Mangal Pandey is a case of a pretty building with a weak foundation. The star cast has performed very well, but the direction and the script is just about average.
The movie wastes too much time in the first half trying to depict the life then (which it does in quite a mediocre fashion) and set up the scenario for what would converge to the first War of Independence in the second half. Unfortunately, the movie never really converges.
Aamir Khan is back, and so are his eyes. His performance can be really summed up as "the eyes have spoken". Being moustached and long tressed, his eyes are the most visible part of his face and he lets them do all the talking. Aamir has always expressed power with his eyes, and they are fiery in this movie. He could carry off the title of the angry short man.
Toby Stephens is the surprise package however. The actor has done an exceptional job with his character William Gordon. In some shots where his voice precedes his screen appearance, it is difficult to tell whether an Indian is talking or a Britisher! The first half may as well be called "Mangal and William" since both share equal screen time. He's given quite a controlled performance, but his Hindi dialogues, diction and delivery are most impressive, even better than his British colleague in Lagaan.
The character of Rani is largely unnecessary in the movie and is just there for the sake of completeness. Rani doesn't have much to do in the movie. The shorter but more important character belongs to Amisha Patel and Amisha and Ketan Mehta have collaborated in destroying it. What starts out as a rejected Sati saved by William Gordon ends up in a sleeping together scene in a song--they would've been much better off keeping the love symbolic and pure given the circumstances the two met in. Amisha tries to act like the rejected afraid Sati, but ends up looking like a wet shivering puppy in distress.
Unfortunately the director lets the fans down big time. The first half is quite incoherent, and irritating songs keep the movie from building up. An almost item number in the first half is absolutely ridiculous and does a wonderful job at...spoiling the mood of the movie. Ketan Mehta has lent his cheap titillating directorial ways to the wrong story in the wrong era. The movie never builds up and even in the all-important climax, a well-shot mutiny is followed by a run-of-the-mill unnecessary melodrama. The patriotic feeling created in the movie is too shortlived.
The music is the next big turn-off. None of the songs were good, and only 1-2 were hummable on the audio track. However their irrelevance to the story and the most ridiculous moments when the director chooses to insert them in the movie makes them worse. The movie should've been songless.
The script is mostly sound, but gets a little too creative at times. The transition of Mangal from the devout superstitious Brahmin to the revolting soldier who sees through caste and religion is sketchy at best (also encapsulated in a song that has nothing to do with this self-revelation).
The best scenes of the movie are the one when Mangal Pandey confronts William Gordon about the cartridges and the actual mutiny, done quite emphatically.
If you are an Aamir fan like I am, "Aamir's eyes" will give you the satisfaction of his comeback, but as far as the whole movie is considered, Ketan Mehta is the wrong director; Ashutosh Gowarikar would've done much better justice to a 19th century patriotic movie like this.
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