MISSION MANGAL Review

MISSION MANGAL: This is a patriotic and educative movie celebrating India’s successful mission to Mars (MOM-Mars Orbiter Mission) in 2013.
Jingoism is kept at a low in this movie. It is heartening to see that the movie depicts ISRO scientists as normal people with everyday problems in their personal lives. The space science facts are presented in a simple way so that the laymen can also understand but at times logic goes for a toss. The CGI and graphics are not as eyecatching as that in Hollywood but they are not a disaster either. The last few minutes before the launch could have been made more exciting. Music is average -there are three songs that add to the proceedings. The original MARS mission by ISRO mostly had women as shown in the movie-so this movie is a celebration of “girl power”. Women are shown as juxtaposing home science with computer science and space science successfully to come up with cost-effective and efficient solutions. The MOM was executed with just 454 crores and India was the first Asian nation to land on the Mars and the first nation in the world to land on the Mars at the first attempt. This movie is good for kids and it will ignite young minds towards space exploration. Vidya Balan outshines all the key actors in this movie. Akshay Kumar is at his wittiest best -he does resort to some overacting especially in the imaginary telephone call to APJ Abdul Kalam, dashing down the table etc. Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Sonakshi Sinha, Sharman Joshi- all are good in their supporting roles. Dilip Tahil shows up as the sole villian and does a good job. It is delight to watch Sanjay Kapoor groove to his own songs at a pub. That song brought a quick flashback of the naughty ’90s and made us realize how old we have become. At the end the original photo clips from the real ISRO are shown. The movie panders to the PM Narendra’s Modi’s ego by showing his celebratory speech only ignoring the fact that Mangalayan was launched in 2012 in Dr. Manmohan Singh’s regime. More movies like this need to be made, to instill nationalism and respect for our motherland and to feel proud of our nation’s achievements. A big thank you to my fellow moviebuffs Sanchita, Mohua, Sarmistha and Anumita who braved the rains to join me today. “SAB MANGAL HAIN”