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REVIEW OF THE REVIEW:

1. THE INDIAN EXPRESS
The review starts off with the details of the Mangalyan Mission by ISRO and
how it still is one of the most shining achievements of the country. Diving in
from there, the failure of preventing the movie drowning in jargons is
mentioned. However, this does not seem to be the case in the movie.
The review refers to science as ‘dry topic which needs to be jazzed up’ to be
presented in a movie, which is wrong on so many levels and disrespectful too
to the subject. The plot of the movie is not mentioned, only the actors are
criticized or praised for their performance. Akshay Kumar has been
sarcastically been the centre of the review while, Vidya Balan and Sharman
Joshi are well appreciated. The review also does not mention the production
aspects of the film except graphics and is said to be good and bad both. Hence
not taking on a strong point on either side.
It does give out a positive note to the movie in the end which is surprising after
reading the paragraphs prior. Overall, the review is gives less information
about the movie/plot and rather reviews the actors and their characters.
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REVIEW OF THE REVIEW:

2. MUMBAI MIRROR

The review starts by mentioning the basis of the film and how the Mangalyan
mission holds a patriotic value. It praises the director Jagan Shakti and creative
director R Balki for incorporating just enough of the backstory of the characters
so that it does not cease to be a documentary. All though the review does
point out that the back stories seem too cliché and very convenient. It covers
the whole plot of the movie with character designations in the movie. From
there, the review talks about how the void of the film’s lack of conflict is not
fulfilled by adding the personal life conflicts in each character’s life. It then
comes to actors and their performances and fleshes out the best of the lots-
Vidya Balan, Tapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, the sniggering character of Dalip
Tahil in the movie is also mentioned as an unintentional humour relief. The
productional aspects of the movie are not mentioned at all.
Towards the end, the review mentions how the movie acts as a tribute to the
unsung heroes who don’t wear a cape but it highlights that the writing of the
movie does not suffice the thrill of this epic achievement.
Overall, it’s a review conveys information about the movie through a focus on
the plot and the performance of the actors in the movie.
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REVIEW OF THE REVIEW:

3. THE TIMES OF INDIA

The review starts off by giving a gist of the glorious achievement of the ISRO
scientist’s who made the Mangalyan Mission aka MOM happen. It supports the
addition of human drama through every character’s personal stories but does
not fail at mentioning the need of more action happening events at ISRO which
would give out the nuances and authenticity of the mission control at ISRO.
From there, the review pans out into the plot of the movie systematically and
also appreciates writer director- Jagan Shakti and creative director R Balki for
simplifying the complex scientific jargon for the common man. After the plot,
the review deals with the multi starrer cast of the film and their performances,
while it praises the addition of human drama it has clearly pointed out the over
the top drama elements and the pedantic screenplay at occasions in the
movie. Each character’s actor is valued for their performance.
In the end, the production side of the movie is also reflected upon in short.
The review while mentioning the lacks sums up by saying that the minor
pitfalls are taken care of by the patriotism and the pride the scientific success
brings. The review ends with positive note.
It was a well-written review which focused on each element of the movie and
saw the movie from a neutral perspective as it focused and called out both the
positive and the negative elements.
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REVIEW OF THE REVIEW:

4. NAVBHARAT TIMES
The review portrays the movie in the shining light of positivity on almost every
aspect. It starts off with the mention of the original Mangalyan Mission (MOM)
and how Akshay Kumar has done wonder by bringing it to the audience on the
occasion of Independence Day. From there, the review delves into the plot of
the movie in a detailed way focusing, again focusing majorly on the feel-good
factor things. It does point out the childish implications of the human drama
that has been added out of cinematic liberty. The review says that the crisp
writing, the effect of the background score and the climax are the plus points
of the movie. They refer to the graphics and the VFX of the outer space scenes
in the movie as weak areas of the movie. The review then comes to the
performance of every actor and Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan are widely
appreciated for carrying the mission forward in the movie. The rest of the cast
is also mentioned and appreciated for their performance collectively. The
review has positive notion on the title song- Mission Mangal created by Amit
Trivedi. The review ends on a positive note.
Overall, this review is biased towards the feel-good factor of the movie. It
reviews the movie only from the entertainment aspect and not from the
scientific aspect and the hard work of the scientist who made it possible.
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A tried tribute to the heroes of ISRO.

Date of release: 15th August 2019
Director: Jagan Shakti
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari, Sonakshi Sinha,
Taapsee Pannu, Sharman Joshi, HG Dattatreya, Dalip Tahil, Vikram Gokhale.

- Priyanshi Srivastava

The historical event of September 2014 which became the ‘Pride of Asia’ when
it came into being and gave India a new wave of recognition in the assumed
Elite Space club, the miracles it had pulled off in a single mission were inspiring
millions across the nation and beyond. Mangalyaan was the first spacecraft to
be launched outside the Earth’s sphere of influence by ISRO since its inception.
India was the first country to crack a Mars mission in its first attempt, and at a
budget of roughly Rs 454 crores, a fraction of the cost of other international
space missions. While NASA took 5 years to bring their Maven in existence,
ISRO scientists brought Mangalyan into existence within 15 months. For the
scientists whose workspace is the universe, then even the sky is not the limit.
The obstacles, achievements and the pride that the Mangalyan Mission
brought along was attempted to be brought on the silver screen by the
debutant director- Jagan Shakti and creative director R Balki with a multi
starrer cast, led parallelly by Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan.
The movie starts off on a disappointing note of a failed mission under Rakesh
Dhawan (Kumar) and Tara Shinde (Balan), the blame of which is taken by
Rakesh; hence he is subtly situated outside of the ISRO by assigning him a
mission that had no way of being a reality. Guilty Tara, reaches out to the
mission leader Rakesh when she correlates Home Science to Rocket Science
and finds the answer of going to Mars by seeing Pooris frying. The patriotic
Rakesh who’s all for the country is given almost a second life with that idea and
does his best to assemble a team. Enter the rest of the cast- Varsha (Menen),
Neha (Kulhari), Kritika (Pannu), Eka (Sinha), Parmeshwar (Joshi), Ananth
(Dattatreya). The journey beyond is unification of the team towards and for
the goal envisioned by Tara and Rakesh and then the manufacturing of the
satellite, the rocket and the many changes the team comes up with a whole to
preside within the allocated budget and time frame that the mission has.
The absence of lack of a major conflict is poorly compensated by the conflicts
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in personal lives of every character. The conflict of the 1st half- Enter NASA
return Rupert Desai (Tahil) and his sniggering towards the whole mission is
resolved as the team gets the go from the Director of ISRO (Vikram Gokhale)
before the intermission itself. The cinematic liberty taken to add an
entertainment and relatability factor to the movie does work but also distracts
and seems either too convenient or too good to be true at moments. The 1st
half of the movie has a balance between the personal and professional aspects
of the character. The infusion of patriotic emotion has been cleverly correlated
with science, surprisingly it creates a relatability. The act of keeping the jargons
at bare minimum for a wider understanding among the targets serves the
purpose but the nuances and authenticity of functioning at ISRO is missed. The
2nd half has major focus on the launch with the addition of songs which does
not ring a bell, when one thinks of scientists working towards such a significant
mission. The home science and rocket science correlation (though sounds
childish) put out either seriously or for humour, serves both the purposes
equally.
The cast pulls off each actor diligently, Kumar seems to be the movie’s one
liner guy which will either make you laugh or make you patriotic. Balan trades
the fine balance of professional and personal life the most and fares really well
and creates some important modern parenting lessons along the way. Joshi
seems to have tried his best to suit his character but it seems too forced.
Dattatreya is the old is gold aspect of the movie and Tahil’s American accent
and poori-bhaji mission trolling is an unintentional humour and distraction
both.
The writing and direction of the movie could have been more encapsulating of
the scientific aspects and not just ‘get-it-done-in-songs’: the manufacturing
process of the Mangalyan. The background score is a bonus to the ears and the
graphics though not at par with Hollywood, do create the magic needed to feel
the greatness and the magnificence of the mission. Cinematography does not
explore new avenues. The patriotism expected to be inflicted out of Kumar
starrer is definitely felt but this time it has a reason: respect and pride in ISRO.
The inclusion of Modi’s speech seems to be extremely unnecessary in the end.
The B-roll of the photos of the scientists who gave this mission in 2013 a life
gives you a sense of purpose, hope and pride. The good elements will make
you focus and the unnecessary, sure throw you off but that Launch will
definitely leave a smile on your face.