(3.5 / 5)

A true piece of art and cinema is the one liner for the movie Manjhi – The Mountain Man. It is a movie based on the true story of a man Dashrath Manjhi from Bihar, India who carved a road through a mountain alone investing a long 22 years. The story itself is full of determination and motivation. Director Ketan Mehta very beautifully picturized the same into silver screen.

Movie is presenting the newly independent India, the evils and problems faced by backward villages of India at that time. Makers of the movie created environment of a Bihar village so perfectly that the audience can time travel through the village by feeling like you are there in the place Gehlaur. Almost shown all the evils prevailed that time like ruined Zamindari System, Untouchability, and people turning into naxalite to fight against.

Other than the story, movie is gifted with a person as lead actor, the legend of acting in himself, Mr. Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He nailed a movie again – this time with his unique kind of natural acting, giggling, laughter, dialogues, versatile expression and much more. Story of determination and motivation is actually ignited with the power of love and romance with the very beautiful actress Radhika Apte.

The chemistry between Nawazuddin and Radhika is unbelievable. Radhika switched into the character so effortlessly that you can’t even imagine she is the same girl from Badlapur. Ashraf Ul Haque as father of Dashrath, Tigmanshu Dhulia as Zamindar, Pankaj Tripathi as son of Zamindar it is a bunch of highly talented actors, most of them imported from Gangs of Wasseypur.

It is also a slap on Indian Government’s face ruled or ruined the country after Independence that, Shri. Dashrath Manjhi started digging the mountain from 1960 and he abled to carve a basic road for bullock carts and pedestrians till 1982. He tried his best to get help from government to build a proper road there to connect his village with outer world for basic necessity, amenities and a good connectivity shortening 80 KM distance to 1 KM. But he died in 2007, and finally the government built a road there in 2011 and named as Dashrath Manjhi Path. It is a shame that it took too long to realize the dedication and sacrifice of a great soul.

“Movie is a must watch! It is a real tribute to the real hero of determination, love and motivation…”

Actual Dashrath Manjhi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui