On 15th August 2019, ISRO completed 50 years of its journey and on the same day, released a movie which celebrates one of ISRO’s greatest achievements in the true sense of the term. ‘Mission Mangal’ or Mission Mars is, as we all can understand, a story on India’s first successful mission to send their satellite to Mars.
India wasn’t just the first country to do it but also in its first attempt and that factor is intriguing for sure. The story begins on a merry note where a group of Indian scientists, led by Rakesh Dhawan (Akshay Kumar) and Tara Shinde (Vidya Balan), decide to conduct a mission to Mars by trying to use the most absurd way possible which is the home science way of how the Indian ‘puri’ is fried and stirred in the pan. Naturally, they face obstacles like no other, especially when bigger countries like Russia have failed in the same mission and India wants to do it following home science. But there’s nothing above self-belief, right? That’s the reason, after a lot of perseverance and persistence, they get the permission and form a team comprising of junior yet promising scientists, who deliver to them after getting the share of motivation and change in attitude that they needed.
Neha Siddique (Kirti Kulhari), Krittika Agarwal (Taapsee Pannu), Eka Gandhi (Sonakshi Sinha), Varsha Gowda (Nithya Menen) form the team. They are also ably joined in the mission by Sharman Joshi and senior veteran actor H.G Dattatreya. Although they face the rather impossible task where the mission simply looks impossible, they eventually are able to do it and complete it, thereby enabling India to be the first country to ever achieve this feat.
IWMBuzz Verdict: The movie is all about invoking the sense of patriotism and sense of nationalism in you and it being an Independence Day release with Chandrayan mission and ISRO completing 50 years, it’s all hunky dory for the movie. The story has several loopholes, however, and there are certain areas in the narrative which are unnecessary. However, apart from Akshay Kumar, one has to say that it’s Vidya Balan who actually holds the movie together. What’s good about the movie is that when such a huge ensemble cast is concerned, a sense of insecurity usually crops up but they all look extremely secure within their role limitations. The performances are good but it’s the teamwork that results in a successful output and that’s the case with Mission Mangal too. Eventually, not even rain could stop or get down the determination of an extremely dedicated and motivated team of scientists, whose only mission was to make India proud. The climax and the build-up to the climax is what you will like the most. It will make you feel proud as an Indian. Overall, watch it to know more about ISRO and their successful mission, which made the whole country feel proud.
3/5 stars.