What do you do when you face a hurdle?
Just wait for the
government to fix it, duh!
And what if you are in a place so remote that the Government
cannot reach to you?
Well then, you know..
Dasharath Manjhi of Gehlaur village, in the district Gaya of
Bihar was also faced with the same disposition. Except, his hurdle was a huge
block of rock mountain, one that surrounds his village so nicely that it took
an average commutator days to enter his village if he chose to avoid the hill
path. And, as you can very well guess after my introduction, he chose to do
something about this problem himself.
Aah! Guess again! You are wrong. Okay, fine. I’m telling you
what he chose to do about it. He chose to break the hill. Himself.
The film starts with a monologue between Dasharath and the
hill where he challenges it saying, “So you think you are too big? I’m not
sopping till I reduce you to rubbles.” Well, that takes enormous determination
and if I may add, some real light headedness. But if everyone on the face of
this planet were sane, who would change it for the better?
Dasharath Manjhi, or the Mountain Man, played by Nawazzuddin
Siddiqui had been laughed at, scorned, humiliated for being from a lower caste,
stoned for a mad man, cheated for being illiterate and the list doesn’t stop
there. He was a courageous man,
determined and self-willed. And who
could have been better for the role than Mr. Siddiqui himself? Nawazuddin was
actually a little above his normal self in acting (given that his normal self
is so flawless that there is only a little scope for improvement) and his
dialogue delivery was particularly commendable here.
As for Radhika Apte, playing Falguniya, Dasharath’s wife and
the love of life, she has grown as an actor. I mean I was shocked to see her
fit the role so well and act so sublime. I mean, it’s difficult for someone to
believe that she could act, having seen her in several meaningless roles in
movies like Badlapur where her only
job was to strip.
This film beautifully captures and does its best to present
to the audience the adversity of those times and the atrocities that used to
take place when the poor were ruled by the rich, even in independent India. The
poverty in the villages (killing rats and having them was apparently a
delicacy) and the ridiculous judgements that were not so ridiculous for the convicts
(a man had nails hammered in his feet because he failed to pay his debt).
Photography deserves a commendation in this movie. The beautiful
capturing of scenes by Rajeeb Jain points out once again why I place him among
the best cinematographers in the country. The songs are neither too catchy nor
do they have any prospect of catching on. But they have been suitably coalesced
with the story. However, I would say that there was one too many songs than
required for a story of this magnitude to get popular with the masses. No harm
done, though.
Manjhi, the Mountain Man
is the kind of Cinema that suits being called a piece of art. This is the kind
of movie that comes to B-town in a long while. It’s a story of a legend played
out by another. This is a must watch for everyone, and it is my personal
request that you go to a movie theatre and watch the movie with some popcorn. Don’t
disrespect Manjhi with the blessing of Torrent.
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