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The Rising

Will Aamir's historical click at the box office?
13th Aug 2005 18.00 IST
By Agencies

It may be the most expensive film in the history of Bollywood, but ‘Mangal Pandey - The Rising ‘ has been released at a time when audiences have never been kind to historical flicks.

Whether it's Jabbar Patel's film on Baba Saheb Ambedkar with Mammooty in the lead or Santosh Sivan's Asoka with Shah Rukh Khan , somehow viewers have always found it hard to identify with historical characters as played by well-known actors.

In fact, even the relatively less recognisable Sachin Khedeker failed to make a mark as Subhash Chandra Bose in Shyam Benegal 's film earlier this year.

Given this history, what makes the makers of "Mangal Pandey - The Rising" so sure of box office success?

The answer, in two words, is Aamir Khan .

Aamir has projected himself as the most exclusive star of our times. The feeling of exclusivity has been created through the handful of quality films he has done, namely Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak , ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’, Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan .

‘Mangal Pandey’ is Aamir’s first release in four years. It's also his first historical. The fact that he looks nothing like the real mutineer Mangal Pandey has little relevance to the box office.

So the basic premise underlining the box office potential of ‘Mangal Pandey’ is the star presence. The rest, including Rani Mukherjee in the role of a prostitute which has no historical precedent, is all incidental.

Will Aamir’s first historical set the cash registers ringing at the box-office? Will the film live up to its hype or will it join the bandwagon of historical flicks rejected by the audience? These questions will be answered in the weeks to come.

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