Film: Aarakshan
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Prateik Babbar ,Manoj Bajpai and others
Director: Prakash Jha
Producer: Prakash Jha and Firoz Nadiadwala
Banner: Prakash Jha Productions and Base Industries Group
Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Aarakshan Review Rating: 3/5
Aarakshan Movie Review: Powered by stupendous performance by the lead star cast of the film, Prakash Jha’s ‘Aarkshan’ sadly falls weak right from the scripting stage. While the first half is all about creating the right plot about dividing India into two classes; the rich who are against reservation and the SC/ST/OBC who want ‘Aarkshan’; the second half totally diverts itself from the main issue and is just about a man’s personal fight to prove that his principals of equality are right. While we expected that like Jha’s last outing ‘Rajneeti’, ‘Aarakshan’ too will be more extravagant, it falls weak with an abrupt ending.
Story:
Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan) is the principal of Shakuntala Thakral Mahavidyalaya (STM), a college in Bhopal and believes that education should not be sold. In the spring of 2008, Supreme Court’s verdict of raising the reservations of backward classes from 27% to 49% in colleges causes a situation of havoc. There are students who are happy about it and the ones who are not, who believe that merit is what should decide the future of India. Prabhakar, though is not a racist, but thinks that Aarakshan is important and this belief lands him into trouble, a fight with those in power.
Analysis:
The film is pretty confusing for an average Indian cine-goer. Jha though had a strong subject in hand, could not present it in the right manner. The film was expected to bring about a revolution of a kind that will be a ray of light in today’s dark era of Aarakshan but does nothing that would be really inspiring.
Performance:
The entire film rests on Amitabh Bachchan’s shoulders as the rest of the actors including Saif Ali Khan and Prateik are totally wasted. Amitabh does total justice to his character; they don’t call him superstar just like that. Saif and Deepika too have done their job well. Though Saif had nothing much to do, Deepika impresses. Pratiek seems to struggle with the shhuddh Hindi dialogues and overacts at places. Manoj Bajpai is excellent in a negative shade while Tanvi Azmi is a treat to watch.
Technicalities:
The cinematography was average, editing could have been crispier. The film was jumping from one scene to another and there was no much connect. Strangely enough Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music too was not flattering. The use of poet-saint Narsinh Mehta’s instrumental ‘Vaishnav Jan To’ was an intelligent thing to do as the background score and so it scores full marks. The language used is very strong Hindi which may not be understood by many, however, the powerful dialogues are the saving grace of the film.
Plus Points:
- Performances
- Background Score
- Strong subject
- Dialogues
Minus Points:
- Weak Script
- Cinematography
- Confusing
Final Word: Once watch
Comments[ 0 ]
Post a Comment