New Delhi:
Shaandar, Zindabad, Jabardast! - Dashrath Manjhi's three words to tell how strong he is in his mind. And also Director Ketan Mehta's smart innovation to make a film that can be defined by just three words.
'Manjhi' is an eternal love story of India's 'Mountain Man', who carved a path through a mountain using only a hammer and chisel. The biographical film wraps a tragic love and hate relationship of Dashrath Manjhi; love for his beloved wife Phaguniya (Radhika Apte's character) and hatred for the mountain that killed her.
The thing with biopics is that surprises are hard to come by as the stories are already in much public glare, and a leaked version before the release can be gruesome. But, Manjhi is a something that must be seen on a 90 mm screen. This tale of a rock solid man is not as much about the man who he is as it is about the belief he had in his love. Where many people called him 'mad' man.
It depicts no less than three stages of his life, from being free to staying free, that brings story of a man battled pretty much everything around him to make sure his love lasts forever.
Director Ketan Mehta, who is a master of creating biopics with his name on movie like Mangal Panday, has kept things simple and easy to ensure brisk pace with no boredom.
First half has its share of jumps and discontinuities but that can be ignored as they don't affect much of the film. Second half is a bit of cinematic exaggeration but bearable enough if measured to Bollywood standards.
Dashrath Manjhi's story is way different from what everyone has read on social networking sites and Wikipedia. Promises and commitments are his driving force that strengthens him to find a way from a mountain. It is the power of character that at many points film often brings goosebumps.
In the lead, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has given performance of a lifetime; agreeing with Ketan that no other actor could have fit in this role. Other actors like Radhika Apte and supporting cast get overshadowed in the gleam of this star.
The film raises some major issues like castism, corruption and government's slow approach towards the much needed areas lying in India.
Presenting a speech of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, it also tried to show how sentiments of poor act like ladder for many politicians, no matter if their problems are actually getting addressed.
But, there is no denying that Manjhi has taken up a story which has a power to shake anyone from both inside and outside. After all it took him 30 years to get noticed for the cause he was doing for himself; well that's what he believed.
