The controversial Aarakshan released today and frankly, we didn’t see anything in the movie that would justify a ban. Controversies aside, Aarakshan is directed by Prakash Jha who last directed Rajneethi, a box office blockbuster.

Expectations are high, the star-cast is extremely talented and Jha once again handles a socio-political subject based on the ‘education quota’ introduced by the Government of India. For those who have grown up and done their schooling in India, we have all heard of reservations a.k.a Aarakshan, for the scheduled caste (S.C), scheduled tribes (S.T) and the lower/backward classes.

Aarakshan also talks about the private coaching classes / tuition’s that are booming in every corner of the country, with students forced to take up such after-school classes that charge a hefty fee.

Story: Aarakshan is about Professor Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan). As the principal of a college, he has single-handedly turned it into one of best in the state. Prabhakar has a special soft corner for the lower class and he runs a coaching class for the needy free-of-cost at his residence. Aarakshan is also about Deepak Kumar (played by Saif Ali Khan) a loyal follower of Prabhakar. Deepak is in love with Prabhakar’s daughter Poorbi (Deepika Padukone).

Things take a turn when a Supreme court verdict upheld’s the quota system of the government, that leads to a clash between Prabhakar Anand, Deepak Kumar and the vice-president of the college Mithilesh Singh (Manoj Bajpayee). Prof Anand is humiliated and almost left with nothing. The rest of the film is about his fight against all odds.

Aarakshan Review

Reasons to watch (Positives): Amitabh Bachchan as Professor Prabhakar Anand delivers one of his best performances since his much-appreciated role in Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein. The characters are similar, but here Bachchan’s character doesn’t carry the arrogance or the attitude. Its a simple honest man’s fight against all odds and Bachchan excels in every scene.

Prakash Jha’s direction is good and he handles the subject with maturity without taking sides. Sitting on the fence, he gives the viewer both sides of the story. There are several interesting moments in the first half and the mini-internal conflicts between characters is handled exceptionally well.

Reasons to skip Arakshan (Negatives): The film is just way too long. At around 160 minutes (2:40 hours), Aarakshan feels like a long, tiring watch. What makes the film seem even longer is the repeated scenes and the frequent change-of-mind that almost all characters go through. Better editing would have done wonders to the overall impact.

Performances: As mentioned above, Amitabh Bachchan stands tall here. None of the other actors come close. Deepika Padukone is refreshingly good and she looks beautiful throughout, its the best she has ever looked on screen. Saif Ali Khan does well too, but is clearly out-shined by Bachchan. Manoj Bajpai is good. Prateik Babbar’s performance was disappointing, especially his dialogue-delivery.

Overall, the biggest flaw in Aarakshan is its length. The film goes on for so long, that you eventually stop caring. If you don’t mind watching slow paced 3 hour films, Aarakshan is definitely worth a watch. Especially for Amitabh Bachchan’s performance. He’s brilliant!

Rating: