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Aarakshan - Preview
Aarakshan
I heard of Aarakshan very recently. It's very difficult not to get me excited about a political drama. And with a title like Aarakshan, a topic so close to home, I instantly began looking forward to the film.
The next thing I found out was the interesting mix in the cast I imagined a strong and determined
Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan fighting it out against a nasty Manoj Pajpai with a Deepika Padukone thrown in to normalize the gender equation. But the trailer is a pleasant surprise -
On a topic like 'reservations' in the education system, you have Saif Ali Khan playing on a side against Amtiabh Bachchan. Or at least that's what it looks like. The Deepika Padukone angle of course, is a little too Mohabbatein-esque with Amitabh Bachchan playing her dad and the principal of the school/college in which her love interest, Saif Ali Khan is creating trouble. I sure hope she has a meatier character that'll have something more to do than being sandwiched between the men of her life.
In the past few years, we have had a range of films that are trying to point out the common man's frustration with the education system. "Reservations based on caste" is easily the topic that has caused most grief - on both sides. Imagine the frustration of the person who has worked so hard to get that 93% find himself beside a person who has scored 39%. And this in a world where the limited seats are further reduced because of the 39%. I'd imagine the other side of the argument is that it is now time to correct all the injustice that the reserved castes have suffered for centuries. A debate that Aarakshan seems to be trying to do justice to.
What about illegally obtained "caste certificates" then? The topic would be reduced to mere babble if this issue is not addressed, which makes the topic even more difficult to handle within the confines of a 2.5-to-3-hour film. And yet Prakash Jha has tried. And it looks like he has tried to make a balanced argument.
He has an awesome cast to support him. They are stars but not treated as such. Look at Amitabh Bachcan's character being yelled at by all and sundry, not to mention he is called a "zero"!
Yes, it is obvious that I'm waiting for August 12th when Aarakshan will present both sides of a debate in which I know what side I'm on. Hope it doesn't get too filmy on me. I don't think a movie like this warrants songs, but here they are, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy-
milliblog - "Short and lively soundtrack from the dependable trio."
music aloud - "6.5/10"
Bollyspice - "3/5"
Hindustan Times - "The only worthwhile listens are Kaun Si Dor... and Saans Albeli.... The others will disappear from your memory as easily as they entered it."
Bollywood Hungama - "2/5"
HappySing - "Prakash Jha, who got four different composers to create four songs in Raajneeti has once again got it right, in fact better this time."
Planet Radiocity - "2/5"
Aarakshan - Movie Details
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- Producer: Firoz Nadiadwala
- Director: Prakash Jha
- Lead Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Manoj Bajpai, Prateik Babbar
- Supporting Cast: Shabana Azmi, Tanvi Azmi, Hema Malini, Chetan Pandit, Mukesh Tiwari, Yashpal Sharma, Darshan Jariwala, Saurabh Shukhla, Vinay Apte, Anita Kanwar, S M Zaheer, Aanchal Munjal
- Story: Anjum Rajbali, Prakash Jha
- Screenplay: Prakash Jha, Anjum Rajbali
- Cinematography: Sachin Krishn
- Editor: Santosh Mandal
- Background Score: Wayne Sharpe
- Action Choreography: Prem Sharma
- Choreography: Jayesh Pradhan
- Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca
- Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi
- Costume Designer: Priyanka Mundada
- Art Direction: Jayant Deshmukh
- Facebook Page: Link
- Running time: 165 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Politics, Social
Aarakshan - Trailer
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Aarakshan - All reviews summary
External Reviews
48 reviewers have given Aarakshan an average rating of 2.0/5.0. 8 yays, 18 nays, 22 so-so. See all external reviews »Twitter Reviews
On twitter, 167 twitterers have given Aarakshan an average rating of 2.9/5.0. 85 yays, 60 nays, 22 so-so. See all tweets »
Comments (34)
Promos are looking good. Can turn out to be an engaging political drama. Barring deepika, star cast looks good. Iam looking forward to how it is received in UP, the land of Behenji. Instead of Aarakhshan I am having more expectations from Mausam. It is looking like an honest movie by the get-up of the cast. And there's Pankaj Kapur as the director.
@Kapil oh yeah! Mausam is certainly something i'm looking forward to. Have always enjoyed Pankaj Kapur's work. Fingers crossed.
Btw, I read somewhere that Prakash Jha refused to have a special screening of Aarakshan for politicians. Made me smile!
Waiting to watch Aarakshan. Good concept. I love the trailer. Thanks for the details of the movie.
Why Deepika Padukone??? Haven't we had enough of her already???
@moviebhakt apparently not!
Really looking forward to this movie.
Hi all, i wabt to know your view on this topic that Why Political gimmick happening around the movie 'Aarakshan' - Is it justified in democracy? Pls share your view on this topic on this link- http://sawaal.ibibo.com/movies/political-gimmick-happening-around-movie-aarakshan-justified-democracy-1690658.html
Taran Adarsh's review of Aarakshan - http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/14307/index.html
"I was looking forward to a deeper understanding of the issue, I got songs."
Understanding won't help any (let alone the harm this kind of movies do in its to succeed via publicity); songs might. And I was kinda surprised when I visited this site a few days back and found out that you're looking forward to it.
"I was told an amazing cast will put up the two sides of the issue out on the big screen, they just came in and went out (just like the issues) with no flow and justifications."
Now, do you believe everything you're told? Besides, in this case, we even had the example of Rajneeti (which also boasted of a powerful cast and...) as an alarming alert in front of us, didn't we?
"I was promised a film that will shake up the sleeping common man into action, but I got a solution that was no better than what the villains of the film were upto."
Hope you're awake now and having a good time. But still keep dreaming. That's honestly better than having nightmares.
This time your conclusion remark went straight above your review, i guess the movie really tested your patience to a such extent that your still having the hangover on our shoulders. As usual your review is very subjective and clear Meetu . I think the caste conscious will really be agitated now as the makers used their social prejudice to gain publicity to such a meaningless film .
@Rahul Now, what can I say? :)
@lost_in_confusion I want to like every movie I watch. What to do?
@guddu "went straight above your review" meaning?
@meetu: yeah, I can understand it from the viewpoint of a professional movie reviewer. Some movies make me wonder how you people can sit throughout its runtime. BTW, what's the reason of skipping 404? Any special reason besides it being not your cup of tea which, I take for granted, must hold true for lots of movies you *need* to watch?
meetu - I haven't seen this movie, and given this review and the responses I'm not likely to. It sounds like it's bent over so far backwards to be "fair" that it ends up refusing to take a side.
A pity, because I like the star cast a great deal - maybe that's the problem? Any movie that stars Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone is going to be an expensive undertaking, so if it's too controversial it'll get banned and the producers won't make its money back - oh wait, that happened anyway, didn't it?
It would have been better if the film could have been produced inexpensively, and taken a definitive stance on privatized education or how class/caste relates to students' chances to go to college and get ahead in the world, rather than what sounds like "false equivalance" that ends up saying nothing more than "ain't that a shame?". If Messrs. Bachchan and S.A. Khan and Ms. Padukone wanted to lend it their support, they could have volunteered their time to do cameos and help in the publicity.
Off-Topic Question: How do you properly address the Crown Prince of two satrapies when he's in his "Movie Star" mode? I find myself as confuzzled as when I'm talking about Jamie Lee Curtis - is it "Ms. Curtis", "Mrs. Guest", or "The Baroness Haden-Guest"?
@lost_in_confusion Why not my cup of tea? I wanted to watch it, but I believe there were 4 releases that week and I had gotten my wisdom tooth extracted, so was in - let's just call it - PAIN. I do intend to review it when it comes on TV.
@TimELiebe Actually, it isn't about taking a side, the only bit in the film I liked was the part where the two sides were making their points.
About addressing stars...ha ha ha ha! I had this huge problem when I started reviewing. How can i just call Amitabh Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan...if nothing else, at least add a "ji", i thought. But, now I'm just used to it, I guess. They are human beings, no? :P
Sigh ... one more movie that I won't have to bother about hunting on the torrents. And before I get chastised, no Bollywood movie releases where I live. :)
meetu - my brother sent around a link to a HUFFINGTON POST article about the controversy surrounding this movie. He is of the impression that the film is calling for the eradication of "education quotas" - which he's in favor of, since it's sort of like Affirmative Action over here in the US and he thinks anybody not White and Male are stealing his fellow White Men's jobs! (::sigh:: I'm sure every family has members a lot like him. Certainly most American families do - if it's not the majority of the family!)
Is Amibabh Bachchan's teacher fighting to aid upper-caste students over "quotas" like my brother thinks, or is he fighting that it doesn't give enough educationally-worthy lower-caste students a break...?
Rahul - join the club. In our city, with a large enough Central Asian population to support three Indian groceries that I know of to shop at (I'm trying to teach myself to cook some of the more popular Indian dishes over here from scratch), there's one theatre that plays Bollywood movies - one showing on Sunday afternoon every couple of months.
Do you have access to Netflix where you live? That's where we rent most of our Bollywood movies (they have a large selection). That way, at least you know you're not picking up some nasty malware hitchhikers along w/the movie you're torrenting....
Sorry - that link is .
::groan:: Once more (and meetu - feel free to delete that last post):
The link is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/12/aarakshan-bollywood-film_n_925166.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl3%7Csec3_lnk2%7C85989 .
dear all. pl may like to know that among many supporting actors from bhopal i have also acted in the Aarakshan( 2nd inerviewer in first scene) so for me even with many flaws movies gave me some space to stand on. thanx jha sahab.
same is the feeling of my wife Jyoti who had played a small roole of principal opf muniya.
I think that Reservation is still not the right way to help the so called backward castes because having different cutoffs for a particular community is still unfair.For eg
The cut off for the top engeniering college in mumbai-95/200 in cet(FOR RESERVED) 150/200(GENERAL).Also some friends of mine also gloated in front of me last year in ssc that we dont have to study because we have reservation and all that and their familiees are well to do since they can attend expensive coaching clases so why have reservation for them?
AS far the commercialisation of education is concerned I would like to quote vinod sharma from times now debate "Why there is team anna?Because the government is not doing their job properly" Similarly i want to say "Why we have coaching classes ?Because schools are not doing their job properly" just like to make one point as a SSC student who has just passed last year that whatever marks I got was because of the coaching classes ,even if they did it for money they still the efforts they took were visibleand appreciable and also we were free to call them on our mobile to clarify our doubts.On t he other hand our school did only around 30 percent of our portion and the rest were left for homework or for self study.
Thanks for listening to my long tirade but I just wanted to tell a few points to everyone.
This is just like one of those mindless shahrukh movies with just one difference that before the release it was portrayed as one of those meaningful movies. I'm sure that I won't be watching any prakash jha movie from now on. In the evening I had watched 'the lives of others ', a German movie, and fell in love with it. But, at night, because of friends, I had to go and waste my money on this nonsense. Fitst half was so ridiculous that I could keep myself from taking a good nap. But, kept myself awake after that just to see how bad it can get and to write a comment here.
@meetu, just like I also found it somewhat engaging just after half time, but then again it fell through pretty quickly. Story was so much like 80's and direction was just pathetic. Those people who put so much effort in banning this movie must be scratching their heads now. I really feel sorry for them ;) . It proves further that those people are really headless chickens :) . Should have totally gone for 'I am kalam', but you know you can't brainwash 5 people in half an hour ;) I am not that much expert.
Now looking forward to 'mausam ' and 'not a love story ' has also got some potential. After all, I am a ramu fan.
I was talking about the conclusion remark that critics usually add after completng their reviews just as a tagline . This time I felt you wrote it above your review"
The huh!? expression I've carried ever since the film ended is now expanded into a full question - If just the title of a film can cause an outrage big enough for the film to be banned in some areas of the country, what will happen if the film actually ends up being about the issue it is named after? We'll have to wait for another film to find out.
Unless, of cours". I think this should have been written at the end , it went sort of displaced.
Being a commercial film, it obviously cannot end up pissing off either the pro reservation or anti reservation camp. This country is filled with them. So I do not know why the reviewer is lamenting the lameness of the film. Did you really think that the film would address such a controversial topic honestly and in a straightforward way and that too with so much money spent on it? And that is why the director and the screenwriter neatly steered the story into another direction, a direction which has raked in a lot of money recently, think Three Idiots! Commercialisation of Education, vs Idealistic education, is a sure fire feel good topic, and one that will not ruffle any feathers. Given that pragmatism, I thought the movie was pretty decent, with a few scenes namely that of Amitabh and daughter and mother in the hotel being well written and well acted. The feel good factor would obviously be there, and all things would end well, it cannot be anything else in the commercial world. Do you really think that the audience in a multiplex is interested in a serious, controversial, and heavy weight film and that too with big stars? Really funny, must say for thinking such thoughts. Barring the first forty minutes or so, the film is pretty engaging using the very old familiar element of commercial cinema, the heroic idealist pitted against a villainous schemer. This film will definitely do well at the box office and that is what I am sure works.
guddu - apparently the controversy is over characters using racially-loaded terms. My friends in The All-American Bollywood Movie Night group were sending links around to each other about it, since it (amazingly!) got noticed by the Western media:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/08/11/idINIndia-58741320110811
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14501491
@Aarak - given the way the stars and director are carrying on, you'd think they believed this would be the first movie to win the Nobel Prize! Even subtracting 95% of that for film industry BS (and yeah, that's as trans-national as Coca-Cola or anime), it's clear Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Prakash Jha thought they had done something more significant than a mildly-political melodrama about a fairly non-controversial topic.
@Tim, well, what can one say, all "artists" suffer from an inflated sense of their own worth and work, but well that is true for most of us too!Prakash Jha's earlier films, before he went commercial were quite hardhitting; you should see Damul made sometime in the 80's. Even Ganga Jal was pretty good; with Ajay Devgan as the cop (he too was a star) in the heartlands of Bihar. So maybe what is really important is the fact, that what is now acceptable in commercial cinema, is what would be pretty tame and non offensive. The space that commercial cinema offered in the 80's or even till the late 90's for making a certain type of hardhitting film seems to have vanished, possibly coinciding with the birth of the multiplex! Now it is all candy and cream, and rich dudes trying to come of age in Spain or other cool locations!
Tim i wasn't talking about racially overloaded terms controversy which made your western friends so exciting . The movie is more of an institutional racism but it never showcased the plight of SC/ST people in modern India for which the movie went banned in most of the states. I feel pity for those Politicians who became the victim of this kind of shameless marketing strategy .
Totally agree with the review meetu.
The movie needed some crisp editing - the songs were unnecessary, keeps popping out from nowhere and they are not even hummable.
The issue being debatable, there is no need for the director to take a stand - but we do expect it to be portrayed properly. Except for that one scene of debate between saif and prateek the whole reservation issue is swept under the carpet. It is as if Jha has bitten off too much than he can chew.. A confused director, archaic scenes ( I cringed through that interview scene) cliched climax over-the-board portrayals ( saif, bajpaye ; and I dont mean overacting but the character sketch)... sufficient stuff to bring down the movie. If u do sit through it, it is due to a decent first half and an earnest amitabh who manages to deliver despite everything.
Being a teacher, I couldnt overlook some aspects. If at all Jha wanted to show commercialisation of education - just berating coaching classes wont do. Wherever there is demand and supply the market will exist! What is needed is to stop unfair trade practices in education - could have shown paper leakages through coaching classes for instance. Manoj bajpayes character shapes up initially in the right manner but does an overdive in the end. Although you get to see unscrupulous people heading institutions, a subtle approach would have been more realistic.
Finally, if everyone starts teaching for free, how do they earn their bread???
Teachers too need to earn a living - but should not be acc to the maxim 'any which way you can'!!
@Rema-Yes I completely agree with you on teachers having to earn bread for themselves and as far I know I have attended coaching classes last year but the classes never gave me "leaked" papers so that was an unfair allegations.
Also if you are school teacher let me just inform you why students attend coaching classes because the teaching in schools sucks.
@Shashank, yes, I agree completely the teachers suck and that is not at only the school level but at all levels. I can hardly remember two teachers whom I respected throughout my entire educational experience!
@Rema, and what is realism? Is it like real life? Jha is telling a story, and obviously he is not making a documentary and even documentaries are not "realistic"18. In a story you need to have strong emotional twists and turns, people watch films so that the "story" moves them. In this case, it may not have "moved" you, but it may have other people. Ditto with the songs.
@TimeLiebe Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan) is saying everyone is entitled to "proper" education - not the education that lets you score well but leaves you clueless about the concepts.
The rich can get it with facilities, the poor should have an avenue where they can educated themselves from within their means. And in that, the teachers should recognize they are in a noble profession and shouldn't make a business out of education.
(the link is still not working)
@vivek that's awesome!!
@Shashank I totally sympathize with your situation. What the movie was against and is true in real life too is - that the teachers manipulate in such a manner that children have to go to coaching classes. Either they are school teachers and don't teach "properly" in schools or they teach only in coaching classes because that is more lucrative.
@kapil ow! that's too bad that you had to watch the movie forcibly. Also I'm willing to bet the people who banned this movie haven't watched it at all!
@guddu wow! you will not believe how much time I spent in considering whether that should be the first para or the last!!
@Aarak oh well, one can hope, no? but i disagree with the bit about multiplex cinema vs hardhitting films. I dont;t hink the multiplex audience is averse to films that make a point. I think the makesrs just got this one all wrong.
@Rema like! And agree.
Aarakshan is a fabulous movie.this movie show the importance of reservation .we will request each and every body to see the movie in watch-hindi-movies
Aarakshan is a fabulous movie.this movie show the importance of reservation .we will request each and every body to see the movie in watch-hindi-movies
@shashank and @ Aarak- leaked papers linked to coaching classes is not an unfair allegation - just google, u will come to know - the latest being AIEEE exam papers this year.
Yes, I am a teacher - earlier in Jr college and now for XI XII in schools - it is sad that neither of u had experienced good teaching; a warm and fruitful student-teacher interaction is a lifetime experience! I have had such - as a student as well as a teacher. Not all teachers/ teaching sucks...Just as not all coaching classes are bad...everywhere we have the good, the bad and the ugly.
And Aarak, 'strong emotional twist' doesnt have to be in the form of a principal who acts as if he has lost his marbles that too in full view of the public and media!!!
HAPPY TEACHERS DAY!!!!
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