Movie Review: Mission Mangal

Producer- R. Balki

Director- Jagan Shakti

Star Cast- Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sharmaan Joshi, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Sanjay Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub and Dalip Tahil

Genre- Social

Rating- ***1/2

Engrossing and Satisfying Fare!

Jyothi Venkatesh

Mission Mangal is not just a film but it is the embodiment of the Indian spirit which never gets aged even against the odds pitted against it. The film is about how a team of Indian scientists at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) take on the extraordinary task of successfully sending a satellite into the orbit of planet Mars in a country's maiden attempt and what’s m ore they also succeed in their mission ultimately.

Set in 2010, when a team at ISRO led by Rakesh (Akshay Kumar) launches a rocket into outer space. It ends up in unexpected failure when a technical error forces the rocket to veer towards earth. The ill-fated error happens under the watchful eye of one of the mission directors Tara (Vidya Balan), but  Rakesh takes the blame for it and is by way of punishment, dispatched to the far-fetched Mars Mission at ISRO. Undauntedly, Rakesh and Tara decide to fight the odds and put India on the space map, again, though they are sanctioned a minuscule budget and recruit a team of junior scientists from ISRO to put the Mars Mission into space within 24 months.

Kudos to Akshay Kumar for coming forward to back a film like this and stand apart from the others by way of rendering a sterling performance. Besides Akshay Kumar, credit must also be given to Vidya Balan for putting up a riveting performance. The rest of the cast manage to live their characters, whether it is Kritika Kulhari who plays a Muslim divorcee who finds it difficult to rent her own apartment, Sonakshi Sinha who plays a bohemian kid, or Nithya Menen, who holds on her, everyone has a well etched role, specially H.G. Dattaraya who only once inadvertently uses a word in Kannada instead of Tamil though he plays a 59 years old Tamilian Iyengar.Purab Kohli, Sanjay Kapoor, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub and Sharmaan Joshi have been wasted in inane roles.

The best thing about the screenplay is that it has several layers and though it is a technical subject and there was this danger of the film veering into a dry documentary, the director has the right grip on the proceedings and makes a riveting film by lending equal dimension to each and every character in it. The engrossing and satisfying film is out and out a winner and is poised to have a long run at the box office and will prove to Akshay Kumar what Chak De India proved to Shah Rukh Khan, because there is no romantic interest in the film for him and what’s more, Akshay does not have any song to propel him and also no back story to project his hero-giri.

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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Movie Review, Mission Mangal, Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sharmaan Joshi, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Sanjay Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Dalip Tahil