“Shandaar Jabarjast Jindabaad”
Rating: ***1/2
‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’ is one of the most inspiring tales of human capability and love, of recent times. The movie is path breaking in a lot of terms. It’s not every week that you get to see a bio pic about someone who took on a humungous task of bringing down a mountain single handedly and successfully completes it. And all that is done in the name of love.
People all over the world have done some really crazy stuff for the sake of love. Shahjahan built the Taj but employed 20000 workers while Dashrath Manjhi broke the mountain all by himself.
The story is well known as it had been going around the media for a while now. Dashrath Manjhi a man from Bihar who took the task of bringing down a mountain when he lost his wife due the time it took for him to take her to the hospital when she met with an accident.
But this is just not it the movie is a love story that builds up enough emotions for you to feel the pain that the man goes through because of his struggle in the post-independence India. The turmoil of the poor man, that too from the lowest of the casts, who faces the wrath of the upper cast goons and powerful people. Someone who is even discarded by is own people and called and mocked as crazy.
Defying all the criticism and negativity it’s the will of the brave man who does accomplish his dream. It is a brilliant tale of human spirit.
Director Ketan Mehta started brilliant with Bhavni Bhavai in 1980 and had been doing several biopics since Sardar(1993), like Mangal Pandey and the recent one Rang Rasiya. He has won many awards in the past but he did lose some charm somewhere down the line while trying to make some mainstream movies. Manjhi might mark his return to his old forte and get him another award.
He has well woven the layers of discrimination, untouchability the inequality, naxalites and corruption of the then government system that is still evident in many parts of the country in a story that is essentially a love story.
And Nawazuddin post his superb performance as the Pakistani reporter in Bajrangi Bhaijaan is just awesome. He is such a superlative actor that can transform into the character so well that you would just believe him to be actually living that life. His chemistry with the another gem and his co actor in the movie Radhika Apte is great. Radhika also did win a lot of praise for her performance in the recent short movie by Sujoy Ghosh – Ahalya.
Both of them are totally natural in the movie and will give you an authentic Indian rural feel of the past.
Rest of the actors do a decent job in supporting the movie. The only problem in the movie is that the layers apart from the main one do not develop completely. But a movie which delivers such a big message to the audience about human strength these can be ignored.
So go and watch this one for the brilliant performance from Nawaz, if not for the real Dashrath – arguably the greatest lover of the times.
The second movie released this week All is Well seems weak and i may not watch it. share your reviews of the same on the blog comments.