Manjhi: The Mountain Man

The guy has done a great job in portraying a character no other actor (or I should rather say, STAR) in the industry could ever have done. Him an Radhika Apte are becoming my favorite actors the more I see of them.

Navazuddin brings Dashrath back to life, and what a life I must say. Thoroughly inspiring... Never have I seen such characterization and casting in any movies of recent times. Hats off to the direction and cinematographer for such a wonderful job they have done. 10 out of 10. What more could I say? Go watch it yourself..

PS: You would love every inch of the Mountain and every act of the Man.

The stage was set, a man against a mountain. The theme itself is a crowd puller. Obviously the movie will be filled with the emotions a soul must have underwent while performing the same task for 22 long years; that too against the acceptance of society. The man must have built a relation with the mountain, not a hateful one, but a relation of mutual respect; that had given him the determination, the perseverance. But surprisingly enough, instead of making this strange relation between a man and a mountain the USP of the movie, Ketan Mehta has made the movie revolve around the love story of Dasharath and Faguniya(His wife). Unnecessary cut-ins of their romance within the remarkable struggle takes the golden patch away from the movie. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika apte are all very natural.. Scenes like the first meeting of the lead pair gives you a fresh air. Overall I would suggest give it a go, not because the movie is great, but because it's a tribute the mountain man deserves.

Manjhi : The mountain man carried only by Nawazuddin. The films deals with a guy who breaks the mountain to take revenge for his wife's death. This film has lack of emotions and the intensity which it needed the most for this kind of script. Manjhi doesn't hit at the right spot of the audiences. As Manjhi breaks the mountain without anyone's help same as Nawazuddin carries the whole film on his shoulder with his sheer brilliant acting. Manjhi is the sum up of all his previous work. His acting is the only thing which kept me hooked till the climax. He just not only played Manjhi but he also lived the character. Radhika Apte in a small but a powerful role left an strong impact on the audiences. She played the role of Phaguniya wonderfully. It was delighted to watch her on screen. The first half of the movie was brilliant but the climax was stretched unnecessarily. Background score and other technical aspect was good especially the screenplay of the film. The director's work is magnificent in the film but Don't get any high expectation from the movie just go for Nawazuddin and to watch his one of the best performances till date.

This is a tale probably since its origin - BOLLYWOOD fails to give the necessary depth, breadth and focus to/on a topic. Whether it is the nation's heroes from Bajirao to Manjhi or it is a war epic, the focus is always on exaggerated display of love and other emotions and the facts are conveniently missed(since it requires more efforts and will). Some points to elaborate :

1. Not a single minute was dedicated to how Manjhi broke the rocks and carved the mountain. Well, he spent nights thinking about the strategy. He used to collect weeds, grass etc., create fire on the rocks wherever possible and suddenly cool them to develop cracks so that they would crumble. The other 5-6 huge rocks he took 1 month each to develop cracks. No effort was made to show these aspects

2. A torture of inept songs and Manjhi's bereaved love ! Just listen to his interviews and one would realize that his wife's death was just a trigger for his journey and the movie shows as if he is doing it only for his love - what a degenerated depiction of a man who had a much deeper and wider understanding of the social and practical problems plaguing the village

3. Manjhi attempted to build a bridge on a nearby river(not shown in the film), walked to Delhi for raising funds(!). He always thought that the whole state needs help and openly said that, yet, the film focuses on his work as a madman, well a madman always has a vision, a plan and a dream. The film comes out short on projecting this

The only savior for the films are its cast's efforts and few facts and dialogues.

Ketan Mehta first messed up Mangal Pandey and now Dashrath Manjhi. Bollywood should needs to seriously alter its approach towards non- fictional works, else, they end up in reducing heroes to some fairy tale stories, rather than concrete examples of success...

A truly awe-inspiring tale of a man's iron-will. The humble, vulnerable and impoverished character of Dashrat Manjhi's epic portrayal by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. A tragic love story which is woven into the fabric of poverty, evils of caste system and political brinkmanship. It keeps the audiences gripped with good comedy, action, thrills, romance. adventure, horror, fantasy and historic Biopic. Well edited no prolonged cut scenes, or unnecessary songs. Evolves into a streamlined fast paced bitter sweet movie for all to watch. There is no task bigger than breaking a mountain, so if he can so can you !!! The message is clear .... In-spite of the struggles, a man's vision to foresee a future when others disowned him shunned him as insane. Still achieves his lifetime of work in a monumental story of struggle although not beautiful, or carved out of marble like the "Taj Mahal", his work should be honoured and declared a wonder of this world. Its a classic. Rush to the cinemas near to u not for enjoying 2 hours of good show, but to learn and change your life from his.