Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Mangal Pandey-Real hero or just reel hero.

Aamir Khan's latest movie Mangal Pandey-The Rising has definitely managed to create a lot of curiosity among the audience.But,it still remains to be seen whether the curiosity is due to the subject or because it is Aamir Khan's first film after the twin success of Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai.From the initial reviews of the film it sems like the filmmaker has taken a lot of liberties and added a lot of fictional elements in the film.This could prove to backfire for a film which promises to be a historical film.
But,the director can be excused for this as very little is actually known about Mangal Pandey and his "revolt".The only true fact that we all know about him is that he killed a British Officer of his regiment.But,this I feel,does not qualify him to be called as a revolutionary.Revolution I feel,is not just about killing the enemy.It is much more than that.Revolution is the actual awakening of the masses.Again revolutionaries need not have positive shades.Any person who really evokes a feeling of patriotism or pride in one's race,community or society is a true revolutionary.By that defintion I feel,Hitler,Lenin,Martin Luther King,Mahatma Gandhi can all be counted in the same breadth as revolutionaries.These people had the real support of the masses although their methods and practices were very much different(No one can imagine putting Hitler and Stalin in the same bracket as M.K.Gandhi)
But,I guess the Indian Freedom Struggle had only one real revolutionary whose pinciples and teachings are not followed anymore in his own country.How can we expect the others to follow his teachings then?
But,I feel that in these very difficult times it is very important to remember The Mahatma's teaching.His teachings are very important for today's disillusioned youth.

I do hope that today's filmmakers try to portray his teachings and struggles on celluloid instead of showing revolutionaries who actually did not do much in their lifetime.