The First Indian Freedom FighterWho, what or where is Mangal Pandey? First off, Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier (sepoy) in the employ of the English East India [Trading] Company which conducted both legal and illegal business in India at the time. The time in question was the middle 1850's. This story takes place in and around Barrackpore, India.
At the time, aside from normal trade which included rice, tea, cloth, jewelry, and rugs, the East India Company was also dealing in opium. The army was made up of Indian troops and a few Indian non-commissioned officers, but the commanding officers were all British with a scattering of Scotsmen. Their job was to keep the natives in line, enforce the laws, and protect the goods.
The Chinese were the buyers of the opium which began as the poppy flowers grown locally in India. The poppies were turned in to opium and sold to the Chinese by the Indian middlemen. The East India Company took a slice of the action. When some British accountants rolled into town to investigate, they were told by the Army commanders to forget about it because they had no idea how far up the chain of command, the opium money went. The accountants were told that this was reaching all the way back to the British House of Lords, ie Parliament in London.
As they opium business grew, the army needed better weapons and ammunition to protect the drugs as well keep the transport routes safe. The gunpowder casings were being sealed with animal fats from both pigs and cows. This put the Indian soldiers between a rock and hard place. The Hindu soldiers could not use the bullets because it would mean using their mouths to tear open the casings which were sealed by the fat, from cows which are sacred to Hindus. Ditto for the Muslim soldiers who had a similar prohibition about pigs.
The Army command at first lied to the troops, and then said, use the bullets or face a firing squad for refusal to obey orders. Mangal Pandey was one of the first to defy the British on this matter.
In fact what started as a discussion soon ultimately led to armed insurrection. Some called it the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Others called it The First War for Indian Independence. Though it took India until 1947 (90 more years) to become independent, this event was never forgotten. It is in the history books. You can look it up.
In 2005, a film called
The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey was released. Directed by
Ketan Mehta and released by
Yash Raj Films, the film starred
Aamir Khan as Pandey,
Toby Stephens as the Scotsman British Officer, Captain William Gordon, who befriended Pandey, and
Rani Mukherjee as the prostitute Heera.
The film did quite well at the box office both in India as well as overseas markets. The film also received positive reviews from the New York Times and a middling review from the BBC whose critic faulted the director for not instilling enough passion into the core story - the spirit of freedom.
Since the film was based on known facts - the script began with Pandey's hanging, and then backtracked all the way back to the Afghan Wars of the early 1850's when Pandey saved Gordon's life on a battlefield leading to their friendship.
So for western audiences who may not have known the full story, it was a learning experience. The British were portrayed as evil racist overlords in the main with exceptions of course. The Indian characters were given a more noble stature with exceptions of course like the Muslim who ran the opium business for the British.
The film set up the racial discord in some obvious ways; sneering, mustache-twirling British masters, who had no problem sleeping with Indian women, but otherwise treated the Indians badly. The officers lied about the cartridge casings, and Gordon further offended by saving a grieving widow from burning to death on her husband's funeral pyre.
Aamir Khan shines as the doomed Pandey, who led his men, as they sought freedom and respect of their religion and customs. Toby Stephens as Gordon, was effective as the sole British voice speaking in support of Pandey. Rani Mukherjee again looked stunning as the Heera the prostitute who became Pandey's love interest.
The production was not as lavish a spectacle as I thought it might be, but was still impressive. Yes there were elephants, and many song and dance numbers - after all this was a Bollywood film. But the costumes were brilliant as was the cinematography.
The film is very accessible for western audiences even today. I liked the film and do recommend it.
Recommendations: Chak De! India
