In the wake of Ketan Mehta's movie "Mangal Pandey - The Rising", publishers are coming out with a spate of biographies on the legendary martyr.

Mangal Pandey, who is called "the first freedom fighter" and made his name an emblem of revolt against British rule, re-rose to fame with Mehta's movie, which marks the much-awaited return of actor Aamir Khan, albeit mightily moustachioed, as the legendary martyr.

Penguin, which printed copies of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic "Parineeta" after Vidhu Vinod Chopra made it into a hit film, came out with their Mangal Pandey version in June - "Mangal Pandey: Brave Martyr Or Accidental Hero?" by Rudrangshu Mukherjee.

In the wake of Penguin's take on the freedom fighter who, according to records available in Jabalpur Museum, was hanged secretly 10 days before his execution date of April 18, 1857, Rupa And Company is launching "Mangal Pandey: True Story of an Indian Revolutionary" mid-August.

Author Amaresh Misra's book, claims Rupa, is the real thing.

A passage in Misra's book reads: "Mangal was tense and nervous - things were moving fast. He had thought at first that things would go slow, allowing him time to realize the magnitude of what he was going to unfold. Then one night Mangal had a dream - he saw a large river of blood coming towards him. Two British skulls were floating and Sepoys galloped in the air.

"The dream unnerved Mangal - he woke up in cold sweat. For the first time in his life he thought how would it be if peasants and Sepoys have a power of their own?"

The publishers' hopes are riding on the film's prospects, which by all accounts seem bright enough.

Screened as the opening film at the 58th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, Mehta's film reportedly received flattering feedback. After a screening in Britain, The Guardian too gave the movie a thumbs-up.

In March 1857 - after serving eight nondescript years as a sepoy with the British forces, Mangal Pandey picked up a gun and fired at his officers. No one was killed, but he was hanged. And thereby hang two tales and a film.