'Main Atal Hoon' review: Pankaj Tripathi's acting only workable factor
Biopics are one of the favorite genres of filmmakers. The latest addition to this genre is Pankaj Tripathi-led Main Atal Hoon, which was released on Friday. It brings back former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to life but fails to do justice to the politician. Despite Tripathi performing his best and picking up neatly on Vajpayee's nuances, his acting can't alone save this biopic.
From Gwalior to becoming India's PM, film charts Vajpayee's life
Main Atal Hoon is an homage to Vajpayee which shows his childhood days in Gwalior to how he became an integral part of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and then became the founding member of Bharatiya Janata Dal and Janata Party before being associated with founding Bharatiya Janata Party. The film also chronicles other important events of his life, including Pokhran-II tests and the Kargil War.
Tripathi nails his act; other casting choices are upsetting
The movie is solely based on Tripathi's performance who does his best as a Vajpayee, especially with the hand movements and accent. Piyush Mishra plays Vajpayee's father but disappears in the wind. Casting for Sushma Swaraj, Pramod Mahajan, and Arun Jaitley was highly upsetting. Paula McGlynn as Sonia Gandhi had zero dialogues. Raja Rameshkumar Sevak as LK Advani was a major misfit too.
Overpowering BGM kills the dialogues
Another factor that seemed like a misfit in this Ravi Jadhav movie is that the background music (BGM) was so loud on occasions that it made it hard to listen to the dialogues. A scene where Vajpayee, says, "Main Atal hoon (I'm Atal)," has been made to echo. Jadhav could have avoided the effect and tried to relay the gravity of the line differently.
It's a rushed affair that packs everything within 139 minutes
Meghna Gulzar did clever work with Sam Bahadur by focusing on only a few important events of his life. Unfortunately, with this movie, the writers have tried to incorporate every aspect of Vajpayee's life, and in that process, appear rushed. Even important events like the Pokhran test, the Kargil War, and the Delhi-Lahore bus scenes were limited to a couple of minutes.
A disappointing biopic of a legendary man
Jadhav co-wrote this film with Rishi Virman. Going by the trailer, it gave an impression that it'll be a befitting tribute to Vajpayee, who was so artistic himself, in addition to his political credentials. But when it came to delivering the final product, it was nothing less than a disappointment. Verdict: 2.5 stars out of 5 (extra marks for Tripathi's performance).
