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• Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue

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Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue Movie Review : Mission Raniganj makes you want to escape some loud bad acting and jarring indifference

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sahiljaiswar 10 days ago

This is the best movie I were seen in 2024

ganesh bodake 180 days ago

Must watch movie. Instead of watching blunder biopics like ms dhoni must watch and get inspired by such true heroes biopics.. AK did it well...

khushisingla24 288 days ago

I never reviewed any movie before. Must-watch! Idk why people gave that low rating to this movie, I want to tell you this movie is wholesome. Please watch it. Super movie. Akshay Sir, I �� you.<br/>(P.s. I'm not die-hard fan of any actor, but Akshay sir, you're amazing).

Teslathegod 295 days ago

Visual were not so good but acting and build up was amazing

Tiyashasadhu 325 days ago

Masterpiece

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Mission Raniganj Review: The Intrepid Engineer Played By Akshay Kumar Deserved A Much Better Film

Mission raniganj review: the film reinforces the lingering belief that hindi cinema should leave true stories alone, especially if akshay kumar is to be placed at the centre of the action..

The unprecedented rescue of 65 trapped miners by a real-life hero, a Coal India officer who put his life on the line in the process, is reenacted in Mission Raniganj, directed by Tinu Suresh Desai and written by Vipul K. Rawal. The film is marred by excesses of the kind that leave no room for addressing themes beyond the surface of things.

Mission Raniganj , set in Mahabir Colliery in West Bengal's Raniganj area, does not dig deep enough as it mines the story of Jaswant Singh Gill, an intrepid engineer whose valour is part of Indian mining folklore. The man deserved a much better film.

The film reinforces the lingering belief that Hindi cinema should leave true stories alone, especially if Akshay Kumar is to be placed at the centre of the action.   Mission Raniganj suffers the deleterious consequences of the spotlight being focused on the star rather than on the issues surrounding the mining disaster.

Cast your mind back to Kala Patthar . Yash Chopra's 1979 film, inspired mainly by the Chasnala mining tragedy from four years earlier and partly by Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim, had a disgraced Merchant Navy captain who sought redemption in the depths of the earth. The principal character and the story had layers that imparted power to the film.

  Mission Raniganj , which does have references to Chasnala in passing, has no depth of any sort. Barring the pretty obvious unwaveringly good guy versus a bunch of bad (and worse, lazy) guys and a mining disaster construct, the film has little to offer.

Gill is reduced to a single-note character and his incredible story is rendered merely as an ear-splitting, broad strokes spectacle. The lead actor's limited-bandwidth performance is of no help. As the makers of this film envision him, he is a larger-than-life figure who isn't assailed by any doubts or moments of weakness.

Undeterred by the chaos around him and never dithering, he goes about the job of saving the workers gasping for breath in an inundated coal mining pit as if he were a man strolling in a park. The enormity of his achievement - he devises an untested rescue method - and the magnitude of his courage and commitment are undermined in the process.

Gill's pregnant wife, Nirdosh Kaur (Parineeti Chopra, seen in four and a half sequences), is an epitome of fortitude and patience. When her husband advises her to exercise caution, she retorts that women back in her pind (village) work in the fields one day and go into labour the very next day without batting an eyelid. Contrast that with the locals, men and women alike - they are either despairing crybabies or habitual no-hopers who cannot do without a saviour from a land of warriors.

The trapped miners - among them are men played by Ravi Kishan, Sudhir Pandey, Jameel Khan and Omkar Das Manikpuri - bicker incessantly as their chances of getting out alive recede, oxygen levels fall  and the water that has gushed into the pit gets closer to the elevated part of the channel that they have sought refuge in.

The desperate men are frequently at each other's throats and, as panic mounts, do everything in their power to jeopardise their own lives. Their distressed family members, mostly women and elderly men, rave and rant and howl and holler. One of them, having lost hope of seeing her son again, slaps Gill in the heat of the moment only to regret her action soon enough.

The officer takes it on the chin and continues to do what has got to be done to ensure that the miners are rescued even as a bunch of recalcitrant Bengalis try to make things difficult for him. This bunch of men is led by mining engineer D. Sen (Dibyendu Bhattacharya), a well-worn pop-culture stereotype of the slothful native of Bengal.

Sen, stationed in Ranchi, is the villain of the story. He claims that he knows the area like the back of his hand and should, therefore, be in charge of the rescue operation. He wants to see Jaswant Singh's daring mission fail because he cannot stand the Mahabir Colliery chief R.J. Ujjwal (Kumud Mishra).

His disruptive interventions border on the farcical as does his general demeanour. He is shown eating, drinking hot milk, putting his feet up without a care in the world and getting a lackey to massage him while Gill and his team do not so much as take a single breather.

The Raniganj mine crisis occurred in November 1989 in the coal belt of West Bengal on the border of what was Bihar back then. The Left Front was in its third term as the ruling formation in Calcutta.

Although the film offers frequent flashes of red party flags being waved in the background, it isn't interested in exploring the impact of trade unionism on the mines or questions of safety measures and working conditions.

That would have required a great deal of research as well as knowledge and understanding of contemporary state-level politics and the workings of Coal India. All this is beyond the makers' ken. So they choose the easiest way out.

The film pits a fearless and fastidious North Indian knight in shining armour not just against a mining accident of daunting proportions but also against a bunch of not just unhelpful but also corrupt, cowardly and self-serving locals, which includes a smarmy politician, Gobardhan Roy (Rajesh Sharma).

The bashing of Bengalis assumes a literal form late in the film when one of them is subjected to lathi blows by a man who holds him and his ilk responsible for giving Bengal a bad name. In a crunch situation, Sen exhorts his two assistants, a Sengupta and a Roy, to show the world what a Royal Bengal Tiger is made of. The pair develops cold feet. The 'tigers' chicken out.

Mission Raniganj opens with a sequence in which a workers' leader, a blustery Bengali of course, demands the reinstatement of a miner dismissed from service on the charge of being drunk on duty. In walks Gill and puts the man in his place. Suitably chastened by the Sardar's iron-fist-in-velvet-gloves toughness, he beats a hasty retreat. We immediately know what the protagonist is up against.

All this would be dismissed as plain silly had the film's superficial ways not undermined the innately dramatic tale so irretrievably. Mission Raniganj is the sort of film that manages to reduce an actor of Kumud Mishra's range to a nonentity. He struggles to breathe life into a man who is grappling with blood pressure and sinking spirits and who is, therefore. compelled to let Gill hog the limelight.

In conclusion, all that one can say about a film that makes a hash of a wonderful tale of grit, gumption and glory is: what a disaster! Mission Raniganj  is high-intensity drama undermined by low-calibre filmmaking.

• Cast Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra, Pawan Malhotra, Ravi Kishan
• Director Tinu Suresh Desai

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Mission raniganj review: an exceptional story of courage gets lost in the noise, 'mission raniganj' is inspired by jaswant gill's heroic mission during the 1989 coal mine disaster at raniganj..

How often does a story of courage and heroism get overshadowed by theatrics and melodrama? The clear answer is, disturbingly often. Mission Raniganj is one such film, where the theatrics are hammed up the maximum; a film that is so loud that its own story frequently gets lost in the noise.

In November 1989, a coal mine at the Mahabir Colliery in Raniganj, West Bengal was flooded and 71 miners couldn’t make it out in time (others evacuated following the distress calls). What followed was a rescue mission of unprecedented valour and wit, led by Freedom Sale Senior engineer Jaswant Gill. 

Akshay Kumar in a still from Mission Raniganj,

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

The movie focuses solely on Gill’s ingenious idea to use a capsule to rescue the miners from the mine when all other efforts failed. In this effort, several roadblocks arise, not limited to the “villain” of the film, a mining engineer D. Sen (Dibyendu Bhattacharya). Most of the Bengali characters in the film are stereotypes and often unnecessarily animated. 

At one point, a man is literally tied to a pole and beaten; perhaps the film’s idea of “justice” but this entire time, the film’s actual plot is occurring elsewhere. 

A still from Mission Raniganj,

Akshay Kumar plays Gill with impressive restraint – he is equally humble and self-assured. Kumar’s skill becomes evident in scenes where he seems to be fighting an invisible force; the need to “do something” – he stands by waiting for the order to come from the man-in-charge Ujjwal (Kumud Mishra) but the entire time, he seems tightly wound, ready to spring into action. 

Gill was definitely the hero of the rescue mission but there are other heroes in the film – from the people who tirelessly work behind-the-scenes to make the mission possible to the miners trying to stay alive in disastrous conditions. We see most of these people in action, including a disgruntled former employee Tapan (Veerendra Saxena) and the jugaadu Bindal (Pavan Malhotra). 

The actual mechanics of the rescue mission are riveting to watch. When things go wrong, it is difficult to not share a collective gasp with those around you or to not grip the edge of your seat in dejection. 

There is so much story left in Mission Raniganj - one that would’ve only made Gill’s story richer. As survival and hope become tougher to grasp, divisions arise between the surviving miners; tempers flare, blame is passed.

There are flickers of the film trying to delve into the way human nature develops in the face of suffering and strife but that aspect doesn’t completely materialise. 

There are dialogues that seem written to be yelled out, punches are thrown – all believable under the circumstances but where are the emotions that lie underneath the noise? 

Other than a typical Bollywood “there’s fear under his anger” trope, nothing else is seen. One thing the film does well is portray Bashu (Jameel Khan), one of the miners, who tries to rally his comrades together and attempts to be the voice of calm and reason. 

Kumud Mishra in a still from Mission Raniganj,

Mission Raniganj doesn’t shy away from questioning authority, albeit in the first half– administrative negligence becomes evident and we see how personal gain often trumps the desire to work towards a collective good. Kumud Mishra aces one of the film’s most effective scenes where he almost begs his colleague to not hold his need for petty vengeance above the possibility of saving lives. It makes you wonder. 

There is inherent drama to the base story – it’s a story that will elicit emotion even in the most stone-hearted and if director Tinu Suresh Desai had trusted the merit in that story, Mission Raniganj would’ve become an unforgettable film. One of the film’s most glaring flaws is in its technical execution – the camerawork and the editing both seem rushed; it feels like we’re being forced to feel the tension in a scene. 

One can't help but think of Kaala Patthar, the 1979 Amitabh Bachchan-starrer based on the Chasnala mining disaster. The maturity of the text in Kaala Patthar and how honest and earnest it comes off is missing in Mission Raniganj.

The camera swivels in 360 degrees, way too fast to let you focus, creating a confusing haze of colours and voices. The VFX, an important aspect of the story considering how much of it is set in a flooding mine, is often shoddy. It adds an artificial quality to the film that is saved only by the fact we’re watching a story inspired by real life. 

I’ll leave you with this: I often complain about pacing but not this time. Despite all its flaws, Mission Raniganj remains engaging to a fault – it’s taut, gripping, and intense; it always feels like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Thank You for Coming Review: Bhumi Pednekar Shines in an Unapologetic Comedy

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Topics:    akshay kumar      parineeti chopra  .

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Mission Raniganj review: Akshay Kumar stands tall in this daring and daunting rescue thriller

Mission raniganj review: while akshay kumar is perfect as the leader of the pack, other characters and their stories do get sidelined in this rescue thriller..

Trust Akshay Kumar to always lead the pack when it comes to taking up hard-hitting stories inspired by true events and heroic tales of unsung warriors. In his latest outing, Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue, the actor steps into the shoes of Jaswant Singh Gill, Additional Chief Mining Engineer at Coal India, who put all his might into saving the lives of 70 miners trapped in the flooded bowels of Mahabir Colliery in Raniganj, West Bengal, in 1989. In a race against time, when all conventional engineering methods failed, Gill came up with a 'jugaad' to rescue the miners. (Also read: Thank You For Coming review: Bhumi Pednekar's sex comedy is peachy, not preachy )

While Kumar delivers a sincere performance showing immense conviction portraying Gill's part, it's the storytelling that doesn't do full justice to the plot. Director Tinu Suresh Desai weaves the screenplay in a manner that it keeps you engaged and invested, with several hard-hitting moments. However, he majorly falters at places where he lets his hero take the centerstage, putting the story at the backseat. In portions where Kumar dominates most of the screen time, the focus is primarily on his actions and efforts rather than the ordeal of the miners stuck deep in the mine. That's when you feel that perhaps a little more attention could have been paid to others as well.

At 2 hours 18 minutes, Mission Raniganj is well-timed but the first half takes forever to build the plot. It is overloaded with jargon and machinery mumbo jumbo that's gets too much to take in all at once. It's only in the final minutes pre-interval that the story picks up, and the second half gains momentum. That's when you feel the tension that the miners are also feeling. The story by Vipul K. Rawal had so much more to be told than just one night. Dialogues written by Deepak Kingrani are average, and rarely call for any whistles or loud cheers. That being said, I must say that the way Kumar manages to expertly land jokes even in the most intense scenes is commendable.

As the rescue operation officer, Gill doesn't bat an eyelid when taking difficult decisions, and his body language signals a deep sense of calm amid chaos. Kumar leaves no stone unturned to pay an honest tribute to the relentless efforts of Gill, who risked his own life to rescue the miners. Despite being the hero of the story, Desai hardly attempts to familiarize us with Gill's real side, and only sticks to the material that's already available. Other than his relationship with his wife Nirdosh Kaur Gill (Parineeti Chopra), who stands as his pillar of strength and support, we don't know anything else about how Gill was as a person.

Besides showing the gritty and gutsy tale of valour, Mission Raniganj also shed light on the corruption within the system, where some cunning and insecure officers like mining engineer D. Sen (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) would make sure to put other people's efforts in jeopardy. Among some noteworthy performances, Kumud Mishra as Mahabir Colliery chief R.J. Ujjwal and Pavan Malhotra as Bindal stand out. Also, playing the terrified miners, Ravi Kishan as Bhola, Varun Badola as Shaligram and Jameel Khan as Pasu, are earnest in their respective parts.

The film overall leaves you with a sense of victory and feeling proud of having heroes like Gill, yet you wish the story had more soul and depth, and rose beyond the heroic deeds to give way to some more humanism.

• Akshay Kumar

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