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In 1989, more than 200 miners were deep in the bowels of the Raniganj Colliery, established during British rule. It was a late-night shift, and when disaster struck, flooding part of the mine, around 70 workers were trapped (the rest were extricated immediately) with their condition becoming more perilous by the minute. Water was gushing through the tunnels, and poisonous CO2 was forming rapidly: would they be rescued in time?
This real-life incident becomes the basis of Akshay Kumar’s new film ‘Mission Raniganj: The Great Bharat Rescue’ in which he plays the eponymous role of mining expert Jaswant Singh Gill, who launched an operation the likes of which had never been seen in India before. In a brilliant instance of ‘desi jugaad’, he thought of fabricating a steel capsule which could be lowered all the way down to the high point in the deep tunnel where the miners were huddled. The capsule was just big enough to house one man, and the operation, lasting several tense hours, was a resounding success — every single terrified worker, barring the handful who went missing, was pulled out to safety.
Given the inherent drama in the long-drawn operation, with the family members of the trapped men waiting anxiously, and the patent sincerity with which Akshay plays Gill, ‘Mission Raniganj’ should have been a deeply engrossing human drama. But the way in which the loud background music ratchets up the theatrics, and the manner in which local ‘netas’ and high officials in Calcutta try and scuttle the operation, with each person bearing the bad news running across the screen in exactly the same manner, the film comes off a tiresome plod.
Watch Mission Raniganj movie trailer here:
Does Bollywood, especially the Bollywood fronted by big stars, ever think of how their efforts are derailed by outdated melodrama, and the pointless insistence on heroics rather than heroism? The real-life Gill was, by all accounts, a team player who fought an arduous battle to save lives; his cinematic equivalent fails this inspiring story, and the character’s nobility, by pushing to the forefront, and staying there.
Mission Raniganj movie cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra, Kumud Mishra, Rajesh Sharma, Ravi Kishan, Pavan Malhotra, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Arif Zakaria
Mission Raniganj movie director: Tinu Suresh Desai
Mission Raniganj movie rating: 1.5 stars
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