Mission Mangal
U/A: Drama, History
Director: Jagan Shakti
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari, Sharman Joshi
Rating:

Going to Mars is about as much of a challenge as chomping on a Mars chocolate bar -- at least, that's the impression "Mission Mangal" gives you. Akshay Kumar's latest ode to the nation prioritises the need to match the feel-good spirit of an extended holiday weekend, so much so it misses out on setting up the drama and thrill of a scientific feat that is nothing short of historic for India.

"Mission Mangal" packs in essential masala. There is a pleasant undercurrent of humour all along. Director Jagan Shakti and his battery of co-screenwriters (R. Balki, Nidhi Singh Dharma and Saketh Kondiparthi) sets up smaller subplots of melodrama within the basic storyline to describe the personal lives of its protagonists -- in rather unnecessary detail. For the lack of a genuine antagonist in the real-life sage it is based on, the script invents a ‘villain' too -- by way of Dalip Tahil's NASA-returned Indian expert at ISRO, who sneers and snarls at every ‘desi' effort by Akshay Kumar and team to do something original without foreign aid.