The latest Indian blockbuster featuring an International cast and aimed at a crossover audience released recently in the UK. Sangeeta Datta talks to Aamir Khan about his influences and politics.

Bollywood is now India’s biggest calling card in the ever growing business of entertainment. It is the new buzzword and mantra in Diasporic cross cultural worlds and even the average non-Indian has some idea about the glossy wedding songs in Indian films. Bombay makes a staggering 700-800 films a year, an average of 10 feature in the UK and US top tens every ye

ar. Larger than life heroes love, hate, strut and sing across giant screens romancing their lady loves, traipsing across the globe in fantasy sequences. The global entertainment market has flattened borders for the Bollywood film industry as thousands throng to the theatres from Dubai to Jamaica, from London to New Jersey.

Bollywood is technically savvy, its structure grows more corporate, its world brims with talent, its market fetches ever increasing bucks. The industry has grown from its native origins to comfortably vie with films globally. Not all films are about fantasy and romance, family and patriarchy. Some mature filmmakers deal more seriously with the medium and more ambitiously with the genre.

The Rising, directed by Ketan Mehta, is the latest feather in Bollywood’s cap, with all claims to be the biggest Indian film to hit the international scene. Set in 1857, this historical epic unfolds against what the British called the Sepoy Mutiny. In effect it was the first fight for freedom from the exploitation of Britain’s East India Company.

Produced by Kaleidoscope films, The Rising takes another look at colonial history, power politics and the growing awareness of the nation and its people. When history is being revisited by different nations and communities, this film deals with friendship, loyalty, love and leadership set against the backdrop of the bloodiest revolution in human history. This epic saga has the legendary folk hero Mangal Pandey at its nucleus; a man about whom there is very little historical detail. ‘Where history meets proud folklore, that is where heroes are born,’ the opening lines of the film determine the treatment, which swings from realistic documentary feel to the colourful strokes of vintage Bollywood.

The story of a lowly Sepoy and his rise against the British first captured director Ketan Mehta almost 15 years ago. At the time a project on this scale, for a world market was inconceivable in India. Ketan held the project close to his heart until a global market made this possible. Producer Bobby Bedi known for making films of international standards took up the project. The UK Film Council got involved; this is the first Indian film to receive lottery funding for marketing and distribution. The script shifted hands and Farrukh Dhondy (Red Mercury 2005, American Daylight 2004, Exitz 2004) came on board. Aamir Khan, a star known to be choosy about his projects, joined and immediately raised the stature of the project. Bobby claims that his choice of subjects reflects, “a different take on biography,” and that The Rising boasts a -crew “from the Indian and British industry, with a healthy fusion of professional expertise and great team spirit starting from the lead actors, Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens.”

Hailing from a well known producer’s family, Aamir’s acting debut was as a child artist in Yaadon ki Baraat (1973). Starting his adult career with the ‘Indianised’ Romeo and Juliet story in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Aamir played candy floss heroes for a while and had runaway hits to his credit (Dil, Raja Hindustani, Rangeela, Gulam). His performance in Deepa Mehta’s Earth (1998) as the ‘Ice Candy Man’ fetched him rave reviews from critics. He turned into a meticulous producer-actor with the Oscar nominated Lagaan (2002) and his performance propelled him onto the international stage. Lagaan was about a cricket match between poor villagers and the English cantonment officers. In The Rising Aamir plays the lead role of Mangal Pandey, the man who sparked off the Sepoy Mutiny or the first freedom struggle in India. Aamir thus has his own take on the history of colonialism in India.

Trying to locate him for a phone interview was a whirlwind task. Caught in a frenzy of release dates in Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta, Aamir Khan finally called as he drove to Calcutta airport. Aamir talked of his passionate involvement with the character he plays, “Mangal Pandey is a legendary figure, a symbol of freedom for all Indians. He gave his life for what he believed in, freedom from the exploitation and humiliation of the East Indian Company. He was also a volatile character and the film is about the growing awareness of a man and a nation. Little is known about the man Mangal himself so I had a year to research the background, the history (mid nineteenth century) and evolve a look for the character.”

With the first day reports just filtering in, The Rising collected 40% more revenue than any previous Indian film release in the USA. Does Aamir believe that Bollywood has finally come of age? He answered convincingly, “technically we are at par with Hollywood or anywhere else in the world. There’s wonderful talent and creative energy. The film industry is getting a more corporate make over. With Lagaan we tried to make a film which could compete at par with international projects. It was received so well at home and abroad, but Lagaan was more light-hearted, like an Asterix comic. This film is more realistic and darker in tone. With The Rising we have great talent from the UK. It is an international project both in theme and scale of production.”

Authentic sets designed by Nitin Chandrakant Desai recreate the 19th century ‘Company Raj’ era and lend to the epic scale of the film. Cinematographer Himman Dhamija enhances the legendary story with ambitious camera work, but it is the music which really underpins the folk element of the film. Lyricist Javed Akhtar uses popular ballads he heard as a child in Uttar Pradesh to write the theme song Mangal Mangala. A. R. Rahman reigning composer of Tamil and Hindi films and West End and Broadway musicals (Bombay Dreams, Lord of the Rings) scores a stirring ballad which runs as the theme song embodying the stirring and rising of the nation. However, a few of the musical scores appear aesthetic misfits and sit on cracks in the screenplay. Powerful performances redeem the film, Aamir Khan got into character with 18 months of wearing dhotis (a length of cotton fabric woven around the legs) and boots as the Sepoys used to wear in the British army; he also grew his hair long so as to best portray the brooding and iconic Mangal. Toby Stephens delivers a layered Gordon torn between friendship and duty, Rani Mukherji portrays the spirited Heera, a Bengali nautch girl who falls in love with the fiery Pandey and Coral Reed impresses in the small role of Emily, the Colonel’s daughter.

As a stunning cinematic spectacle The Rising will hold its own against past epics Gandhi (Richard Attenborough), The Chess Players (Satyajit Ray) and more recent productions like Four Feathers (Shekhar Kapoor) or even Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. More importantly it is about identity in a global context. The East India Company, belittles the faith of Hindus and Muslims. Mangal rises above his own cast prejudice to call for freedom for the masses. Gordon, a Scottish outsider within his regiment befriends the local Sepoy and falls in love with a Bengali widow. Heera, the slave girl sold to the brothel frequented by the British soldiers and the low caste sweeper, the true subaltern who propels Pandey into self examination and action. Aamir admits, “delving into one’s history makes me more aware of who I am. It helps me to grow as a person and as an actor. Over the past few years in India with the right wing government and the communal tension, each Indian has had to think hard about his identity and ideology. I had never been so sharply aware of my position as a Muslim, part of a minority community. But in the last elections India’s masses have proved again that they believe in democracy and secularism.”

With 94 prints in the UK alone, The Rising is in the top ten charts with considerable mainstream patrons. Both British and Asian viewers get to take stock of their history from an alternative stance. According to Aamir, The Rising is more about the present than the past, “it was the present that interested me more than what happened 150 years ago. The parallels really drew me. Mangal’s story has a contemporary angle to which I could relate. The East India Company exploited the Indians, today it’s the US exploiting poorer markets; the story has reflections in global capitalisation.”