Movie Review: Aarakshan (Hindi) - Reserved To Be Among The Very Best

Veteran director Prakash Jha strikes again with a realistic movie, backed by some excellent performances by Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai and Deepika Padukone | By Mukesh Venu
It is rare enough that a main stream Bollywood film strides against its boy-meets-girl song-and-dance routine to do a realistic film, but 'Aarakshan' goes one step beyond and actually presents a solution to the ever chaotic mess of providing reservations for backward communities. Supported by some excellent performances by the lead actors, 'Aarakshan' manages to score, not just among the critics, but with the common man as well.

The movie brings into light with precise details the dirty picture of the private education system, where more than the ability of a student or his credentials, it is money that matters. While the first half of the film showcases the controversial issue of providing reservation to the backward castes, and has the viewer wondering about how the movie would conclude, the second half reveals to them the bigger picture and the seemingly unsolvable issue is solved in the most straight forward way which The film weathered some pretty rough seas with always remains overlooked. accusations of being anti-Dalit and anti-reservation hurled against it. And those who accuse simply refuse to see the bigger picture. And that is exactly where 'Aarakshan' stands apart the movie, gutsy enough, This film is a wake up call to everyone trying to sort out makes the viewer step out of the box and look at life at a way without fully seeing the real picture that has large; to highlight the fact that men, especially caused the issue to arise in the first place. While a superb knowledge providing teachers, should look beyond the performance by senior actor Amitabh Bachchan was only walls of caste and creed and see human beings. to be expected, actors who are often noted for their star value than their acting credentials, like Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, are given a chance to prove their acting skills which they have utilized well, to present The story centers around a very idealistic man in Prof. some riveting performances. Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bhachan), the principle of a reputed private college. Saif Ali Khan plays the role Manoj Bajpai must be the most under rated actor in of the hot-blooded Deepak Kumar, a student of Bollywood. After seeing his performance as Mithilesh Prabhakar Anand, and belongs to a backward Singh in 'Aarakshan', one cannot but wonder why this community. He is now a teacher in the same college talented actor is not given the recognition he deserves. and is romantically linked to Prabhakar's daughter, There are a couple of songs in the movie, which are Poorbi (Deepika Padukone), who is a student in that situational and complement the gripping pace of the film. college. Fortunately, the romance between Deepak and Poorbi is far from being the core theme of the movie, thereby saving this realistic film from the usual routine of songs and dances. Cinematographer Sachin Krishna has cleverly handled the camera, and music by Shankar-Eshan-Roy, manages Manoj Bajpai as Mithilesh Singh plays the antagonist to take the film to a level rarely surpassed by mainstream in the movie, and it comes as no surprise that he does cinema. But at the end of it, all credit goes to director an excellent job. It is the strong dislike that the viewers Prakash Jha for once again making an excellent movie feel towards Mithilesh Singh that makes them like based on a relevant social issue. Prof. Prabhakar in contrast. Another major character in the movie is that of Sushant Seth (Prateek Babbar), Endline It's PrakashJ ha at his best folks, you simply another student belonging to a rich and powerful high cannot afford to miss 'Aarakshan'! caste family. Image Courtesy: apunkachoice.com The story concerns the privatisation of the educational

system where making money is the focus rather than helping the students get an education and turn into good, nation- building citizens for the future.

2ND REVIEW

An angry exchange of words erupts between newly appointed junior lecturer Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan) and his mentor and college Principal Dr Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan). The former hurls a pointed question at his senior: What is your position on reservation? The latter responds in kind but refuses to answer. Thats perfectly in keeping with the underlying spirit of Aarakshan. Words, words, and more words but no clear pronouncements! So dont expect any answers from Aarakshan. Prakash Jhas highly anticipated film isnt really what the title might suggest: a sledgehammer drama about a simmering political issue that has never been addressed before in a mainstream Hindi film. Instead, its a rather safe, superficial and simplistic take on an extremely complex theme. The film lets off steam, and generates some smoke, but the fire is missing. Given all the pre-release brouhaha over its emotive subject matter (leading to several states banning its public screening), Aarakshan is quite a copout. It ends up being more about the depredations of the nations education mafia than the vexed question of job and college quotas for backward caste candidates and its fallout. The basic premise is rooted in the real world all right and the film might touch some raw nerves. But the dramatization of the conflict over the quota raj that divides India down the middle tends to border on the excessively shrill, if not completely shallow. A good teacher and a bad teacher-a hero and a villain cast in the classic Bollywood mould - fight a bitter turf war on the campus of a sprawling college called Shakuntala Thakral Mahavidyalaya. The

conflict trickles down to the level of the students, who get sucked into the vortex like a bunch of willing but misguided foot soldiers, sparking off violent disagreements between the two groups. The Supreme Court ruling upholding 27 per cent reservation for OBCs is alluded to and treated as the spark for two of the films most dramatic confrontation scenes the one mentioned above and another one between Deepak Kumar and upper caste student Sushant Seth (Prateik), who also happens to be the son of a member of the private trust that runs the college. And, then, Aarakshan bails out of the danger zone. Essentially, the film is structured like a run-of-the-mill good-versus-evil drama where the characters are convenient cutouts, each representing a particular line of thinking, rather than tangible figures prone to psychological ebbs and tides. So we have a math professor who is perched on a horse so high that he might have been better off in the Vatican. He doesnt speak; he delivers sermons, as if from a pulpit. He has a wife (Tanvi Azmi) who believes that he is a "real hero" in a world full of "cowards" and a daughter (Deepika Padukone) who is doting, dutiful and forever ready to spring to her dads defence. And, of course, this picture wouldnt be complete without the suave college topper raised by a low-born mother who worked as a maid in the homes of the wealthy. And there is the crafty, creepy college staffer who is so smarmy that he could give Mogambo the heebie-jeebies. But for the measured skills of Manoj Bajpayee, who digs his teeth into this dark persona with great glee, Mithilesh Singh would have been just another evil madcap. In this scenario, words fly thick and fast like bullets as the gunfights of a conventional potboiler are replaced by verbal fireworks. A thriving coaching centre housed in a property that the upright math professor has been duped of and the college principals chamber stand in for the den of the baddie. The R word is uttered several times in the first half, but the political ramifications of reservation are only touched upon in passing and then

quickly discarded as the film shifts into morality play mode and the protagonist sets up a classroom for the poor in a cowshed. The second half is another film: the title is forgotten and Aarakshan dives into a plot woven around the ageing protagonists battle to rescue his students from the clutches of the greedy men who have turned education into a money-spinning racket. The bad teacher tells the good teacher in one scene: "You were a zero, are a zero, and will always be zero." The tables are turned, as expected, on the villain by the time the film comes to an end. By then, Aarakshan stops adding up. Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=643&cp