Aarakshan

Aarakshan Rating  2.55/5

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Aarakshan Movie Review

Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Rajeev Masand Site:IBNLive

 'Aarakshan' drifts away without any anchor. It's a script stuck in a 70s locker, taken out and dusted, but you still can't shake off the feeling that it's dated.That sadly has as much to do with the filmmaker's treatment of the subject. With endless, lofty speeches and idealistic melodrama, Prakash Jha turns 'Aarakshan' into a deathly boring slog.'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.

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 Ratings:4/5 Reviewer:Taran Adarsh Site:BollywoodHungama

AARAKSHAN is, without doubt, a high-voltage socio-political drama. But, most importantly, it takes on issues head-on, without mincing words. However, the storyteller ensures that the film, at no point, gets preachy or drifts into the sermonizing mode. Like Jha's films, AARAKSHAN has a story to tell and several super dramatic moments. Sure, it takes time to comprehend what's going on initially, due to the fact that the film has multiple characters and too much seems to be happening from the start itself, but things fall in place as the story moves forward and the tension starts escalating.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 is a deterrent.

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Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:Nikhat Kazmi Site:TimesOfIndia

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. Atleast 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.

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 Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Aseem Chhabra Site:Rediff

I wish people would see Aarakshan and instead object to Jha's vision, the execution of his muddled script, which half way through forgets its purpose, and varying degrees of unimpressive performances. Yes, Jha tries to highlight the complicated caste-based reservation system, attempting to look at the situation from all angles. But that is only until the first half of the film.After intermission, Aarakshan is a completely different film -- essentially an argument against the expensive private tutoring schools.Aarakshan's politics is not problematic. But it fails to be an issue-based film with a message. It is disappointing and a huge let down if in case the viewer is expecting an engaging conversation and a perspective on India's reservation system.

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 Ratings:2.5/5 Reviewer:Saibal Chatterjee Site:NDTV

Prakash Jha’s highly anticipated film isn’t really what the title might suggest: a sledgehammer drama about a simmering political issue that has never been addressed before in a mainstream Hindi film. Instead, it’s a rather safe, superficial and simplistic take on an extremely complex theme. The film lets off steam, and generates some smoke, but the fire is missing.The Aarakshan word is uttered several times in the first half, but the political ramifications of reservation are only touched upon in passing.The second half is another film: the title is forgotten and Aarakshan dives into a plot woven around the ageing protagonist’s battle to rescue his students from the clutches of the greedy men

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Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Shubhra Gupta Site:IndianExpress

‘Aarakshan’starts off by vigorously flying the Dalit flag in the shape of Deepak (Khan), who is shown struggling to find a job on merit, rather than caste and `sifarish’. This is the story the film sets out to tell. What we get is the descent of the film into the easier conflict of good, purely-for-the-love-of-it education vs bad cash-fuelled coaching-led cramming, and an even easier resolution involving craven politicians and strong, spiritually-connected trustees. In the second half, Khan and the whole Dalit thread he represents practically vanish.`Aarakshan’ could have been a well-marshalled case of caste-and-conscience, but it turns out to be more light-weight cash-and-carry.

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 Ratings:2.5/5 Reviewer:Pankaj Sabnani Site:Glamsham

Aarakshan begins on a high note. However, as the clock ticks, the graph of the film only heads South.AARAKSHAN is about Prabhakar Anand (Amitabh Bachchan),Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan),Poorbi (Deepika Padukone). Sushant (Prateik). Based on the social issue of reservation, Prakash Jha’s AARARSHAN has its heart at the right place. But AARARSHAN takes so long to convey its message that you run out of patience. The first half, despite taking too long (two back-to-back songs) to get to the central plot, is pretty good. The conflicts between the characters make for a compelling watch. But after the interval, Prakash loses his grip as the narrative just drags. It becomes laborious and repetitive watch, with the story moving at a snail’s pace. The climax is too good to be true and fails to have a great impact.

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Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Aniruddha Guha Site:DNA

But while Bachchan is a strong reason to watch Aarakshan, pretty much everything else around him falls apart. To begin with, the film is long. And verbose.It’s like watching two films: one before the interval and one after, and both seem long.Should you watch Aarakshan? In keeping with the spirit of the film, I’d say go for Bachchan. But stay away for everything else. Yes, I am sitting on the fence too.

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Ratings:3/5 Reviewer:Daily Bhaskar Site:Dainik Bhaskar

‘Aarakshan’ deals with the controversial and sensitive issue of ‘reservation,’ but doesn’t aim to give any permanent solution to the issue; instead it leaves the platform open for discussion and interpretation. The first half is quite gripping, but the narrative loses its grips by the end of the story. Had the editing been crispier, it would've allowed the message to be delivered briefly with an immediate effect, nevertheless the story takes you through a roller coaster ride with a high dose of drama.Watch it for the conflicts between the characters and an outstanding performance by Amitabh Bachchan.

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