Mangal Pandey: The Rising (Indian title) or The Ballad of Mangal Pandey (international title) (released in India on August 12, 2005) is an Indian movie based on the life of Mangal Pandey who is known for his role in the Indian rebellion of 1857 which triggered the end of Company control in favour of crown rule. It is directed by Ketan Mehta, produced by Bobby Bedi, and with a screenplay by Farrukh Dhondy.

Aamir Khan, a leading Bollywood actor, plays the lead role of Mangal Pandey. Mangal Pandey was a Sepoy who helped spark the Indian rebellion of 1857. Subsequently the mutiny was called "The Sepoy Mutiny" or "The Sepoy Rebellion" by most of the English-speaking world, while Indians referred to it as the "First War of Independence".

1857 AD. The entire Indian sub continent is ruled by a company. The British East India Company. The most successful business enterprise in history. The company has its own laws, its own administration, its own army. It controls the destiny of one fifth of humanity. Mangal Pandey - The Rising is an epic tale of friendship, betrayal, love and sacrifice set against the backdrop of what the British called the sepoy mutiny but which for the Indians was the First War of Independence. 'Company Raj' as it was known, had been plundering the country, treating the locals unjustly and causing widespread resentment. After a hundred years of subjugation, the Indian consciousness is rising through the revolutionary prospect of change and self-rule. During a fierce battle in one of the Afgan wars that the Company fought in the mid-century, Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan), the heroic sepoy, saves the life of his British commanding officer William Gordon (Toby Stephens). Gordon is indebted to Mangal and a strong friendship develops between them, transcending consideration of rank and race. The friendship is soon challenged by the introduction of a new rifle called the Enfield . The new rifle has come with a new cartridge which is rumored to be coated with the grease of cow and pig fat. The new cartridge has to be bitten before it is loaded, which ignites anger and resentment among the Indian sepoys. The cow is sacred to the Hindus, the pig forbidden to the Muslims. They will not touch such a kartoos (gun cartridge), it would defile them. Set in one of the most beautiful countries on earth, told across the divides of time, Mangal Pandey - The Rising tells the tale of friends, lovers and enemies, exploiters and exploited, and the growth and awareness of a man and a nation. It is a story of one man and his dream of freedom. This sweeping epic is based on real historical events, seen as a trigger for Indian independence Written by Hariharan

Mangal Pandey is a Sepoy in the army controlled by the East India Company, a company that had entered Hindustan to trade, but subsequently showed their true colors, exploited the natives, divided, and ruled over them. But the Company treated their employees well. It was only a rumor that the cartridges of a new rifle were greased with the dead flesh of cows and pigs that set off a protest, which came to rest after the Hindustani soldiers received assurances from their senior most officer as well as Captain William Gordon, and Mangal became the first soldier to bit the bullet and pour the gunpowder in his barrels. Then it became a fact that the bullets were indeed greased with cows and pigs, an enraged Mangal confronts the system, and is assured that the cartridges will be replaced. Then comes the shock, for the Company had no intention of replacing the cartridges, and as a result Mangal incites a rebellion in the 300,000 strong Hindustani soldiers - a rebellion which is all set to take place on May 31st. Anger sweeps the country, as Muslims and Hindus, both offended by the use of cow and pig flesh respectively, the manner in which they have been ill-treated, called "kaala khutas" (black dogs) by the Caucasian soldiers, and the need to rid the Company and their masters once and for all. Watch what happens when the Company finds out about the rebellion, and the steps that they take to stop it - before it balloons out of proportion - giving them no alternative save to leave Hindustan. Written by rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)