From the past few years, the trend of making a biopic is taking place on a large scale. We have seen biopics of politicians, freedom fighters, soldiers, scientists, sports persons, actors, etc. In the last few years, Bollywood has produced a couple of films based on politicians. Thackeray was based on Legendary Shiv Sena Leader Balasaheb Thackeray, PM Narendra Modi was based on our current Prime Minster Narendra Modi, Thalaivii was based on an actress turned politician Jayalalithaa and The Accidental Prime Minister was based on the 13th PM of our country, Manmohan Singh. The recent Bollywood offering, Main Atal Hoon is based on the life of the 10th PM of our country, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Main Atal Hoon is directed by one of the finest filmmakers of our country, Ravi Jadhav. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was one of the most powerful and legendary politicians our country has ever produced and his story deserved a film. Ravi Jadhav has delivered many Classics like Natrang, Balgandharva, Balak Palak, Timepass and Nude.
With Main Atal Hoon, Ravi Jadhav diminishes the legendary legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee with dull depiction. A biopic of a powerful figure like this, deserves a powerful presentation. Atal Ji’s story can inspire millions and can motivate the people to achieve their dreams. His philosophies, poems, quotes and speeches are timeless and still fresh in the minds of people.
Main Atal Hoon depicts the childhood of Atal Ji, his journey with RSS and Akhil Sangha Party, how he established the largest Political Party BJP, his oath as 10th PM of India, Pokhran Test, Operation Blue Star, Babri Masjid incident and his visit after Kargil War. Atal Ji’s life is full of ups and downs. His struggles and life journey has inspired many generations. This film could have been a nationwide sensation if it would have been made with an uncompromised and powerful vision.
Pankaj Tripathi is one of the finest actors of our country but adapting Atal Ji’s personality is next to impossible for any actor. Pankaj Tripathi tries too hard to convince us and make us believe that he is Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but fails miserably. An actor like Pankaj Tripathi has gone over the top and has done overacting in majority of the scenes. His voice, hand movements, look, dressing style is nowhere near to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. No one except Pankaj Tripathi would have worked this hard to play Atal ji on-screen like he did, and he deserves appreciation for this.
The supporting cast of Piyush Mishra as Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, Raja Rameshkumar Sevak as L. K. Advani, Daya Shankar Pandey as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, Pramod Pathak as Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Harshad Kumar as Pramod Mahajan, Prasanna Ketkar as M. S. Golwalkar and Gauri Sukhtankar as Sushma Swaraj are terrific. The make-up team has perfectly recreated all these characters. Payal Nair as Indira Gandhi, Haresh Khatri as Jawaharlal Nehru and Paula McGlynn as Sonia Gandhi look unconvincing. Ekta Kaul plays the role of Atal Ji’s love interest and is decent in her part.
Ravi Jadhav disappoints as director. He had made a Masterpiece Biopic like Balgandharva in Marathi Cinema and with Atal Ji’s story he had a huge scope, but failed to meet the expectations. His vision lacked the punch to showcase a powerful figure such as Atal Ji. It seemed like he was interested in making a docu-drama instead of making a feature film.
The screenplay of Main Atal Hoon is very boring and slow, which will test your patience to the next level. Each and every minute of this film feels like an hour. One can easily enjoy a long and refreshing sleep and exit the auditorium with a big smile on their face. The writers have failed to justify the legacy of Atal Ji on-screen. The music only increases the headache level.
The color grading of Main Atal Hoon is C-Grade. The color grading makes us lose our interest in this dull show. The color grading is very irritating which will hurt your eyes for sure. Even a normal video shot from our phone will look better in front of Main Atal Hoon.
The events showcased in the film are not powerfully showcased. While watching this film, it seems like a documentary show running on Television 24×7. There is not a single scene which awakens our interest to pay attention to what is going on the screen. The makers literally make us lose our excitement from the very first scene and by the end we are literally dead.
The speeches, quotes and poems showcased in the film are available on social media. The makers have only recreated those powerful speeches and made a joke in the name of filmmaking. The powerful speeches of Atal Ji has evoked patriotism, but in the film they have made a spoof of it.
Atal Ji has achieved a lot in his life and has shaped our nation. Not a single achievement or his legendary operations have been showcased properly in the film. The film has some Anti-Congress dialogues, which Atal Ji used to say in a powerful way, but they don’t come from Pankaj Tripathi’s heart and seem like forcefully added just for the sake of subject.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a man of words, ethics and principles. The legendary and powerful story of Atal ji went into the wrong hands. The powerful dialogues and meaningful poems in the film are overshadowed by pathetic presentation.
Bollywood has never been able to crack the formula of making a powerful film on the life of a politician. The Tamil film ‘Iruvar’ directed by Legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam remains the best political biopic made in Indian Cinema and will remain so. Marathi film Dharmaveer also perfectly balanced mass as well as class cinema and was extremely front loaded which gave a rich viewing experience.
Overall, Main Atal Hoon is an epic disappointment. A Legendary Leader like Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee deserved more than this forgettable film. Instead of watching this film, one should read books on Atal Ji or should revisit his old speeches which are available on social media. Skip it.
Rating – 2/5*
