Movie Review: Mission Mangal

Movie Review “Mission Mangal”
Rating: 4/5
Director: Jagan Shakti
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menon, Kirti Kulhari, Sharman Joshi, Dalip Tahil, Sanjay Kapoor, Vikram Gokhale, HG Dattareya

“Dreams are not what you see in your sleep, Dreams are things which do not let you sleep”- APJ Abdul Kalam

Dejected by the failure of GSLV Fat Boy which burst into flames upon embarking on it journey to space, ISRO and its team of scientists led by Akshay Kumar (Rakesh Dhawan) were subject to much humiliation by foreign and Indian media.What followed was Rakesh being replaced by Indian born NASA Scientist Rupert Desai, played by Dailip Tahil. Rupert’s American accent is synonymous with his belief in technological advances of the West making him cringe at the very thought of these Indian scientists at ISRO, who he believed were light years behind NASA.

What followed was, as many considered, a demotion of sorts with Rakesh Sharma being assigned the mission to Mars. This was considered a project where in Rakesh was being setup for failure. After all, Super Powers like Russia, America, China had all failed in multiple attempts with their advent to orbit Mars. 

Rakesh, himself not confident of this improbable mission indulges in self deprecating humor given the project assigned to him and even worse the dilapidated state of the office area assigned to this Project. This is when he is revived with belief by Tara Shinde (Vidya Balan) his ex team mate who takes inspiration from Poori being cooked in a hot pot with ignition being turned off, combining home science with space science. 

Thus begins their advent to the mission Mangalyan with a team of young scientists dominated by women workforce comprising of Eka Gandhi (Sonakshi Sinha), Kritika Aggarwal (Taapsee Pannu), Varsha Pillai (Nithya Menon), Neha Siddiqui (Kirti Kulhari), Parmeshwar Naidu (Sharman Joshi), Ananth Iyer (HG Dattareya).

Mission Mangal while focusing on India’s advent into having its satellite orbit Mars also touches upon topics like Women Empowerment, religious harmony, parenting and much importantly self belief. 

Akshay Kumar as Rakesh Sharma gives an exemplary performance. He plays a rather supporting role to the other cast members with equal or rather more emphasis on their character and role in this mission.

Supporting cast of Dalip Tahil, Vikram Gokhale, Sanjay Kapoor, Taapsee, Nithya, Sharman, HG Dattareya, Kirti Kulhari and Sonakshi all standout in their role making the movie enjoyable to watch.

Vidya Balan to me is the true star of the movie, as always she comes into her own both as a motivated scientist who believes nothing is impossible as well as in her portrayal of a homemaker who acts as a calming influence in a family where her husband and dad  to their two children (Sunil Shinde) played by Sanjay Kapoor always finds himself distressed by his sons curiosity in Islam and worried about her daughter coming home late. She teaches us all how important it is to trust your own children and allow them the freedom to think and live independently.

Direction by Jagan Shakti deserves a special callout for this flawless execution.

Mission Mangal while is a motivating story of India’s advent into Mars. First country to achieve this feat in its first attempt. But is it also much more than that. It is an ode to the 17000 scientists who sacrificed the riches to work for India since 50 years of ISRO’s inception. It is an ode to APJ Abdul Kalam to who believed in India and its scientific journey. It is an ode to all the Women who manage to balance their home responsibilities while continuing to be successful at work. It is an Ode to India that we all know and are proud off. A must watch !