''Manjhi – The Mountain Man'' is a 2015 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi. Manjhi, widely known as the "Mountain Man", was a poor labourer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India, who carved a path wide and long through a hill high, using only a hammer and chisel. The film is directed by

Ketan Mehta Ketan Mehta (born 21 July 1952) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who has also directed documentaries and television serials since 1975. Early life and education Born on 21 July 1952 in Navsari in Gujarat, Mehta did his sch ...

, jointly produced by

Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Viacom18 Studios is an Indian film distribution and production company. It is a subsidiary of JioStar, a joint venture between Reliance Industries, Viacom18 and Disney India. Based in Mumbai, It is one of the first studio model based motion pic ...

and NFDC India. Upon release the film received positive critical acclaim.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Awards, as well as a nomination for an ...

enacted the role of Dashrath Manjhi, while

Radhika Apte Radhika Apte () (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian film and television actress. She began acting in theatre and made her film debut with a brief role in the fantasy drama ''Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!'' (2005). Her first lead role was in the 2009 ...

played Manjhi's wife. The film was released worldwide on 21 August 2015. Prior to its release preview copy of movie leaked on the web on 10 August 2015. The Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) cyber police station had registered a case against few accused of leaking the movie. The

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

State Government declared the film tax-free on 30 July 2015.

Plot

In the 1960s Dashrath Manjhi (

) lived in a small village Gehlaur near Gaya,

, India with his family including his wife Phaguniya Devi (

) and his son. There was a rocky

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

near his village that people either had to climb across or travel round to gain access to medical care at the nearest town Wazirganj. One day Manjhi's wife (when pregnant) fell while trying to cross the mountain and eventually died giving birth to a girl, after which Manjhi decided to carve a road through it. When he started hammering the hill people called him a lunatic but that only steeled his resolve further. After 22 years of back-breaking labour, Manjhi carved a path 360 feet long, 25 feet deep in places and 30 feet wide. Manjhi died in 2007. The film's postscript states that 52 years after he started breaking the mountain, 30 years after he finished and 4 years after his death the government finally made a metalled road to Gehlaur in 2011. He fought with the Indian government for the development of their village and for the availability of hospitals and road.

Cast

as Dashrath Manjhi *

as Phaguniya-Dashrath's wife * Sneha Pallavi as Phaguniya's Mother *

Tigmanshu Dhulia Tigmanshu Dhulia (born 3 July 1967) is an Indian film dialogue writer, director, actor, screenwriter, producer and casting director known for his works in Hindi cinema and Television. He wrote the dialogue for the 1998 film ''Dil Se..'', the fir ...

as Mukhiya (landlord) *

Pankaj Tripathi Pankaj Tripathi, born as Pankaj Tiwari (5 September 1976), is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi films and series. He is the recipient of two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. After studying acting at the National School ...

as Ruab (the landlord's son) * Gaurav Dwivedi as Alok Jha (a journalist) *

Urmila Mahanta Urmila Mahanta is an Indian actress. A student of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Mahanta appeared in various plays, short films and television series, before making her feature film debut in the critically acclaimed 2012 Tami ...

as Lauki * Ashraful Haque as Magru-Dashrath's father *

Jagat Rawat Jagat Rawat is an Indian film and television actor from a strong theatre background, including his six years in Bhartendu Academy of Dramatic Arts and National School of Drama repertory company, where he acted in many classic and contemporary ...

as Shuklaji * Varadraj Swami as Gopal's Father *

Deepa Sahi Deepa Sahi is an Indian actress and producer, best known for her role as Maya in the 1993 movie ''Maya Memsaab'', opposite actor Farooq Sheikh. She made her directorial debut with the movie ''Tere Mere Phere'' in 2011. Early and personal life ...

as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi *

Prashant Narayanan Prashant Narayanan is an Indian actor, known for his roles in films like '' Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II'', '' Shadows of Time'', '' Bombil and Beatrice'', '' Via Darjeeling'' and '' Murder 2''. He also worked in the telefilm ''Ek Tamanna''. His ...

as Jhumru * Rashaana Shah as Bhanwari

Soundtrack

Critical reception

Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times termed the film an inspiring, touching tale of a common man and gave the film 4.5 stars out of 5. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 3 stars. Meena Iyer of Times of India gave it 3 stars. Bollywood Hungama gave it 2.5 stars. Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express gave it two stars.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manjhi - The Mountain Man 2015 films Films about Indian slavery 2010s Hindi-language films Indian nonlinear narrative films Films about poverty in India Indian films based on actual events Drama films based on actual events Films about social issues in India Fiction about discrimination Films about the caste system in India Films shot in Bihar Films set in Bihar Viacom18 Studios films 2015 biographical drama films Indian biographical drama films Hindi-language films based on actual events English-language biographical drama films