Welcome to Bollywood Gems, a series where I, an experienced Bollywood film viewer, review Bollywood films for quality and beginner-friendliness.

Today I will be reviewing 2019’s Mission Mangal, which chronicles the real struggles of a small team of ambitious ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) scientists in their attempt to send an Indian satellite into Mars’ orbit with little funding and only one shot at success. 

The film opens with a brief exposition segment in which viewers are introduced to high-ranking ISRO scientist Rakesh Dhawan, played by Akshay Kumar, and his colleague Tara Shinde, played by Vidya Balan.

In the first few scenes, it is revealed that Dhawan has gone on multiple failed space ventures for ISRO in the hopes of being useful to his country. In his last, nearly successful attempt at a space mission, members of his team incorrectly calculated a vital value, and ultimately the mission had to be shut down. 

After taking credit for the failure, despite blame falling on Shinde, Dhawan gets into an argument with his superiors, and as a result, is reassigned to a project he is meant to fail at: Mangalyaan. 

Project Mangalyaan was an attempt to get a satellite into Mars orbit and was only funded enough for a single attempt. Taking on this project would mean attempting to do something never before accomplished, even by the US, the Soviet Union or China.

Joined once again by Shinde, Dhawan assembles a rag-tag team of scientists who each come from a unique background, specialize in a unique field and struggle personally in unique ways. By utilizing a combination of luck, collaboration, innovation and sweat, the team transforms what was initially a pipe-dream into reality. In the process, Shinde and Dhawan, who largely spearheaded the effort, more than make up for their past failures.

The movie does not require a vast amount of cultural context, but it does help to know just a few things about the real story. At the time, around 2014, ISRO had less than a third of NASA’s budget, and project Mangalyaan itself was funded as an afterthought. ISRO was busy trying to go about accomplishing typical spacecraft missions and thought that project Mangalyaan was too ambitious for the funding which they had at the time. 

Mangalyaan and its success, therefore, became a way to prop up ISRO as a powerful organization for space exploration despite its low budget. Even today, space buffs and scientists throughout India view this mission as a statement that neither funding nor international politics are enough to keep dedicated and patriotic scientists from accomplishing their dreams. 

Because the film requires almost no cultural context, I give Mission Mangal 4.9/5 stars for beginner friendliness.

Beyond beginner friendliness, though, the movie is a great watch. Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan and almost every actor in the film expertly portray the feelings of tension and anxiety that an ambitious goal can bring as well as the joy of working effectively as a team to accomplish something never attempted before. 

This is most obvious towards the end of the movie when things start to fall apart and the mission seems as if it has failed. Each actor responds appropriately, shrinking back into their own unique fears and flaws, and the tension feels genuine. 

Despite extreme personal and professional circumstances, the team bounces back and overcomes the essential fears that they are controlled by, ultimately finishing their character arcs just as things start to look bright for them once again. 

The acting, direction and writing all work together in this film to effectively convey the story of underdog scientists overcoming hopelessness and beating impossible odds in both their personal and professional lives, and it ultimately sends the message that, with sweat and dedication, you can accomplish anything. 

For its message, I give Mission Mangal 4.5/5 stars, as it was inspiring but not necessarily completely unique to the film. For its acting and direction, I give the film 4.7/5 stars, as emotional struggles were effectively conveyed throughout the film.

 For Mission Mangal’s plot, I give it 5/5 stars, because underdog stories are always a joy to watch.

The one element of Mission Mangal that I would change is the pacing. The movie suffers from bad-pacing syndrome, a terrible movie illness in which a movie starts off moving quickly, becomes slow-moving for its middle section and moves too quickly as it finishes.

Mission Mangal has immense potential to become a borderline 5/5 star film in regards to its pacing, but because it is over two hours long, which I feel is more than it really needs to be, it bounces between snails-pace and super-sonic plot speed. For these reasons, I give Mission Mangal a 2.5/5 for its pacing.

Overall, I give Mission Mangal 4.3/5 stars for beginner friendliness and movie quality. Mission Mangal is a great film for people who are inspired by underdog stories, don’t mind a little slowness in pacing, and who love effective character development. I highly recommend this movie to Bollywood film viewing beginners and veterans alike.

This is my last installment in the Bollywood Gems series, and I hope everyone reading this has found at least one incredible Bollywood film to start their Bollywood viewing journey with.

Thanks for reading.