Mission Mangal: Akshay Kumar’s Marvelous Mars Journey

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Mission Mangal:

Akshay Kumar’s Marvelous Mars Journey 

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]ooking for a real fun, feel-good experience? Take a trip on ‘Mission Mangal’ to Mars with Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Tapsee Pannu, Kriti Kulhari, Nithya Menen and Sharman Joshi,  reenacting India’s historic Mangalyaan or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). (The film has been declared tax-free in Maharashtra)

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] learned a lot by seeing ‘Mission Mangal’- except I’m not sure if it was all accurate – did the scientists lead this mission by the old kitchen techniques of shutting off the stove while frying the puris to conserve oil? Did they re-use resources from an earlier failed mission based on the concept of using for lunch what was left over from breakfast? We’re speaking of ‘Jugad’- the peculiarly Indian spirit of creative can-do and make do and that always makes for a positive story.

Is that the way the dramatic Mars Mission actually happened? Probably not as this is supposed to be a fictionalized version of the actual event, and I don’t think real ISRO scientists would have broken into song and dance while preparing for the mission! Or maybe, they would have? As someone noted in the comments in Youtube, scientists are human too.

[dropcap]I [/dropcap]did have a great 3 hours letting go off logic and fully enjoying myself, as did most of the audience. ‘Mission Mangal’ takes the basic true facts that several women scientists were the leaders on this mission and that it was enacted on a minuscule budget – and runs with it. The result is an engrossing crowd-pleaser with the Bollywood chaap or imprint on it.

Make Askhay Kumar, the hugely likeable actor,  the lead of the mission and you’ve got yourself a sure-fire winner. Audiences love him and believe in him, especially when they know he’s the underdog with a heart of gold. The motley crew selected for the Mars mission on a budget consists of several women scientists, each with her own life issues. It all makes for engrossing cinema and gives a potentially academic subject emotion and the personal touch.

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]kshay plays Rakesh Dhawan, the Mission Director who is asked to take on a mission which no one believes in, which has no funding and less than 1 percent chance of succeeding.  Akshay  has perfected the art of playing everyman, the honest struggler and the real voice of India. Going to an Akshay Kumar movie, you know what to expect – an upbeat experience. 

Vidya Balan as Tara Shinde, Project Director of MOM, gives a wonderful, flawless performance and is the spirit of the mission – warm, sassy, independent – and always calm, whether she’s faced with  it a collapsing space mission, a rebellious teenager  or a cranky husband. Very nice performances from Sonakshi Sharma, Taapse Pannu, Kriti Kulhari, Nithya Menen and Sharman Joshi and H.G. Dattatreya . The ensemble cast really makes the whole story work and you care about what’s happening to each one of them.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he direction, cinematography and all technical aspects are smooth and flawless but there’s the nagging feeling that maybe the Mars Mission needed a different movie, a more serious film about this great scientific achievement  for posterity.

Yet I’m always struck by the fact that India is an immense country – a mixed, varied audience is watching Bollywood films from villages to small towns to cities.  For a  film to be aspirational and to resonate with all these people, it needs to cut across all demographics and be able to speak to them all.

‘Mission Mangal’  is based on a true life event and it puts dreaming and winning within the grasp of  millions, bringing  science on the radar of  every man, woman and child.  That it also rakes up crores at the box-office is a plus point – ‘Mission Mangal’  crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark within five days of its release.

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