Monday, August 10, 2020

Pareeksha review: "Adil's classy performance makes it an endearing watch!!!"

A couple of days back, we had the Government roll out the National Educational Policy 2020 in an attempt to bring a holistic change to the educational system in our country. However, whether they will be achieve it depends on the will and the manner in which it will be implemented. The Right to Education came into effect in our nation about ten years back & it's a work still in progress, though not quite to the level that we would have liked. One of it's major obstacle is the impact that the  economic strata that a person belongs to has on the opportunities to quality education. This is the premise of Prakash Jha's "Pareeksha" which was released on ZEE5 last week. So did Jha remain true to the ground reality or was it an over dosage of filmy melodrama???


Just like many others who resiliently faced the challenges that life threw at them on a daily basis, Bucchi (Adil Hussain) also harboured hopes of a better future for his son, Bulbul (Shubham Jha), who was an excellent student & performed admirably in Govt school. Bucchi was a rickshaw puller while his wife, Radhika (Priyanka Bose) shared the responsibilities by working in a factory nearby. He regularly ferried children from affluent households in the locality to the upscale CBSE school, where he was keen to get Bulbul admitted as he believed that was the gateway to a better life. But for a family that struggled to make ends meet, it seemed like a distant dream. So will their meager means be able to handle the hefty educational fees???

It's been quite a while since we had an interesting movie from Prakash Jha as the last few were high on star value but lacked content. With his latest venture, it would be fair to say that he has reclaimed some of his vintage form. He has scripted a hard hitting realistic tale that shows that people belonging to the lower economic strata cant afford to think of acquiring equal opportunities even in the educational sector though it is a right that is enshrined in the Constitution. The equation that the close knit family share with each other is an absolute delight & the hardships that the parents endure for their son's education does tug at our heart cords. Even when the father resorts to wrong doings, it would still be hard for the audience not to root for him. However, the sequences that involves the happenings at school was rather average. On the technical side, there is nothing that deserves special mention.

Adil was brilliant as Bucchi as his expressions and apologetic body language was spot on. We are left to ponder as to how grossly we have utilized this talent actor. Let's hope that he gets roles worth his caliber & keeping him adequate support was an equally praise act from Priyanka. Sanjay Suri has done a fine job as he played a small yet crucial role as SP Kailash Anand which was modeled after IPS Officer Abhyanand, who taught children from poor financial backgrounds. Shubham also did his part aptly. 

Verdict: It's a typ's  of movie that is unlikely to capture eyeballs unless people are told about it as it had a rather low keel release even by OTT standards. It's definitely worth a watch & with a running time of just 1 h 42 mins, it doesn't test our patience  with unnecessary melodrama. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

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