Watch Mangal Pandey - The Rising For Free

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Don't listen to the negative reviews

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I had very high expectations for this film. I had listened to the music by A.R. Rahman for weeks before it's release, and was excited about many other factors including Aamir Khan's presence, the theme, the fact that it was actually about a revolutionary whose story had not been told earlier, etc.I went to the first show on the Friday that it released. When it started off with the song "mangal mangal mangal," I was elated with the beautiful visuals and I remember thinking, "Here we go, finally a good film after a long time." But it was all down hill from there. After the first half ended, I was extremely disappointed. The excessive emphasis on Rani's role, and that whole aspect of the film regarding prostitutes. Even if this was a part of Mangal's life, it did not need to be given such great focus in the movie. I was really hoping that the second half would get better, because so far, the film had not connected with me on an emotional level, at all. Though the second half did get better, not by much. I didn't understand how there could be so many "holes" in the movie, eg. Amisha's role, how she just disappeared, etc. I mean, don't get me wrong, the film was fine technically, it just wasn't a "solid" film, it lacked that "something." When I left the cinema hall, I felt cheated. The last time I came to see an Aamir Khan film, it was Dil Chahta Hai, now that was a film. This, was just a disappointment. I was expecting a film with a lot of josh, emotion and heart. Hopefully "Rang De Basanti" will make up for this film's lack of...well, that "something", I guess you could call it a soul.

I watched it in the first week itself. the story isn't good, the direction is bad but only thing what makes this movie worth watching is Amir Khan. No doubt hes a true legend. Amir Khan has always given more than 100% in every movie hes acted. Even after working for only around 40 movies in 10 years hes managed to stay in limelite and produce masterpieces. Very few actors can actually rise above the script and direction and singlehandedly make the movie run house full even before its release. Amir khan is one of those very few Stars. Even Shahrukh khan with his media presence and Yash/johar clan cant make movies a hit before release. Amir khan new this movie might not be a big hit. He marketed it in such a way that the distributors recovered everything in the three weeks of release.

This is only the second Bollywood I have seen and was not quite what I'd expected. (I've probably heard too many stereotypical summaries about Bollywood cinema.) I was impressed. This film was very good, solid entertainment and I'd rate it among the best films I've seen in the past few years. I'd agree that some of the song-and-dance routines were superfluous to the plot and could be left out without harming the film, but not all of them. The itinerant players on the elephant were right for setting the scene in the opening sequence and at relevant points throughout the film.I also like the use of 'real' actors for most of the crowd scenes and minimal use of CGI. (I'm no fan of CGI, whatever its convenience for film makers: it often looks cartoonish, doesn't fit in with the live action, and spoils the illusion of the film.)As to the historical accuracy, I don't look to films for historical information and this doesn't interest me so much as whether the story is well told. This one is!As a history graduate, I know that dominant versions of history change periodically, and strict "accuracy" is of more concern to the academics than to people in general. Historical accuracy is for the textbooks, films need to have room for myth and folklore. How many rather good films would never have been made if we were always "historically accurate" about Robin Hood and King Arthur?

This is a difficult movie to watch because after all the wait and hype, it's simply not a story well-told. At the interval, I had absolutely no interest in any of the characters, and I really didn't even want to see the second half of the film.Yes, the cinematography is good, and the acting is good, but somewhere in the editing room enough of the movie was cut out that what is left doesn't flow. Even the songs suddenly appear for no reason or with no connection to the previous scene.To whatever extent it will instill Indian pride, I applaud the film. But talks of an Oscar are utter nonsense as this movie has no international appeal. To compare it to Lagaan is absurd. We westerners are clueless about cricket, but we were totally drawn into that story and its characters. The Rising bombs on that front.