Movie Review: Manikarnika, The Queen of Jhansi
Manikarnika is the story of one of the most famous queens of India, and a warrior queen at that. It stars Kangana Ranaut as the protagonist and that is enough to polarize the feedback for the movie 😀. There are enough people who liked it and a similar number who have a completely opposite view.
My first feeling when I started watching the movie was the surprise on realising that even though I think I know enough about Indian history, I knew nothing about the Rani of Jhansi, except that her horse's name was Badal and where she had jumped from at the Jhansi fort (thanks to my travels to Jhansi). Other than that, I knew nothing about her background or her life. Even the fact that she was related to Tatya Tope and Nana Sahib, I initially assumed was a creative liberty taken by the writers!
In fact, during the movie itself I checked on wiki whether that was true. And it was. It set the tone for the rest of the movie where I trusted it to be closer to history. And this also showcases some of the sad truths about how much we know and value our own history.
Of course, a lot of creative liberties have been taken in the movie, but the overall narrative was definitely not one of them. And I did learn a lot more about the Rani than I thought I knew before. So hats off to the makers of the movie to pick up such a subject, someone whose story needs to be told to the masses.
The second thing that struck me about the movie was its grand scale. The sets, the costumes and the setting of 19th century India were quite believable and must have taken a lot of effort to create. Some of the CGI may not have been top notch given the budget constraints, but I think the scale at which the movie was made is quite ambitious and I totally enjoyed watching it. The forts, the locations, the costumes - they really took me back to a different time.
And the last feeling that I left the movie hall with was that it was all about Kangana. She was the movie and the movie was her. This is something a lot of people may not like. And I don't either generally, especially the recent Shah Rukh Khan movies where he does the same. But frankly, I did not mind that at all in Manikarnika.
Even if the movie is all about the Rani, and Kangana, she delivered. And that is what matters. Its so clearly visible how Kangana gave the movie and the character her all, how she was herself Manu, how much she believed in her and it all showed in the end. Kangana comes across in the movie as an actor, not a star. An actor who portrays the Rani of Jhansi, giving up her own self. And I think that it one of the qualities I love about her.
I do think though that she did bring a lot of herself into the character she was playing. Or maybe they were similar in some minor ways? At times I wondered if the Rani was really like that or was that Kangana's vision of her? She is known as Chabili and that was her nature too. Bold, fearless, brave, stubborn, rebel, non-conformist and idealistic. So many words come to mind to describe her. She could have chosen to not do what she did, and live the easy life. But she didn't. She chose to fight for what she believed in, even if she knew how it would end. And she did. I loved this aspect of the Rani. And how Kangana portrayed her. Totally loved it.
Of course, the movie is far from perfect. It is quite flawed in fact. And enough has been written about its flaws. The narrative feels a bit long at times. The supporting characters have not been given enough to showcase. The dialogues are over the top, quite jingoistic and overly nationalist. There is too much creative freedom taken, for example the Rani reaching places immediately, whether it is finding a stolen calf or a hiding dacoit, and so on. There is no dearth of such examples. And honestly, you need to let go of logic to be able to lose yourself in the movie.
Its clearly far from perfect. But sometimes you don't need to be perfect to be good, to be loved. Sometimes, just having the heart at the right place is enough. And Manikarnika does that! I totally enjoyed the movie, and most of it was because of Kangana. And inspite of its flaws.
The still ongoing controversy about the movie is sad though. Someone should be the bigger person and let it go. And let the movie speak for itself. It is also sad how so many people are not watching the movie because of all the controversy surrounding it and of course because of Kangana. Because a story like this about an independence hero of ours should be told and seen.
So I would recommend, that go for it if you are a Bollywood masala movie fan or a Kangana fan. Its a 3.5 star for me.
My first feeling when I started watching the movie was the surprise on realising that even though I think I know enough about Indian history, I knew nothing about the Rani of Jhansi, except that her horse's name was Badal and where she had jumped from at the Jhansi fort (thanks to my travels to Jhansi). Other than that, I knew nothing about her background or her life. Even the fact that she was related to Tatya Tope and Nana Sahib, I initially assumed was a creative liberty taken by the writers!
In fact, during the movie itself I checked on wiki whether that was true. And it was. It set the tone for the rest of the movie where I trusted it to be closer to history. And this also showcases some of the sad truths about how much we know and value our own history.
Of course, a lot of creative liberties have been taken in the movie, but the overall narrative was definitely not one of them. And I did learn a lot more about the Rani than I thought I knew before. So hats off to the makers of the movie to pick up such a subject, someone whose story needs to be told to the masses.
The second thing that struck me about the movie was its grand scale. The sets, the costumes and the setting of 19th century India were quite believable and must have taken a lot of effort to create. Some of the CGI may not have been top notch given the budget constraints, but I think the scale at which the movie was made is quite ambitious and I totally enjoyed watching it. The forts, the locations, the costumes - they really took me back to a different time.
And the last feeling that I left the movie hall with was that it was all about Kangana. She was the movie and the movie was her. This is something a lot of people may not like. And I don't either generally, especially the recent Shah Rukh Khan movies where he does the same. But frankly, I did not mind that at all in Manikarnika.
Even if the movie is all about the Rani, and Kangana, she delivered. And that is what matters. Its so clearly visible how Kangana gave the movie and the character her all, how she was herself Manu, how much she believed in her and it all showed in the end. Kangana comes across in the movie as an actor, not a star. An actor who portrays the Rani of Jhansi, giving up her own self. And I think that it one of the qualities I love about her.
I do think though that she did bring a lot of herself into the character she was playing. Or maybe they were similar in some minor ways? At times I wondered if the Rani was really like that or was that Kangana's vision of her? She is known as Chabili and that was her nature too. Bold, fearless, brave, stubborn, rebel, non-conformist and idealistic. So many words come to mind to describe her. She could have chosen to not do what she did, and live the easy life. But she didn't. She chose to fight for what she believed in, even if she knew how it would end. And she did. I loved this aspect of the Rani. And how Kangana portrayed her. Totally loved it.
Of course, the movie is far from perfect. It is quite flawed in fact. And enough has been written about its flaws. The narrative feels a bit long at times. The supporting characters have not been given enough to showcase. The dialogues are over the top, quite jingoistic and overly nationalist. There is too much creative freedom taken, for example the Rani reaching places immediately, whether it is finding a stolen calf or a hiding dacoit, and so on. There is no dearth of such examples. And honestly, you need to let go of logic to be able to lose yourself in the movie.
Its clearly far from perfect. But sometimes you don't need to be perfect to be good, to be loved. Sometimes, just having the heart at the right place is enough. And Manikarnika does that! I totally enjoyed the movie, and most of it was because of Kangana. And inspite of its flaws.
The still ongoing controversy about the movie is sad though. Someone should be the bigger person and let it go. And let the movie speak for itself. It is also sad how so many people are not watching the movie because of all the controversy surrounding it and of course because of Kangana. Because a story like this about an independence hero of ours should be told and seen.
So I would recommend, that go for it if you are a Bollywood masala movie fan or a Kangana fan. Its a 3.5 star for me.
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