Mission Raniganj is a film based on the true story of Jaswant Singh Gill, an engineer who rescued 65 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in West Bengal in 1989. The film stars Akshay Kumar as Gill and Parineeti Chopra as his wife. The film is directed by Tinu Suresh Desai and written by Vipul K. Rawal.
Mission Raniganj: Plot
The film begins with a Punjabi wedding song, where we are introduced to Gill and his family. He is an honest and dedicated engineer who works for Coal India. One night, he gets a call from his colleague Rajesh Sharma, who informs him that a disaster has struck at the Mahabir colliery in Raniganj. A blast has ruptured the underground water table, flooding the mine and trapping 65 miners inside. Gill rushes to the site and takes charge of the rescue operation. He realizes that the conventional methods of pumping out water and digging a parallel shaft are not feasible due to the high pressure and the risk of collapse. He comes up with an innovative idea of drilling a well and using a specially crafted steel capsule to pull out the miners one by one. However, he faces many obstacles from the corrupt officials, politicians, and media, who try to sabotage his efforts and exploit the situation for their own gains. He also has to deal with the emotional turmoil of his wife and the anxious families of the miners. Will he be able to save all the miners in time?
Mission Raniganj: Performances
Akshay Kumar delivers a sincere performance as Gill, portraying his courage, intelligence, and compassion. He is convincing as an engineer who uses his skills and experience to overcome a challenging situation. He also shows his emotional side as a husband and a father who cares for his family. Parineeti Chopra has a limited role as his wife, but she does justice to it. She expresses her love, worry, and support for her husband through her expressions and dialogues. Rajesh Sharma, Pawan Malhotra, Kumud Mishra, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Ravi Kishan, Anant Mahadevan, Veerendra Saxena, Arif Zakaria, Saanand Verma, and Varun Badola play their respective roles of Gill’s colleagues, friends, rivals, and enemies with varying degrees of effectiveness. The actors who play the trapped miners also do a decent job of portraying their fear, pain, hope, and camaraderie.
Mission Raniganj: Analysis
The film has an interesting premise and a potential to be a gripping human drama. The real-life incident was a remarkable feat of engineering and heroism that deserved to be told on screen. However, the film fails to live up to its promise due to its flawed execution. The film suffers from many drawbacks such as shoddy production value, poor visual effects, loud background music, outdated melodrama, unnecessary heroics, cliched dialogues, and weak characterization. The film does not delve deep into the psyche and behaviour of the characters or explore the themes beyond the surface level. The film also does not give enough attention to the technical aspects of the rescue operation or the challenges faced by Gill and his team. The film relies heavily on Akshay Kumar’s star power and patriotism to carry the film forward.
Mission Raniganj: Verdict
Mission Raniganj is a film that tries to pay homage to an unsung hero and his brave attempt to rescue 65 miners from a deadly situation. However, it falls short of being an engaging and inspiring film due to its lacklustre direction, writing, and editing. The film is watchable only for Akshay Kumar’s performance and the real-life story behind it.
Interestingly Yash Chopra made Kaala Patthar 40 years back on similar topic which is still considered a cult classic. Mission Raniganj can’t replicate emotions and scale of that film with higher budget and better resources.
Mission Raniganj: Rating
Critics rating: 2/5
Box office rating: 0.5 / 5
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