Aarakshan

About the film

Aarakshan (transl. 'Reservation') is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language political drama film directed by Prakash Jha. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Deepika Padukone, and Prateik Babbar. It is based on the policy of caste based reservations in Indian government jobs and educational institutions. The film was released on 12 August 2011 and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

In 2008, Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan ), an MSc topper, is at an interview for the teacher's post at an affluent school. The interviewers turn him down when they discover his low-caste roots. Deepak relates the incident to his mentor, Dr. Prabhakar Anand. Dr. Anand, the legendary principal of renowned STM college, where Deepak studied, offers Deepak an interim job as a teacher at STM. Deepak is comforted by his friend, Sushant, an upper-caste boy, and his girlfriend, Poorvi (Deepika Padukone), who is Dr. Anand's daughter.

The state minister, Baburam, wishes to enroll his no-good nephew at STM. Dr. Anand, however, turns him down. The minister decides to install his own man, Dr. Mithilesh Singh, on the STM college board. Cunning and greedy, Mithilesh seeks only to enrich himself. The minister's ambition is to build a multi-billion-dollar educational conglomerate and plans to use Mithilesh's outside business—a coaching class—for it.

The Supreme Court grants reservations for other backward classes. A large crowd of STM students, boisterously celebrating the ruling, arrive at the gates of STM and create a ruckus. Sushant gathers a group of upper-caste boys and tries to drive off the revellers. Dr. Anand hauls Deepak and Sushant but is shocked to find that Deepak has turned on him. Poorvi later confronts Deepak and asks him to apologise to her father, but he refuses, leading to their breakup.

Production

Shooting began on 15 January 2011. Director Prakash Jha finished casting but the male lead was not finalised. Ajay Devgan was first considered for the role, however Ajay had many other projects in hand, including Golmaal 3 and Singham. So Jha decided to cast Saif Ali Khan. Khan found it very hard to juggle between two films at once because he had to learn Sanskrit for his role in the film. Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan learnt teaching skills in mathematics from Bihar's Super 30 founder Anand Kumar. Most of the film's shooting took place in Minal Residency, Oriental College, Upper Lake in Bhopal. The shooting finished in early March 2011.

Reception

Aarakshan mostly garnered mixed to positive reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated it with 4 stars and said – "On the whole, Aarakshan communicates an engaging story with very relatable characters. It's a movie that is truly inspiring and thought-provoking, but at the same time, its running time [almost 2.45 hours] is a deterrent.(...) Aarakshan not only works as a film, but also as a tool to drive home a forceful message. It's a daring, heroic, commanding and an engaging film that shouldn't be missed!". He also praised the performance of the leads. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave it 3 stars and said – "Sad. Because as a film on the issue of reservation, Aarakshan was rocking till the first half. But as an omnibus on the travails of India's education system, it flounders into no-man's land. Watch it for the intermittent high drama and the gritty performances, scattered as they are." Shivesh Kumar of IndiaWeekly awarded the movie 3 out of 5 stars. Dainik Bhaskar awarded three stars in their review and wrote – "Watch it for the conflicts between the characters and an outstanding performance by Amitabh Bachchan. On the flipside, if you expect drama and finesse that you witnessed in Prakash Jha's last release 'Rajneeti', you will be disappointed." Vandana Krishnan from Behindwoods rated it 1.5/5 and said that the film represents "Great bottle bad wine" further cit…

Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and said: "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 nation’s 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 dramatisation of the conflict over the quota raj that divides India down the middle tends to border on the excessively shrill, if not completely shallow." Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Leela Samson said that Aarakshan was a good film about education but "unfortunately hit troubled political situations". The controversial film has received a compliment from unlikely quarters in Chhattisgarh with the state Scheduled Tribes Commission seeking a tax-free status for the Amitabh Bachchan starrer.

Sukanya Venkatraghavan of Filmfare gave it 2 stars out of 5, stating "The problem with Aarakshan is its meandering graph. It starts off solidly enough, keeping up a pace that will engross you until interval time except for two totally unnecessary songs. From there on, the film sheds its theme of ideals and becomes a one on one contest that, to put it really tritely, is a tug of war between two coaching classes. The dialogue is strong and opinionated and actors like Saif Ali Khan and Manoj Bajpai do everything to get you to like the film (...)Aarakshan has all the right intentions but it is a tad confusing in its stance. Of course ultimately it shows the triumph of selfless dedication to the cause of education and there is no faulting that. One does walk away with some reservations though." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a deathly boring slog" and adding: "With so much to say, the movie drags on endlessly, with over-written scenes, over-the-top emotions and dialogues that are so heavy, they end up being inaccessible. Of the performances, every actor seems to go through the motions and only Manoj Bajpai inserts some spark onto the screen. 'Aarakshan' is well-intentioned, but you can't shake off the feeling that you're trapped by a three-hour-long tirade. I'm going with a generous two out of five for Prakash Jha's 'Aarakshan'. If you don't want to b…

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