Aarakshan

Aarakshan
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Prakash Jha
Screenplay by	Anjum Rajabali Prakash Jha
Produced by	Prakash Jha Firoz A. Nadiadwala
Starring	Amitabh Bachchan Saif Ali Khan Manoj Bajpayee Deepika Padukone Prateik Babbar
Cinematography	Sachin Krishn
Edited by	Santosh Mandal
Music by	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Production company	Prakash Jha Productions
Distributed by	Base Industries Groups
Release date	August 12, 2011 (2011-08-12)
Running time	164 minutes
Country	Template:Film India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹42 crore (US$5.0 million)
Box office	₹47.75 crore (US$5.7 million)

Aarakshan (Hindi: आरक्षण, translation: Reservation) is a 2011 Hindi film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. Directed by Prakash Jha, the film is a socio-political drama based on the controversial policy of caste based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. Like the majority of Jha's films, it has a simplistic take on complex social and economic issues. The film also stars Prateik Babbar and Manoj Bajpayee and was released on August 12, 2011.

Plot

The film opens in 2008 with Deepak Kumar at an interview for the post of a teacher at an affluent school. The interviewers quicky turn him down when they discover his lower-class roots. Deepak storms out and relates the incident to his mentor Dr Prabhakar Anand. Dr Anand, the legendary principal of the renowned STM college, consoles Deepak and offers him an interim job as a teacher at STM, until Deepak departs for the US to pursue his PhD. Deepak is comforted by his friend Sushant (an upper-class boy) and his girlfriend Poorbi who happens to be Dr Anand's daughter.

The state minister Baburam wishes to enroll his no-good nephew at STM. While it is common for college principals to oblige powerful ministers, Dr Anand stands by his principles and turns down the minister. The minister finally decides to install his own man, Mithilesh Singh, on the board of STM and gets his nephew admitted. Mithilesh is a cunning and greedy fellow who seeks only to enrich himself (by running a private coaching class, KK Coaching, outside STM). The minister's grander ambition is to build a multi-billion educational conglomerate, and he intends to expand Mithilesh's growing business to support his goal. Mithilesh is too happy to help. Dr Anand uncovers Mithilesh's coaching class business - a conflict with his post at STM - and rebukes him, but Mithilesh has already begun forming a plan to oust Dr Anand.

In April 2008, the Supreme Court grants reservations for Other Backward Classes. A large crowd of STM students, boisterously celebrating the ruling, arrive at the gates of STM and start a ruckus. Sushant gathers a group of upper-caste boys and tries to drive off the revellers. Deepak confronts Sushant. Mithilesh Singh calls the police. Dr Anand is shocked. He sternly reprimands Mithilesh and warns him that the police will never set foot on the STM campus. He hauls Deepak and Sushant and reads them the riot act. Sushant accuses him of favoritism towards Deepak. And Deepak demands to know Dr Anand's position on aarakshan (reservations). Dr Anand is stunned by the fact that his dearest student Deepak has now turned on him! Poorbi later confronts Deepak and orders him to apologize to her father, but Deepak points out that while he owes his life to Dr Anand, he will no longer remain Dr Anand's charity case. Poorbi breaks up with Deepak.

Reservations are a divisive and controversial issue. The backward classes welcome reservations because it provides additional opportunities for education and upliftment. The upper classes are against reservations because they believe in a level-playing field. These arguments are played out between Sushant and Deepak. Deepak points out that the backward classes have, for thousands of years, done only the lowest menial jobs and have never been able to attend (or pay for) the preparatory school work required for admission to institutes like STM. Unless they get a break somewhere, they will never be able to bootstrap their community. The moderate STM administrators are afraid that college-level reservations may create conflicts and divide the students. Dr Anand is personally in favor of uplifting the backward classes; he himself runs pro bono tutorial classes for backward class students at his home; but he is deeply concerned about the controversy stemming from the court ruling. The local politicians exploit the political side that might benefit them.

When asked by a media reporter, Dr Anand shares his personal opinion - that some form of reservation, free of politics and economics, is good for society. The next day's headlines scream that Dr Anand favors reservations. The STM board is outraged; STM, as a private institution, is never associated with government reservation programs. Dr Anand's closest friend on the STM board warns him that Mithilesh will use this to oust him and that he should preemptively retract his statement. Dr Anand decides to stand fast. He resigns from STM. Mithilesh Singh is appointed as the new principal of STM. Mithilesh acts swiftly to take over Dr Anand's private residence. (Dr Anand had co-signed a loan, with the home as collateral, for two needy students who turn out to be Mithilesh's stooges.) The home has become a KK Coaching center and Dr Anand is turned out! He has nowhere to go. He checks into a hotel. Mithilesh gloats over his victory.

Dr Anand resolves to take out Mithilesh with the only weapon left: teaching. He approaches his friend, Shambhu the cowherd, and takes shelter at the tabela (cowshed). He begins teaching small groups of students, mostly needy and backward students from the bastee (nearby neighborhood), at the cowshed. His first success is Muniya, Shambhu's daughter, who comes first at the next board examination. Muniya's principal visits the cowshed, discovers Dr Anand, and offers to send more students to his tabela school. Deepak and Sushant put their differences aside and return to Dr Anand. They join forces and teach at the tabela school. The tabela school students, under the tutelage of Dr Anand and his team, fare much better at the exams than their classmates. The tabela school's reputation grows and it begins to draw away students at Mithilesh's KK Coaching.

Mithilesh Singh responds by obtaining a legal permit (through the state minister Baburam) to demolish the cowshed. Mithilesh arrives at the cowshed with bulldozers and a police posse, and orders Dr Anand to vacate the premises or be run over. Dr Anand stands firm. The situation is diffused by the arrival of Shakuntala Tai, the reclusive magnate who started the STM institutions that bear her name. She calls the chief minister who promptly calls off the bulldozers and averts the destruction of the cowshed.

Mithilesh is dismissed. Dr Anand is installed as the chief trustee of the STM and the lifelong principal of the newly created STM Remedial Center for backward class students. The film ends with Shakuntala Tai inaugurating the STM Remedial Center and entrusting it to Dr Anand.

Cast

• Amitabh Bachchan as Prabhakar Anand
• Saif Ali Khan as Deepak Kumar
• Deepika Padukone as Poorbi Anand
• Manoj Bajpayee as Mithilesh Singh
• Prateik Babbar as Sushant Seth
• Tanvi Azmi as Mrs. Prabhakar Anand
• Hema Malini as Shakuntala Thakral (Tai)-guest appearance
• Mukesh Tiwari as Inspector
• Yashpal Sharma as Shambhu Kaka
• Darshan Jariwala as College Trustee
• Saurabh Shukla as Education Minister
• Chetan Pandit
• Vinay Apte
• Anita Kanwar
• S. M. Zaheer
• Aanchal Munjal
• Rahul Daksh

Production

Shooting began on 15 January 2011. Director Prakash Jha finished casting but the male lead was not finalized. Ajay Devgan was first considered for the role, however Ajay had many other projects in hand, including Golmaal 3 and Singham. So Jha decided to cast Saif Ali Khan. Khan found it very hard to juggle between two films at once because he had to learn Sanskrit for his role in the film. Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan learnt teaching skills in mathematics from Bihar's Super 30 founder Anand Kumar. Most of the film's shooting took place in Minal Residency, Oriental College, Upper Lake in Bhopal. The shooting finished in early March 2011. Amitabh Bachchan and other actors visited Cinepolis, the only multiplex in Patna, to promote the film.

Reception

Critical reception

Aarakshan mostly garnered mixed reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated it with 4 stars and said - "On the whole, Aarakshan communicates an engaging story with very relatable characters. It's a movie that is truly inspiring and thought-provoking, but at the same time, its running time [almost 2.45 hours] is a deterrent.(...) Aarakshan not only works as a film, but also as a tool to drive home a forceful message. It's a daring, heroic, commanding and an engaging film that shouldn't be missed!". He also praised the performance of of the leads. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave it 3 stars and said - "Sad. Because 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." Shivesh Kumar of IndiaWeekly awarded the movie 3 out of 5 stars. Soumil Shukla of FilmiTadka gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote in his review - "Screenplay and direction are two branches which are the main weak points of this self proclaimed ‘socio-political drama’. The characters and situations are surprisingly underdeveloped and half baked, a far cry from some of Anjum Rajabali’s or Prakash Jha’s previous work." Dainik Bhaskar awarded three stars in their review and wrote - "Watch it for the conflicts between the characters and an outstanding performance by Amitabh Bachchan. On the flipside, if you expect drama and finesse that you witnessed in Prakash Jha’s last release ‘Rajneeti’, you will be disappointed." Vandana Krishnan from Behindwoods rated it 1.5/5 and said that the film represents "Great bottle bad wine" further citing "Overall, the film falls short of the expectations the trailer, start cast and story had created." Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and said: "Given all the pre-release brouhaha over its emotive subject matter (leading to several states banning its public screening), Aarakshan is quite a copout. It ends up being more about the depredations of the nation’s education mafia than the vexed question of job and college quotas for backward caste candidates and its fallout.The basic premise is rooted in the real world all right and the film might touch some raw nerves. But the dramatization of the conflict over the quota raj that divides India down the middle tends to border on the excessively shrill, if not completely shallow." Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairman Leela Samson said that Aarakshan was a good film about education but "unfortunately hit troubled political situations".The controversial film has received a compliment from unlikely quarters in Chhattisgarh with the state Scheduled Tribes Commission seeking a tax-free status for the Amitabh Bachchan starrer.

Sukanya Venkatraghavan of Filmfare gave it 2 stars out of 5, stating "The problem with Aarakshan is its meandering graph. It starts off solidly enough, keeping up a pace that will engross you until interval time except for two totally unnecessary songs. From there on, the film sheds it’s theme of ideals and becomes a one on one contest that, to put it really tritely, is a tug of war between two coaching classes. The dialogue is strong and opinionated and actors like Saif Ali Khan and Manoj Bajpai do everything to get you to like the film (...)Aarakshan has all the right intentions but it is a tad confusing in its stance. Of course ultimately it shows the triumph of selfless dedication to the cause of education and there is no faulting that. One does walk away with some reservations though." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a deathly boring slog" and adding: "With so much to say, the movie drags on endlessly, with over-written scenes, over-the-top emotions and dialogues that are so heavy, they end up being inaccessible. Of the performances, every actor seems to go through the motions and only Manoj Bajpai inserts some spark onto the screen. 'Aarakshan' is well-intentioned, but you can't shake off the feeling that you're trapped by a three-hour-long tirade. I'm going with a generous two out of five for Prakash Jha's 'Aarakshan'. If you don't want to be lectured, stay at home."

Box office

Aarakshan released in 1085 cinemas across India. The film saw 50-70% occupancy on its first day of release, while in Delhi, it opened at around 60-70%. The film's business was affected due to the bans imposed on its screening in Punjab, UP and Andhra. It went on to collect ₹4.47 crore on the first day. The opening weekend collections of the film were around ₹ 18.33 crore. However, Aarakshan fell badly at the box office in its second weekend. The film grossed ₹37.53 crore nett on Indian box office in two weeks. Aarakshan added around ₹3 crore nett in its third week to go to ₹40.50 crore nett in three weeks. The film added ₹58 lakhs nett in India to go to ₹42.38 crore nett in four weeks.

Moreover, the film fared poorly in the overseas markets. It grossed £76,000 in the United Kingdom, $345,000 in North America, $190,000 in UAE and $82,000 in Australia, taking it's total overseas gross to $900,000 over its first weekend. In its third weekend, the film collected £13,085 on 42 screens at the U.K. Box office with a total of £1,68,662 [approx. ₹1.27 crores], Australian $1,42,193 [approx.₹ 69.26 lacs] in two weeks at the Australian Box office. Aarakshan’s total worldwide nett collections after three weeks were ₹ 47.75 crores.

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack is composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The album consists of six tracks. The soundtrack features the vocal talents of Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Raman Mahadevan, Shankar Mahadevan and classical singer Channulal Mishra. The concept of song "Kaun Si Dor" was of Prasoon Joshi, the songwriter of the album who came up with the first lines of the song. The trio then went on to develop the song and roped in Channulal Mishra who agreed to sing the song as per their request. The soundtrack was released on 11 July 2011.

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Accha Lagta Hai"	Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal	3:57
2.	"Mauka"	Mahalakshmi Iyer, Raman Mahadevan, Tarun Sagar, Gaurav Gupta & Rehan Khan	4:51
3.	"Kaun Si Dor"	Channulal Mishra, Shreya Ghoshal	5:45
4.	"Roshanee"	Shankar Mahadevan	4:37
5.	"Saans Albeli"	Channulal Mishra	3:14
6.	"Mauka (Remix)"	Abhijit Vaghani	3:26

Reception

Upon release, the album received generally mixed reviews from the critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood hungama gave it 2 out of 5 stars and said: "Aarakshan doesn't boast of the kind of score that has in it to make waves commercially since almost all songs mainly have a situational appeal to them. Yes, at least 'Achha Lagta Hai' is good that prevents Aarakshan from becoming totally forgettable. However despite low expectations from the soundtrack here, the end result is far more being satisfactory." Planet Bollywood felt that Prasoon Joshi - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy "failed to create the same magic as in Taare Zameen Par." Sheetal Tiwari of Bollyspice, in her review, described the soundtrack as "brilliant with an astounding lyrical quality." She also praised the composer trio for "their versatility to compose for any subject."

Controversy

In early May 2011, civic authorities in Bhopal bulldozed the sets of Aarakshan because it was erected on disputed land.

Some pro-Dalit groups in Kanpur protested Saif Ali Khan being cast in the role of a Dalit. They objected to the actor's royal background and saw his role of a so-called Dalit as an insult to the community.

The film was banned in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh before its theatrical release. The Punjab government banned the film on fears that certain scenes and dialogues in the film may inflame the passion of some communities in Punjab. Mayawati government banned the film in UP for two months on grounds that it could create law and order problem in the state.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) viewed the movie after getting complaints of its objectionable content. “While the overall theme of the film is not objectionable, it is loaded with anti-Dalit and anti-reservation dialogues,” said NCSC chairman P.L. Punia. However, the Board, which granted the film a U/A certification, said it would defend Jha's right to free expression. In reply to this, the director decided to remove 'objectionable' scenes from the film in a bid to prevent further backlash. Prakash Jha and producers of Aarakshan moved the Supreme Court to lift the ban on the film in the three states. Supreme Court lifted the ban on Aarakshan in Uttar Pradesh later.

Apart from the aforementioned announced bans, there was an unexpected mid screening ban on the film in the multiplexes of Gurgaon, on the night of its release.

External links

• Official website
• Aarakshan at IMDb
• Aarakshan at AllMovie
• Aarakshan at Box Office Mojo
• Aarakshan at Rotten Tomatoes
• Aarakshan at Metacritic