Brilliant and touching

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

movie lost track in the 2nd half. it was a movie about aarakshan which was truly portrayed in the initial part of the movie but lost its track in the 2nd part. Aarakshan follows the same rules of the games, where the filmmaker attempts to take an incisive look at India's policy of reservation and its impact on the Indian education system. At least that's the issue he begins with and focuses on in the first half of the film.As long as the film concentrates on the key concern, it is full of high drama, with powerful encounters between the prime players.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

This is precisely the kind of movie that should come out of the part of Bollywood that thrives on making real movies. Movies that don't have massive explosions or heroes beating up thousands of villains or dancing with 50 people on the beaches of Sydney or in night clubs. In the hands of a director with good vision this could have become one of the top movies of the year. But instead with some bollywood clichés and melodrama the movie sinks into mediocrity, but with one saving grace.This is an actor's movie, a thespian's movie so the casting of Amitabh and Manoj was a clever move. Amitabh can be forgiven for starring in rubbish like Buddha Hogaya Tera Baap or some stupid movie where he's dancing with and romancing girls less than a third of his age. His performance as a teacher is highly credible and his purity is equally matched by Manoj's sleaziness. It would be hard to find anyone better than these two men when it comes to proper acting. Nasserudin Shah, Om Puri and Nana Patekar are the only others I can think of.Saif Ali Khan gives a subdued performance but it's not bad. Sadly he doesn't look very convincing as a Dalit and no amount of makeover can take off the bollywood glamour shine that always surrounds him. He was miscast here. Deepika was decent. There's another poster who was complaining about her Hindi or her acting skills but I find that she's one of the rare few young women out there who can act and she's getting better each time.While the upside was the casting of Amitabh and Manoj the downside was the script and character development. The topic of "untouchables" and rights is a serious issue and it deserved to be treated with respect and given the center of attention, something Prakash Jha failed to do. Instead the focus goes on Amitabh's woes and troubles and his enmity with an increasingly sleazy Manoj which took it away from the main issue. Even the underlying sub theme of ministers abusing the value of education for their profit was briefly touched upon and then forgotten so that we, the audience, could anguish over where Amitabh was going to live. The hordes of students that he suddenly starts teaching nonstop becomes a silly competition between him and Manoj's venture, a typically stupid Bollywood melodramatic move. The ending is a huge let down, contrived to give it a feel good moment. Yet, the main issue is never once broached nor resolved.Despite my negativity I'd still recommend the movie for several reasons: Amitabh and Manoj's acting, and the lack of numerous typically cheesy song and dance numbers. I sincerely hope that another, more focused director tackles this sensitive issue and gives it more consideration with a more driven story and scope. Look at Black Friday. That was a brilliant movie with little commercial success but that wasn't the aim of the director of that gem. He stuck to the main issue and there's no reason why another director can't do the same with this topic.

I have a confession to make (actually two!): I am not much of a Bollywood fan but do selectively watch Hindi movies and this one delivered a great storyline. I can safely say I'd only watch a movie with Aamir Khan as actor/director and anything Mr. Jha turns out! Secondly, this is my first review and I felt like writing one as, sadly, the theater was kinda empty. And I hope that ALL of Mr. Jha's movies do well.The movie beautifully integrates the stand of a man of principles, the reservation issue, the thirst for education among the masses across all sections of society and the mess that our education system in India is! Well thought out in terms of the chessboard like moves that the "baddies" would make and the ultimate requirement of galvanizing the public so that the protagonist would have to achieve a breakthrough.Please do find a way to watch this movie despite the ban. Thankfully it wasn't banned in Goa - just got back from watching it! I've seen reviews claiming the run-time of 2:45 mins is a deterrent, but it doesn't slow down anywhere and run off-course so it was fine by me.

When i went for this movie, i had zero expectations. But i was blown away by the movie. The movie starts with building each character slowly and then the story premise. With time, the movie's momentum builds further and at interval, you have a real cracker of a movie on. Post interval, the movie proceeds on the momentum built before interval giving lots of twists in the story. The Climax is a masterstroke and the movie finally ends on high note. Of all the performance, Amitabh steam rolls and holds the movie completely like a rock. Can't imagine anyone could have done justice to this role. Saif and Deepika also excel in their respective roles. The director's screenplay is another thing that impressed me. He does not over dramatize any scenes but stills keeps the impact strong. I do have to agree with others who say that this movie is less about reservation and more about the commercialization of education in India, but the director beautifully conveys how the reservation(or aarakshan) is resulting in commercialization of education. People who say the trailer of the movie conveys different thing about the movie, they should go and see the trailer correctly once more. The trailer tells exactly the correct preview of the movie, which includes the commercialization of education. This movie tells a story where it tells one the bad result of reservation. Go and see the movie, i can tell you wont be disappointed. Its a gripping story.