Movies - The Rising

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	Movies - The Rising

Mangal Pandey: The Rising (Indian Title) or The Ballad of Mangal Pandey (International Title) (released in India on August 12, 2005) is an Indian movie based on the life of Mangal Pandey, an Indian soldier in the 1857 Revolt against the British.

Aamir Khan, a leading Bollywood actor, plays the lead role of Mangal Pandey. Mangal Pandey was a sepoy who sparked the rebellion of 1857. Subsequently the mutiny was called "The Sepoy Mutiny" or "The Sepoy Rebellion" by most of the English-speaking world, while Indians referred to it as the "First War of Independence".

Synopsis

The Rising is an epic tale of friendship, love, loss and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. This sweeping epic is based on real historical events, seen as a trigger for Indian independence. It has been filmed in India over 6 months with a mix of British and Indian cast. British colonial rulers are plundering the country for all its worth, treating the locals unjustly and causing widespread resentment. Worst of all they are using the Indians as sepoys, the infantry of the army, to control and regulate the population.

After a hundred years of subjugation, India is awakening to the revolutionary prospect of change and self-rule.

During a fierce battle in the Afghan wars of the mid-century, Mangal (Aamir Khan), an heroic sepoy, rescues his British commanding officer William Gordon (Toby Stephens). The event creates a strong friendship and binding loyalty between them that transcends consideration of rank and race.

Heera (Rani Mukerji) is a native gypsy girl who has been kidnapped and sold to Lol Bibi (Kiron Kher). Lol Bibi turns Heera into a prostitute and makes her work for her. She soon catches the eyes of Mangal Pandey and a liason follows.

The friendship is soon challenged, first by arrival of a charming and beautiful young aristocrat, Emily Kent (Coral Beed), and then by the introduction of controversial new gun cartridges among the troops. The relationship is complicated further when Gordon saves a beautiful young native girl, Jwala (Amisha Patel), from the funeral pyre of her late husband, and falls in love with her.

The new cartridges require soldiers to bite through their greased casing, made of animal fat of cows and pigs, and suspicion spreads that the British are ignoring religious beliefs in favor of cheap ammunition, and polluting their Muslim and Hindu soldiers, as the cow is a sacred animal to the Hindus and the pig is a detested animal to the Muslims. Gordon assures Mangal that the cartridges are free from pollution and demonstrating his total trust in Gordon, Mangal bites the cartridge. The soldiers soon discover that the cartridges really are greased by animal fat and the rumour of this imposed pollution is the spark that ignites the powder keg of resentment in the country. Mutiny breaks out, with Mangal growing in stature in his attempt to lead the Indian people to freedom.

In summation, The Rising tells the tale of friends, lovers and enemies, exploiters and exploited, and the growth and awareness of a man and a nation.

Reviews

The film has received a mixed welcome globally. In India, it has rekindled interest in Mangal Pandey, the first hero of the Sepoy Mutiny. While some in the United Kingdom has accused the film's makers of distorting history to portray the British rule in a demonic light.

The controversies surrounding the movie reached Delhi High Court on Thursday with two of the descendants of the martyr seeking a ban on the screening of the film. They alleged the film portrayed the patriot in poor light. Raghunath Pandey, vice principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya at Janakpuri and his son Omkar Nath Pandey - descendants of the martyr's brother Lalit Pandey - filed a suit seeking an unconditional apology from all those involved in the making of the film for allegedly showing Mangal Pandey (Played by Aamir Khan) as a drunkard involved in a relationship with a prostitute (played by Rani Mukerji).

Trivia

Aishwarya Rai
was supposedly to play the role of "Jwala" now played by Amisha Patel
. Ironically, Aishwarya demanded a higher price since it was an international project, eventually the director signed her off.
Rani Mukerji
was also roped in for Jwala's role before Amisha but she chose rather to play the role of the prostitute which she found very interesting. The writer then had to extend the role of Heera to give more scope for Rani's performance since it was a trivial part of the story before Rani's commitment.

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Movies - The Rising

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