Khan star of Lagaan, one of the few Bollywood
films to achieve a healthy degree of non-niche prominence suggests
that The Rising might follow suit, though much will depend on its
reception in Locarno where it premiered on Wednesday (Lagaan was
launched in similar style).
Crossover potential could be hampered, however, by what mainstream
audiences may perceive as a jarring incongruity between taut,
realistic historical drama and the extravagant dance sequences scored
by star composer AR Rahman.
Slightly less than a full-blown epic, the film is handsomely mounted
rather than truly spectacular, but at time of viewing, some CGI work,
notably in the battle scenes, was yet to be completed. Whether or not
it can break out of the specialised market, The Rising's seriousness
and political sense of purpose should give it an edge both
theatrically and on DVD. The film is released in the UK and Us on
August 12.
The film begins after the 1857 court martial of the historical figure
Mangal Pandey (Khan), a sepoy an Indian soldier enlisted in the
British army under the all-powerful East India Company. A voice-over
tells us we will learn what brought Pandey to this point, and how his
actions led to the downfall of the East India Company, and sowed the
seeds for the eventual dismantling of the British Raj.
The action flashes back to a skirmish between the British army and
Afghans, in which Pandey saves the life of a young Scottish officer,
Captain William Gordon (Stephens). The two men's friendship is later
cemented in a wrestling match but is tested when the sepoys come into
conflict with their British commanders, as a result of the
introduction of a bullet cartridge lubricated with beef and pork fat,
and therefore offensive to the Indian soldiers.
Meanwhile, both men embark on romances with Indian women - Pandey with
Rani (Mukerji), a young woman sold as a prostitute in a brothel for
British officers, and Gordon with Jwala (Patel), a young widow whom he
saves from death by suttee.
The Rising strikes an uneasy balance between factually-based
historical drama and very broad melodrama, especially where some of
the British characters are concerned, although Kenneth Cranham excels
as a boorishly corrupt trader.
Writer Farrukh Dondey manages to impart a great deal of historical
information about both the economic voracity and the cultural
ignorance underlying British dominion, giving the film a distinct
Marxist spin. But that requires an awkward amount of exposition, and
it stretches plausibility that Gordon should deliver an angry lecture
on the oppressive function of the opium trade, anachronistically
signing off, "And we call it the free market."
The talk, however, is offset by some taut dramatic sequences,
especially in the climactic stand-offs between the sepoys and the
British, with Khan excelling as an intense, charismatic leader who
finally achieves a quasi-messianic status. He's well matched by
Stephens as a thinking gentleman-of-action.
Several song-and-dance sequences provide vibrant interludes,
especially when Mukerji lets rip with jubilant, flirty brio.
Production companies
TFK Films
Kaleidoscope Entertainment
Maya Movies Production
Inox Leisure
International sales
Capitol Films
UK distributor
Yash Raj Films
Producers
Bobby Bedi
Deepa Sahi
Screenplay
Farrukh Dhondy
Cinematography
Himman Dhamija
Production design
Nitin Chandrakant Desai
Editor
Sreekar Prasad
Music
AR Rahmaan
Costume design
Lovleen Bains
Choreographers
Saroj Khan
Raju Khan
Action co-ordinator
Abbas Ali Moghul
Main cast
Aamir Khan
Toby Stephens
Rani Mukerji
Amisha Patel
Coral Beed
Kenneth Cranham
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This August, Discover the Birth of Your Independence
and The Magic of A.R.Rahman's Music in
Mangal Pandey - The Rising
http://www.risingthefilm.com
http://www.mangalpandeythefilm.com
Music released: Jul 14, 2005 Movie releases: Aug 12, 2005
Explore, Experience, Enjoy A.R.Rahman - The Man, The Music, The Magic.
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