Manjhi: The Mountain Man

Manjhi: The Mountain Man

In 1960s Gehlaur, a small village near Gaya, Bihar, Dashrath Manjhi belongs to a marginalized, lower-caste community routinely exploited by the local landlord (Mukhiya). To escape forced labor and systemic oppression, a young Dashrath runs away from home, finding work in the Dhanbad coal mines. Years later, he returns to Gehlaur as a spirited young man, where he falls deeply in love with and marries his childhood sweetheart, Phaguniya Devi, despite resistance from her father due to Dashrath’s unstable past. The village is isolated from essential public amenities by a massive, treacherous rocky mountain ridge. To reach the nearest town, Wazirganj, for work or medical care, residents must embark on a perilous climb over the ridge or travel a grueling 55-kilometer detour around it. While heavily pregnant with their second child, Phaguniya climbs the steep mountain to bring Dashrath his lunch. She slips on the loose gravel, tumbling down the rocky face. A panicked Dashrath carries her bleeding body around the mountain to the hospital in Wazirganj, but the delay proves fatal; Phaguniya dies, though doctors manage to save their newborn daughter. Devastated by grief and fueled by intense anger toward the mountain, Dashrath sells his livestock to purchase a hammer, a chisel, and crowbars. He vows to single-handedly carve a path through the ridge so no other villager faces the same tragedy. His neighbors, including his own father, mock his endeavor, branding him a lunatic.

Director

Ketan Mehta

Release

21 Aug 2015

Run time

120 min

Language

Hindi