Just a couple of weeks more before Chandrayaan 2 will touch down on the lunar surface marking yet another significant achievement of ISRO. On the occasion of our space organisation's 50th anniversary, it would be fair to say that they have constantly amazed us with their mind boggling research & resourcefulness. One of their greatest accomplishments that made us brim with pride was Mangalyaan which was our nation's first interplanetary mission & in doing so, we became the first in the world to be successful in the maiden attempt itself. As one would have guessed Jagan Shakti's "Mission Mangal" is a fictionalized account of that incredible expedition. So is the celluloid creation as successful as the actual event???
India's attempt to launch GSLV had failed & the Mission director Rakesh Dhawan (Akshay Kumar) was put on the docks for the failure of his team. The responsibilities for the subsequent missions were handed over to Dr. Rupert Desai, an arrogant scientist who had recently joined ISRO after having served many years in NASA. To further rub it in on Rakesh, he was asked to lead the Mars mission with neither experienced personnels in his team nor adequate funds. However, with the able support of his brilliant project director Tara Shinde (Vidya Balan) they manage to come up with a credible team & plan. But the challenges were numerous & how they manage to overcome all of them forms the crux of the movie.
The project is helmed by the debutant Jagan Shakti, who had
earlier worked as associate director for R. Balki. Apart from calling the
shots, he had also penned the script with the support of his mentor Balki,
Nidhi Singh & Saketh Kondiparthi. The thread of the story has immense
potential as it is a classic case of the underdog emerging victorious. Though
we have been witness to numerous Hollywood flicks that dealt with space
expeditions, it’s a subject that’s not so common in our country. If you are a stickler
for detail then this is not going to impress you as the manner in which the
protagonists go about their task seems haphazard & too trivial. But Jagan
has crafted his movie as an entertainer whereby even the common man would able
to comprehend the elaborate mission without being overwhelmed with jargons
& complicated theorems. Another positive is the back-story of the female
protagonists which gives us a glimpse as to how women juggle with their various
responsibilities as wife, mother & daughter with ease & yet manage to
perform brilliantly in their profession. On the technical side, the CGI team
has done a decent job while the other aspects were fine as well.
Even though the movie is marketed as an Akshay entertainer,
it is the female protagonists who hog the limelight & the director needs to
be applauded for this shrewd strategy. As always, the ever dependable Vidya
Balan was fantastic as she effortlessly fits into the role of the mother as
well as the project director. It’s not so easy to come across mainstream actors
who doesn’t mind play second fiddle to his co-stars but Akshay has done exactly
that. He has done justice to his part as the magnanimous leader & also
blows his patriotic trumpet to good effect. The rest of the female leads have
also done their parts aptly be it Nitya Menen, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu or
Kirti Kulhari. As for the rest of the cast, Sanjay Kapoor was apt as the
impatient husband who eventually brings the roof down with his “Raja” dance moves, while Sharman Joshi,
H. G Dattatreya, Vikram Gokhale were fine.
Verdict: There is no doubt that it will cater to the
audience for its entertaining nature without taking a toll on our grey cells.
The latest box office reports have also shown that the movie is going great
guns & should breach the 200 C mark. As I mentioned earlier, if one is to
watch it with an open mind without being too touchy about the specifics of the
mission, then you can rest assured to be in good spirits. In short, check it
out!!!
Rating: 3/5
Regards…Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment