Manjhi – The Mountain Man.
I had been to the latest movie Manjhi yesterday. It was quite an interesting movie and to be very honest, the only reason I went for the movie was Nawazuddin Siddiqui!
Well, I am not going to make this into a review cos that is really not what we are good at. But there are a few reasons which can probably make the movie a little bearable. (I will try and keep the director bashing to the minimum on this post ;) ). Without much of a wait, here you go with the 5 reasons which can make the movie bearable
The Story!
The story of Dashrath Manjhi is quite an inspiration. It is a story of the strength of love and the will of a man who would carve a path through a hillock with only a hammer and a chisel. The movie portrays that this mammoth effort of his drew strength from the love for his wife and a concern for the fellow villagers to make lives a little simpler for them.
The Will
Something you will constantly see in the movie is the pockets of strength in his will. Even though he is constantly pushed to the extremes, he finds strength and keeps at it no matter how tough the ordeal keeps getting. Even when a famine is declared and the whole village leaves, he would find enough reasons to stay back and his love or strength or determination keeps him going towards his goal of creating the path.
The Challenges and Oppression
Through the movie, we will get to see how oppressed he is because of the power circles around him. The power circles who take advantage of him to siphon money off the government to build a road, a power circle which holds him back in the blame of creating a mafia for smuggling stones while his simple goal was just to break the rocks and create a path through the hillock.
The Doggedness
Something you will also notice through the movie is the doggedness in the character. It is astounding how he keeps finding strength when everyone pushes him down. Each time he is pushed down or completely destroyed morally, he would just pick up the chisel and start hitting the stones. It is conveyed in a pretty decent manner through the movie and kinda leaves you with a little bit of inspiration and a subtle message that if we keep doing what we are committed for with our heads down, something eventually turns up.
The Simple Values
Although the movie doesn’t particularly preach any morals, it does give an insight into a poor man’s life who struggled with the social evils like untouchability and oppression by the local chiefs. It does make you feel a little agitated and at the same time angry at the treatment meted out to them. All the same, we can observe the fire within which sometimes comes out in spurts within the limitation imposed to him by the society. Even when there was an opportunity to mete out revenge, the character shows his strength in maintaining his composure to offer a level headed thought.
All through the movie, one thing is very clear, Manjhi takes up the task of carving the mountain and he is just at that irrespective of what happens around him. Tonnes of events around him don’t distract him and even the distractions get him closer to his goal.
We can certainly appreciate how the biopics are becoming the themes and that the media is bringing the stories of inspiration to the forefront.
Having said this, if you are looking to watch this movie, the movie demands a lot of your patience and you will need to search for what you life. The cast has done the job brilliantly and I would point all my fingers at movie making which could have been much stronger with such a great resource at hand. The story certainly inspires and pockets of movie making does inspire too. But like we said, you would still have to search for what you will like in the movie.
Have a lovely weekend ahead and do share your thoughts if you have or planning to watch the movie :)
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Woah. Looks like I’ll give it a pass then. Thanks for the review.
:).. Sure mate :)
Interesting take! I will keep these points in mind :)
Very nice review Vinay! In a nut shell, Dashrath Manjhi is the name of dedication and determination.
True Pankaj, as a character, I really loved him. He establishes what true love, determination and strength of character can do. However, the movie leaves a lot to be desired.
I think it was a beautiful movie. The desperation, anguish and doggedness is clearly seen in the marvelos acting of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who excelled himself. I agree that the movie may flop from the commercial point of view, but that doesn’t matter. The points you have mentioned are truly moot.
Nawazuddin no doubt is one of the best actors Rajesh. I really liked him on the role and he did provide complete justice to the character. my only question was whether the director provided enough justice to the story and the actor like Nawazuddin. Commercially it is very hard for this movie to succeed, but in movie making too, the only person I got pissed off at was the director. The crew was fantastic for the movie and the movie could be made way better..
Had seen the trailer. Thought of going for the movie today because of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the inspiring story, but the plan changed and have postponed for next weekend.
Aaah, cool cool :). The trailer is very good. Do check out the reviews once though, I found the movie a little too slow for my liking. But the story is brilliant! :)
Vinay, I wish, u didn’t add the word ‘tolerate’ Manjhi. Rest ur 5 points..great… I luved ur take… Manjhi is another great movie on making the impossible a reality…
I loved the story Bindu, but from a layman’s perspective, I really felt that the director could have put in more effort with the talent he had at disposal. I agree that movie making is hard, but somehow felt that there were a lot of loopholes that could be plugged in. And somehow felt that this could easily be made into a shorter movie than going commercial. Or added a few more elements to make it closer to the viewer. Somehow felt that the movie lacked that story telling aspect..