ganeshran Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 Watched the movie ERECTION Aarakshan yesterday. Though a gripping and a well directed and scripted movie, I was left with mixed feelings. The first 15-20 minutes are wonderful and the movie looks to take the question of reservation head on. The confrontation between Mithilesh, Saif Ali Khan and Sushaal was an awesome scene and his later conversation with AB Sr. was very well scripted and showed the indecision in AB's mind on the concept of reservation. Without taking any stand, the movie attempted to show both the advantage and disadvantages of caste based reservation. It was then that the movie disappointed with the introduction of a caricaturish villain and the storyline digresses to show the commercialization of education and the personal struggles of AB sr. rather than the issue of reservation itself. Would have loved it if the movie had stuck to the core concept of reservation with two protagonists being Saif and Sushaal opposing each other. Maybe Prakash Jha didnt go down that route because of the sensitivity of the issue and the chance of being banned in many states
Rajiv Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 I didnt know so many ppl were dying to study and take coaching classes so serously that they will goto a tabela and protest in numbers to save it
akshayxyz Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 I didnt know so many ppl were dying to study and take coaching classes so serously that they will goto a tabela and protest in numbers to save it +1, A vast majority of them are pushed by their parents or simply peer pressure, or a mechanism to spend time away from home.
Temujin Khaghan Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 the movie is less about reservations and more about private tuitions. also all the people who are against reservations have either teenage issues mostly evil or confused.
ganeshran Posted August 16, 2011 Author Posted August 16, 2011 the movie is less about reservations and more about private tuitions. also all the people who are against reservations have either teenage issues mostly evil or confused. That is my biggest grouse with the movie. In what could have been a serious debate about a contentious issue, the movie chose to take an easier route out
akshayxyz Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 the movie is less about reservations and more about private tuitions. also all the people who are against reservations have either teenage issues mostly evil or confused. Elaborate the blanket bombing please.
Temujin Khaghan Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 Elaborate the blanket bombing please. if the filmmaker was really gutsy, he would have had rational characters on both sides and take it from there. because a topic like reservations is highly debatable and has good points for and against. if i make a movie on capitalism vs communism.. then i would have characters who are both good and bad on both sides and take it from there. there would be free market theory, liberty and others for capitalism and nepotism, misuse of power - which are points against capitalism... same for communism. now if i want to make a movie by taking a side then i would do what michael moore does in his films - i would inform the audience which side iam on in the trailers itself. what i wont do is pit characters "for reservation" like amitabh bachchan - an unbelievably uprighteous fantasy character... very much like the character he played in rann. a guy with high moral values and integrity saif ali khan - he argues for the poor people... beat that... can he be wrong? deepika padukone - doesnt have an opinion of her own except that her father's morals are making her uncomfortable with her friends in school against characters who are "against reservation" manoj bajpai - he is very bad caricature as a villain. he actually tries to talk in a very creepy tone because he feels we are not intelligent enough to understand that he is evil. btw he is evil because he wants to make money. he does that by not coming to school - EVIL. he makes use of a loophole in the law to convert amitabh's house into a tuition center - PURE EVIL. he joins hands with a minister to start a tuition center chain across the country to make more money... not smuggling, not kidnapping or assassinations or extortion, not drug dealing, not arms manufacturing, but TUITIONS - so GENIUS LEVEL EVIL pratiek babbar - everytime this kid is arguing with amitabh, saif against reservation his face contorts, he refuses to look at them in the eye and he keeps yelling... in short he displays all the symptoms that he is a confused individual who needs help. other villains - all bad people who are against reservation there is a brahmin kid who gets the cutoff but doesnt make it in the list due to reservation. but since his father is a sweeper in the college and cannot afford fees in the lower raking colleges, amitji first recommends for a scholarship and later even pays the fees. what about all the other poor higher caste kids who are forced to make way for lower cast kids who had the same facilities as them... ========================= i had expectations based on the trailer that this movie will address the issue from all angles... but that was not the case.. there were unbelievable strong characterizations on one side against "BAD PEOPLE" on the other side of the argument. why cant there be naseerudin shah - brahmin teacher... very poor man... teaches tuitions to only students who are in the forward caste (not under any reservation) but who are poor and cannot afford for fees sharman joshi - forward caste student writing entrance exam for a third time... because in a sane world he did make the cutoff... but in indian quota system he did not some arbit moron - a car driver to an IPS officer whose rich son makes it into service like his father because of his rich dad and also the quota aegis... unlike his own son who is forward caste but has no proper facilities. now let there be a full head on clash between these characters in the movie i want to see how amitabh's and saif's charaters hold the fort against some sane people. i am not saying they will lose... but now - this would be a movie to watch - a fair fight.
bihutoli Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 Good post! Interestingly I would think a Michael Moore type of documentary would really serve as a good movie on reservations, rather than a fantasy based concoction. Irrespective of whether the director is pro reservation or anti. But a fact based analysis with real live examples (of which there are plenty on both sides of the equation). That I would pay to see. This movie I would give a miss.
Jadoo Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 Looking forward to this movie, watching it this Friday. There's only a handful of directors whose movies are worth watching, and Jha is one of them.
akshayxyz Posted August 16, 2011 Posted August 16, 2011 @Temujin - I thought you were passing general comment on people in real world who are against reservation (or even certain aspects of it). I have not seen the movie, nor am I planning to in near future. As more of than not, bollywood movies do not do justice to social/real-life issues. So I have no comments on the movie. Thanks for the detailed critique of the movie though.
pinkfreud Posted August 17, 2011 Posted August 17, 2011 Watched the film over the weekend too. A good movie in its own right, actually I don't know why so many critics were lambasting the way it was made and its length. Nevertheless, I too walked out of the theatre feeling 'cheated', because I was expecting a film on reservation instead of a flick on the private tuition mafia. Jha is a crafty SOB. By naming the film 'Aarakshan' and marketing it as such, he's made sure it's got enough buzz, attracted enough controversy, and that it's garnered enough curiosity amongst the moviegoers who'd be dying to know what it's all about. The title itself is so misleading, because the reservation deal only constitutes a few minutes of the 1st half. The rest is all about a whole other 'issue' altogether. We'll hopefully get to see a full-fledged film on reservation in the near future. I went to see Aarakshan with a lot of expectations and came out feeling let down, save for Amitabh's fab acting and the way the rest of the film addressed the private coaching 'scam', which is another very important topic of debate.
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