Art & Entertainment

'Main Atal Hoon' Trailer Review: Pankaj Tripathi Sticks Out As A Sore Thumb; Expected More From This Biopic Of The Former PM

The trailer of 'Main Atal Hoon' starring Pankaj Tripathi dropped today. The movie will revolve around the politics of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Pankaj Tripathi in 'Main Atal Hoon'
info_icon

The trailer of the Pankaj Tripathi starrer ‘Main Atal Hoon’ was released today. It promises a deep dive into the life of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The story will cover the political career of the late leader.

The 3:37 minute-long trailer opens with a statement that reads, “The leader you know but the man you didn’t’. It opens with a shot of Pankaj Tripathi’s back in his office as a second person tells him that the situation has gotten worse and Kargil is in danger. This sets the tone of the movie.

Take a look at the trailer here.

Throughout the trailer, there are snippets of various important political events that have shaped the country. It will cover Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s journey through the Emergency, Ramjanmabhoomi, Pokhran, Lahore Bus Yatra, Kargil, and the formation of the Bharatiya Janta Party.

The trailer has a lot of heavy dialogues that try to prove a point, but you cannot look past Pankaj Tripathi who hasn’t embodied the character well. Had it not been for the prosthetics, it would have felt like he is playing just another character from any of his movies where he plays the role of a patriarch of a middle-class family. The actor who has a wide range has sadly carried the baritone and the accent from his previous roles here and it fails him as well as the character that he is portraying.

The trailer also introduces us to Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, and Pramod Mahajan. At best, these and other characters feel like they have the personality of a cardboard box. They haven't been fleshed out nor portrayed with the required nuance. The film talks about the Bharatiya Janta Party but there is no mention of the current PM. In order to bring out the politics of Vajpayee, the story seems fixated on the same old tale of Nehru and Indira Gandhi which has been talked about for long now. The trailer also features shots that will remind you of the past events that have happened in the country.

The movie is directed by Ravi Jadhav who previously won the National Awards for his works in Marathi. ‘Main Atal Hoon’ is set to hit the cinemas on January 19, 2024.