Directed by Prakash Jha. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Deepika Padukone, Prateik Babbar

BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

Aarakshan (Reservation) has pronounced reservations about revealing its stand on the matter. The name Prakash Jha is synonymous with issue based movies. That he blends it well with expected masala to spice up his narrative only makes his cinema that much more flavorful. Hard-hitting Apharan, Gangajal, Mrutyudand, or Damul, some of his glowing contributions stand testament to his skillful approach to movie making. Aarakshan too, addresses the issue of reservation in the Indian education system and its consequences on society in general, education in particular. Only this time, the filmmaker strays slightly from the issue the title bears, especially in the latter half.

The Supreme Court's verdict on the Mandal Commission's recommendations of upholding 27 per cent reservation for OBCs (Other backward Classes) threaten to change the landscape of an otherwise peaceful campus of Bhopal's Shakuntala Thakral Mahavidyalaya. The protagonist, aging Principal Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan) finds himself playing peacemaker between two of his favorite students Sushant Seth (Prateik Babbar) and Deepak Kumar(Saif Ali Khan) who now are on the opposite sides of the table. Sushant, an upper class student is mortified to find out he has been denied admission at the college of his choice due to reservation. He confronts Prabhakar about being pro reservation and Deepak, a lower class dalit has had a rough life studying in a slum while his mother ironed clothes for a living, accuses Prabhakar of being in favor of the upper class elite. There is also Poorbi (Deepika Padukone), Prabhakar’s doting daughter who takes on her boyfriend Deepak for refusing to apologize to her dad. Even as Prabhakar tries to calm his warring students and daughter, politics take over the college in the form of Mithilesh Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) complicating matters further. The second half has Prabhakar Anand kicked out of the college and his own home, tutoring students in a tabela (cow shed) with his reconciled students and daughter. 

Jha clearly draws lines between the Good and Evil teacher. That not being sufficient, the Evil teacher Manoj Bajpayee is shown to hold an unprecedented grudge against the good teacher Amitabh Bachchan. While it is understandable that he would try to do everything in his power to win, why the evil teacher goes after the good teacher so personally, so far as to kick the good teacher out of his own home is never clear. Be that as it may, the stand about reservation is never spelled out. In one scene Saif questions Amitabh about his take on reservations and Amitabh says he does not need not comment and that seems to be the leitmotif message throughout the movie. What also takes away an otherwise gripping movie is that the latter half deals more with Amitabh’s personal crusade against Bajpayee. So the issue at hand, Aarakshan, loses focus and the protagonist becomes the center of attention. 

Now, no one can deny that Amitabh is in top form delivering his dialogues with grace and passion and takes home the trophy for his performance. It is hard to imagine the suave nawab, Saif as the lower caste representative, but he pulls it off without a hitch, just as he would a successful New York investment banker. He matches Amitabh’s perfection in dialogue delivery and body language. He is just as powerful. Not to be left behind, Deepika too is gracious and gorgeous delivering quite a confident portrayal of Poorbi. Prateik is his natural self. While Manoj plays his part well, the character he plays is required to emote excessively, which acts as a deterrent. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is weaved into the storyline. Sachin Krishna's cinematography works well. 

There are some glaring oversights on the director’s part with unclear motivations and simplistic, almost hurried solutions to rather deep rooted problems and some over driven character sketches. However Jha must be commended for picking a taboo subject matter. No matter how it was dealt with, Education continues to be a prominent part of Indian identity. Institutions commercializing education with the only aim of making a buck are on the rise and that too is not something that can be ignored. While it may be hard to find a righteous teacher such as Prabhar Anand, it cannot be denied that there are still teachers with noble intentions who may not be part of mainstream process. They may not be willing or not entertained at institutions where money making is the main agenda. While the movie flounders with its theme, Jha does not let you go without pondering the question - Commercializing institutions will surely hand out graduations and degrees to its students, but will they get an education? Think about it.