This weekend, I watched the Hindi movie Aarakshan. Directed by Prakash Jha it has a constellation of star cast : Amitabh Bacchan, Saif Ali khan, Deepika Padukone, Manoj Bajpai & Pratik Babbar.
Prakash Jha has handled this delicate and controversial subject like a maestro.
He has portrayed through his characters the anger & frustration of people that stand on either sides of the reservation policy.
Manoj Bajpayee and a handful of others brilliantly fit into the league of our present day Indian politicians who's only caste is not high or low but that of an opportunist exploiting the masses for his own selfish gains.
Amitabh Bacchan has given a very strong performance in his portrayal of Professor Prabhakar Anand, the upper caste principal of a private college. He helps the financially weak students including the Dalits by running free coaching classes at his house.
Professors daughter Poorvi played by Deepika Padukone loves his favorite student Deepak Kumar(Saif), who is the son of a low caste widow that earns a living by doing domestic chores for others.
I don't want to reveal the whole plot here. This movie is a must for every Indian who understands the caste system and reservation policies of our government and also for those who dont know much about it.
I like the message given out by Poorvi's mother and Professors wife about the need of an effort from the government to provide good education, schools & good teachers to the children who cannot afford to go to private schools.
A need to provide good foundation and prepare them for the competition of professional education and good jobs.
Thus giving these under privileged children a chance to scale new heights in achieving success, prosperity, respect and improving their status in society.
Denying the meritorious child an admission to a professional career of his choice just because he belongs to the non reserved category is not the solution.
The age old Indian mistake of discriminating people over a caste system was wrong but reservations based on the same are not doing any right either is the message given out by this film.
Prakash Jha's exceptional directorial skills and screenplay have inter woven another plot that highlights the issue of corruption in India. He has intelligently shown how easy it is to defy our legal system and snatch someones home fraudulently.
There is a little bit of bollywood style drama in the movie which can be overlooked.
