Manjhi: O Homem da Montanha

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.

probably this dialogue from this movie is enough to describe this masterpiece. Based on the life story of Dasharath Manjhi who was from Bihar,India, cut down a full mountain by his own. U want to know why? Go n watch this master piece Nawazuddin Siddiqui gave his lifetime performance in this movie. though his each n every performance is just awesome but still I have to say that this one is way above other performance We all know that Ketan Mehta is an awesome director & he did justice to his name. Gave another master piece to Bollywood. Music is the below average. Another fault in this movie is slow 1st half. Editing was not so good. run time should have been reduced by 15 Mins or so. Don't miss

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.

"Manjhi - The Mountain Man" takes you through the painful journey of a so-called low caste Bihari who takes on a mountain to avenge his wife's death.

Story: Based on a true story, the movie depicts how, the determined Dashrath Manjhi carved out a road through a mountain using only hammer and chisel in spite of all the bashing received from the fellow villagers (including his father), conspiracies by the village head to stop him and fake promises by the government. In the backdrop, the movie spends some significant time in the build up of the entire story, which is the life of Dashrath Manjhi before the incident - introducing the audience to the rampant and barbaric view of caste based discrimination in Bihar during 50s and 60s, which is prevalent to some extent even today, not just in Bihar but across India. The story is extremely well written and thoroughly researched. It is a story that deserved to be told to the entire country.

Acting: Apart from Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the movie doesn't boast of any big names. However, with the support cast of NSD stars - (late) Ashraf Ul Haq and Pankaj Tripathi - and the promising Radhika Apte, acting is one of the strongest departments of the movie. Their hard work behind projecting the characters is evident and the Bihari accent never sounds taught. The dialog delivery is impeccable and does great justice to the writer who wrote them. Some of the dialogs are very profound and will keep you pondering over it. A special mention for Radhika Apte who has rose like a phoenix through some of her recent performances in short movies - That Day After Every Day and Ahalya - and upped the benchmark in Manjhi, complementing and competing with Nawazuddin, in terms of acting.

Direction: Ketan Mehta has done a stupendous job in terms of ensuring the movie doesn't lose momentum at any point of time. The flow of the story moves back and forth between the years before his wife's death and after the death. But never, for once, it loses audience attention - full marks to the editing team for that. Some of the scenes are a complete surprise in terms of conceptualization and executed to perfection. His depiction of the socio-political scenario in Gehlaur during 50s and 60s through various incidents that Dashrath Manjhi and his wife encounter shows the depth of research that has went before shooting the movie. Some of the scenes are gruesome (even though a reality at that time) and makes you cringe. At one point of time, it reminded me of Prisoners which had a similar aura.

The Mountain: I would also add the "mountain" to the list of characters as the movie also portrays how its relationship with protagonist evolves over a period of time. Although the movie celebrates the victory of a man over a mountain, it also portrays Manjhi's relationship with the mountain and its evolution from his childhood till he carves out the road through it.

Overall: Overall, the movie is a must watch. It shows what strong determination can achieve against all odds.

Expect no grandeur and very un-Bollywood-like. The plot of the movie unfolds quite slowly like a classic movie should be, building up gradually in the first half and then you are so engrossed into the movie, that you hardly realize how quickly the second half passed by. Nawazuddin Siddiqui could have been the only actor at of today who could do justice to this role. Ketan Mehta has made sure that the real touch in this movie sticks as close to the actual incidences and he has succeeded thoroughly. Many filmmakers attempt to use or portray the themes from this part of India (like Amir Khan's PK or Salman Khan's Dabang). One can easily find that genuineness of Bihari culture is so hollow that it brings down the impact of the movie, rather than uplift it. The way all the actors have delivered their dialogues or put on their costumes is phenomenal. Siddiqui's performance is a stand-out and without doubt, it'll a benchmark in Bollywood, IMHO. Craziness of Manjhi is a legacy for Indians and Siddiquit has succeeded in bringing that out on the silver screen.