Mission Mangal
Year: 2019
Director: Jagan Shakti
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Nithya Menon, Sharman Joshi

To pick a recent historic event and make a film out of it has become a successful Bollywood formula. Mission Mangal is yet another example of that trend.

On November 5, 2013, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) launched a rocket carrying a spacecraft, which since 2014 September has been revolving around Mars to provide important scientific information about the planet. This successful Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was notable in many respects. It was a totally indigenous project; done at the cost of approximately 450 crores, a budget less than even some major Hollywood or Bollywood movies and it was completed in just 15 months, a fast-tracking possible because ISRO scientists tirelessly worked 15-18 hours a day on the project. While earlier Russian, US and European Mars missions had achieved their successes only after multiple failures, the Indian mission got it right in the first attempt itself!

In India, a country of many contradictions, there are many sceptics who keep arguing that spending millions on space missions, while neglecting basic areas such as agriculture, health, education and infrastructure, is a national waste! Yet despite all these detractors, ISRO, established way back in 1969 by Vikram Sarabhai and propelled forward by the likes of APJ Abdul Kalam and Satish Dhawan, has been doing some fabulous work in space technology and research. Commemorating ISRO’s golden jubilee, Mission Mangal pays a rich tribute to the organization and its scientists.

To choose a serious, ‘dry’ scientific theme like an unmanned ‘Mars Orbiting Mission’ and turn it into a lighthearted mass ‘edutainer’ is not an easy job. To do this one not only does have to mix fact and fiction seamlessly, but also to take care that it neither becomes too ‘brainy’ nor too dumb.

With R. Balki-led script, Jagan Shakti’s direction and a high quality production, Mission Mangal gets the balance just about right. Of course, the film does stretch the cinematic liberty with the scientists barging in the official meetings to mock seniors at will, and dancing-singing gaily with brooms in hand; but at the same time, it engagingly unfolds the human drama behind the momentous project. The ‘pop science’ behind the project is nicely simplified and the key characters are interestingly etched out.

Akshay Kumar plays the quirky lead scientist a touch over the top but manages to hold attention throughout. Vidya Balan is superb as the mission coordinator and gets a meatier role. The other ladies- Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Nithya Menon and the men- Sharman Joshi, H.G. Dattareya, Sanjay Kapoor, Vikram Gokhale and Dalip Tahil – all do justice to their roles.

You can accuse Mission Mangal of being too ‘filmy’ but it is certainly not flimsy. It manages to highlight a historic scientific achievement, which until now was just another old headline blurred over the time. More importantly, it gives a human face to the talented scientists who toiled so hard to make it happen!

Rating

3.5 stars