Ketan Mehta has always been avant garde filmmaker with most of his films being art house fares that haven’t had a lot of appeal for the normal audience. But ‘Manjhi: The Mountain Man’ seems as commercial as it possibly could be. The trailers have been intriguing and with an actor like Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the central role, expectations are sure to be raised. Radhika Apte has also suddenly become a known actress. Does the film do justice to the promises?
Story: Manjhi tells the story of Dashrath Manjhi (Nawaz). Dashrath falls madly in love with a girl (Radhika Apte) in his native village in Gaya, Bihar and they get married soon thereafter. However tragedy strikes and his wife is not able to get proper healthcare because his village is cut off. After her death, he decides to take matters into his own hands, literally, as he embarks on cutting the mountain to make way, all by himself using a chisel and a hammer. Drought occurs, corruption arises but he remains undaunted and keeps chopping the mountain. His unwavering faith trudges him along for 22 years.
Screenplay and Direction: The screenplay of ‘Manjhi: The Mountain Man’ has been kept non-linear so as to not make it seem as if the movie is a drag. That style along with the authentic dialogues make ‘Manjhi: The Mountain Man’ such an endearing watch. Ketan directs Manjhi with a lot of heart and the effort and toil is clearly visible. Although, a few scenes feel disjointed, the film comes together like a jigsaw puzzle by the end. There were hardly any moments which bore the audience and it shows that if we tell stories of our real Indian heroes, we don’t need our psuedo Bollywood heroes! A commendable effort indeed.
The technical aspects of Manjhi are great considering the measly budget. Ketan has managed to squeeze out a technically deft movie. The editing is a highlight of Manjhi as the editing is what keeps the movie entertaining. The cinematography is grand in that it captures the monstrosity of the mountain without ever losing grip of reality. The costume design is authentic. The casting is brilliant even though there is a Gangs of Wasseypur hangover. The background score by Shandesh Shandilya is decent.
Acting: Nawazuddin Siddiqui is Manjhi. Both the man and the movie. He embodies the character from the get go and never loses track of the character’s journey. He lives Manjhi. It is a laudable performance which will make the audience clap involuntarily. Radhika Apte is fantastic in her scenes as she suits the role of Phaguniya to the tee. Ashraful Haque is inspired casting as Dashrath’s father. Pankaj Tripathi is good, and so is Tigmanshu Dhulia reprising his Gangs of Wasseypur character.
Conclusion: Manjhi is a must watch not just because of the entertainment quotient mixed with the realistic treatment but also because of the fact that everybody needs to be aware of Dashrath Manjhi’s real life story. The fact that we have heroes like him in our country who have gone unnoticed for so long is bewildering but films like ‘Manjhi: The Mountain Man’ can go a long way in giving them the due recognition. There are few disjointed scenes but the full journey is well worth the price of admission. By the end we couldn’t stop ourselves from repeating Dashrath Manjhi’s words to describe the movie: “Shandaar. Zabardast. Zindabad”.
Finally, a lot of effort goes into making films like ‘Manjhi: The Mountain Man’. Downloading films from the internet or renting a pirated DVD is illegal. We highly recommend a visit to the theatre to watch a film that celebrates an Indian hero. Such films need to be supported and the only way you can do so is by watching the film at a nearby theatre. If you can’t afford weekend ticket prices, watch it during the weekdays when tickets are much cheaper.
Rating: 
Shandaar. Zabardast. Zindabad
Wow this is exciting …. Injust hope this movie kicks a$$ of all nonsensical bollywood movies thave been made so far that wud be a true victory of real cinema …. This movie cud be a life changing experience for someone in real life ……
Bahoth lamba dangalwa chalnay waala hain tohar hamar beech … Tayyar hain ……. Ee prem ki taqath hain eemaa bahoth bal hain.. And finally …. Boxoffice kay bharosay math bhaiteyain kaa pathaa boxoffice hamra bharosay baitha ho toan ……
@Indicine, it is a noble effort on your part to advise people to watch it in theatres. Even i support this.
But i have to admit that the movie got all the positive word of mouth from people who had downloaded and seen it almost 10 days back.
In these few days the wom has reached to quite a lot of people and whoever haven’t seen the pirated copy so far are eager to watch it in the big screen this weekend.
Either this is a genuine leak, or a deliberate leak, like we see in Hollywood, when you need that little extra push to generate positive wom, especially when the product is good.
@Yuvraj.. you village idiot, when will you grow up? Read Dashrath Manjhi’s story before you comment. He didn’t break the mountain and create the path for his sake, but for people of his village to have better access to healthcare and other facilities.
What national issue did Bajrangi Bhaijaan touch upon? When the country across the border is promoting hatred, terrorism and killing jawans on the border.. you want us to promote friendship?
Dashrath Manjhi is a national story, a national issue.. a cliched commercial movie like Bajrangi Bhaijaan isn’t.
Even if Salman does 2% acting.. people ask for national award.. LOL. That’s because of his low standards, there are far more national award deserving actors in the country.
What a great movie this is …. i love this movie… applaud the acting on nawazuddin siddiqui…
this movie deserves an OSCAR award….
Already watched it superb movie, Im going to watch it on Theatre _/\_
Thanks to Aamir and Satyamev Jayate for bringing out the story of Manjhi to the general population, and now we are seeing a movie that will generate not only give due recognition to the real Manjhi, but his efforts will inspire thousands of people across the country.
@ neeraj- you bloody idiot- first you read about importence of mountain and forest for eco system. it is governments fault not the mountains fault if his village didnt get proper medical help.
@neeraj- what do you mean by country? politician and terrorist who search some really very poor peoples who can work for their cruel intention or peoples who wanna live with peace, its upon you. bajrangi was far better movie if you can understand movie but when you hate lead actor how can you.
Already watched on internet few days back.
@Yuvraj.. you can’t even spell ‘importance’.. lol.. the only thing you villagers know is to sit and blame the government for everything.. Remember that the government was voted by you.. and most village idiots vote for people from their own caste.. so blame yourself.. not anyone else.
You should still read Manjhi’s story.. I have posted it below for your convenience.. and don’t try to create unnecessary fan war on this article, which is about a national hero and not your convicted criminal.
Dashrath’s wife Falguni Devi died from lack of medical care in 1959. The nearest town with a doctor was 70 km away traveling around the hills, or along a treacherous pass through the hills. He decided to carve a path through the Gehlour hills so that his village could have easier access to medical attention.
Dashrath Manjhi ran away from home at a very young age, mainly working at Dhanbad’s coal mines. Subsequently he returned to his village and carved a path 360-foot-long (110 m), 25-foot-deep (7.6 m) in places and 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) to form a road through the rocks in Gehlour hill. He quoted that, When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve.
He completed the work in 22 years (1960–1982). This road reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of the Gaya district from 80 km to 00 km. Though mocked for his efforts, he has made life easier for people of Gehlour village. Although he had cut a protected mountain which is an offence under Indian wildlife protection act and the broken stone pieces were reportedly sold, his exemplary determination remains an inspiration.[2][8] Later, Manjhi said, Though most villagers taunted me at first, there were quite a few who lent me support later by giving me food and helping me buy my tools.
@Yuvraj
Buddy he didnt destroyed a mountain, he created a path through it and you should know that roads on mountains are made by cutting them only. If thats destroying a mountain then you should know all the countries that r having mountains have committed the crime. Moreover if there have been no roads made by cutting the himalyas your Bajrangi Bhaijaan would have never reached pakistan to take our little genius to her home. Juzz joking.
Btw if u cant laud the work of a great human being dont deregard it just for the sake of idiocity. Bajrangi Bhaijaan was a good mvi but if u r taking away everything frm a great peraon just fr the sake of sallu, u need to grow up. U cant say smthng like that fr a person who hav done smthng great in his life. U shld know the pain suffered by the villagers for whom he made tht path. Tht path through the mountain is alws going to help thm nf their future generations. Nd its a real life shit, dnt compare it to the movies.
Moreover Nawaz is of the best actors in the country currently, u shld praise his work also.
@ neeraj- it is not important that i can spell importance or not because many humans can’t right even hundred words in english but important is it is easy to destroy nature in minutes by bomb by human efforts in years but you cant build nature in same time and alopathy is not only one method for cure disease. it was goverments fault and who said to those villagers to live in that area?
@ mkm- if i cut single fingure of you it doesn’t harm you. i haven’t seen manjhi so how can i say it is good or bad? nawaz is good actor but i don’t think that just because he known as best actor we should like all his acts are best. what dashrath manjhi did his own understanding so salute his hard work but if it is against the nature i will not follow him. our indian bhagwan sri krishna said – rain happens because of gowardhan mountain so we should pray to mountain not to devraj indra.
Manjhi seems to be a nice movie!! I gotta watch it.
But why the hell are some idiots talking about Salman and national awards instead of supporting the film and going to watch it. And it will help them recover their cost and earn them profits.
As of national awards, besides BB, I also tout Bahubali for the award… But let’s see.. Bhiajaan is above any awards!
@ neeraj- what is need for presenting manjhi’s wikipedia here, i can search about manjhi from my own phone. last time you did the same but i am happy if you share your own thoughts. bad or good it is better to express yourself. i am not villager you misunderstood me by my past comments. i was against to those metro peoples who thinks villager can’t do anything right. they use villagers, poor mens and rikshawala for disrespecting some peoples so my fight against their thoughts. can you choose a good government if you are blaming to choose bad politicians? you even know abcd of politics?
I have only one question to indicine. What do u think, is Yuvraj an idiot? Or is he too an good actor that he is simulating idiot effortlessly?)
@Yuvraj..rofl Matlab kuch bhi what’s the need to bring in Bhaijaan in this article.
He will surly got the National Award not that criminal , and this is the real story too .
Brilliant film nawazuddin should get national award for this, but also salman khan was best with bajraangi bhaijaan….for people it is very tough to decide who should get national award…. According to me best actor- salman khan. Best actress – kangana ranaut. Best film- Manjhi
@ hendalf- so what if you, indicine or anybody think that i am idiot. in any debate we have two different opinions. you guys saying that i am idiot, i am not saying but i feel you are idiot.
@ challa- who started talk about bajrangi bhaijaan? read comments again.
Manjhi will be a success for sure as All is well getting negative reviews all over. I hope Dashrath Manjhi story will success. I come to know about this first time through Aamir SMJ first season.
Someone throw this yuvraaj to a secret place ft
Where he can nvr return and torture indicine users withhis idiotuc regressive comments
What a film! What a performance by Nawaz! No doubt he’s the best actor currently. Give him the national award already. But BB should get best film award.
@ arjun kapoor- do you have enough power to throw me. you are most disliked person of indicine if you are not agree then calculate dislikes on your all comments.
@ Arjun kapoor- you have only two choice if you don’t want tolerate me either don’t read my comments or go to pluto where nobody torture you atleast we loose one chameleone from indicine.
@yuvraaj i agree with you bro this idiots only jealous of salman fans that,s it
Idiot ho toh @yuvraj jaisa, warna naa ho.
One good film from Salman, and all his fans have lost their minds.
Dude, you are so deeply blind in Salman bhakti that if given an opportunity, you’d even become his wife. ?
Bhai Oscar hi dede best actor wala, ye chote mote national award ki koi value nahi h. ?
Shaandaar….jabarjast….zindabaad