…this film produced by Anant Singh and based on the South African leader’s autobiography by the same name, treats its subject with that delicate reverence, bathing him in drippling sunlight and framing him more than once as a heroic figure against scenic backdrops of his loved land. It sacrifices small details for a rushed narrative, and a deeper understanding for a biopic that touches upon the many chapters of Mandela’s eventful life without touching anything closely.

This fast-moving film extends beyond one icon. Alongside Mandela, it follows the anti-apartheid movement itself, from peaceful boycotts to blowing offices up, terrible civil war and a return to peace. It captures the tremendous romance of Africa, its gold-pink vistas as beautiful as blush, its rhythms, vibes and colourful tribes. And it presents fabulous performances.

Moderately interesting, Mandela is long and tiring, but the performances make it worth the while.

Contrary to Mandela’s life that had enough drama, the film fails to capture any of it…making it boring at times. It works because of the real life story of Mandela. An iconic world figure deserves a much better biopic! Here they don’t call it a ‘long walk’ for no reason, the film is 140 minutes long and that is very long for this genre.

All said and seen, Mandela is watchable because of the powerful story rather than the depiction of the story.

Laden with dramatically cliched and generic rousing scenes, director Justin Chadwick’s “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom”, set against the backdrop of long-established institutional racism, is a far cry from an awe-inspiring and stimulating biopic.

The film pays due respect to Nelson Mandela, but only half-way through.

As a beginner’s guide to Mandela, it’s respectable; as cinema, it feels shackled by the greatness of its subject. Most curiously, it’s terrified of the very thing that defined him: politics.