So I went and watch Mangal Pandey at Loews in Woodfield Mall this weekend. I am not sure why people have been so eager to trash this movie. It is an entertaining movie even though some of that entertainment comes at the cost of historical accuracy.
I am surprised that much of the controversy around the movie has been focused around the argument whether Mangal Pandey was really a freedom fighter who understood the concept of India as a nation state or whether he was just a castiest Brahmin who died in the cause of defending his ritualistic practices.
Like all historical facts – the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. But once we assume that Mangal Pandey was indeed a true national hero – the movie can be evaluated on its own merit. Recreation of 19th century Indian hinterland looks realistic (though sometimes a little too glamorous), dialogues and costumes look and feel authentic and Aamir Khan like always brings a true sense of character to his role. Some of the negatives include misplaced songs, horribly out of place item number and some avoidable scenes.
All said and done – historical movies are extremely difficult to make (think of Shahrukh Khan’s Asoka) and nowadays even regular decent movies are hard to come by. In the year of Banti Aur Babli, Kya Kool Hain Hum and the like we should thank our stars that we still have Aamir Khan rooting for us, count our blessings and pass the popcorn please.