One of the themes of popular discussion today is the National Education Policy 2020. The Purpose of the NEP 2020 is “to develop good human beings capable of rational thought and action, possessing compassion and empathy, courage and resilience, scientific temper and creative imagination, with sound ethical moorings and values. It aims at producing engaged, productive, and contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive, and plural society as envisaged by our Constitution”.
Ironically enough, Director #PrakashJha readied a film around education and the class divide well before this announcement. ASHOK’S FIVE reviews #Pareeksha starring #AdilHussain and now streaming on #Zee5. This is the story of a poor rickshaw puller who wants to ensure that his bright son gets access to a better but more expensive school. In the process, he is ready to make sacrifices, but the ruthless social system pushes him over the edge leaving moral values a blur.
1. #Pareeksha rests squarely on the able shoulders of #AdilHussain. His performance as Bhujji Paswan the rickshaw puller is perhaps the single biggest highlight of the film. You should watch it for the sheer versatility of an acclaimed but yet uncelebrated actor.
2. Bhujji runs his ‘express’ and transports the rich children to the English medium school. His 14-year-old son, Bulbul Kumar (#SubhmanJha) is a brilliant student at the Government school, excelling in Mathematics and Science but is weak in English. Bhujji moves mountains to get his son admitted into the school but is forced to break the law as the system entangles him. As the class divide story plays out, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kailash Anand (#SanjaySuri) enters the picture and starts teaching the poor children. He is inevitably pulled into the politician-administration nexus, leaving the poor hapless. In the end though, Jha leaves an uplifting note wherein Bhujji is punished without impacting his son. I think he intended to leave that message on how the law should act in such cases.
3. Time and again, #PrakashJha shows how he is the master of the Bihar centric story. I don’t think there is anyone who can narrate the government-police-politician nexus better than him. He just continues to revel in the space that he built with Gangaajal, Apaharan, Arakshan and now this one.
4. Besides #AdilHussain, there is the supporting case of #PriyankaBose and #SanjaySuri who emote well to lend credence to the story. Perhaps a bit of tighter editing and tying up of loose ends would have lifted the film several notches.
5. The undoing of the film though is a hackneyed treatment with several scenes playing out on expected lines. For example, the scene where Bhujji and his son are standing in the rain trying to intercept the Principal or the one where the corrupt politician confronts the SSP, trying to further his own agenda. These are quite dated and there is nothing novel about it. And I would venture to say that the film gives you a sense of being stuck in the nineties and that’s the only drawback of an otherwise well-enacted story.
#Pareeksha is interesting in parts but a tad old-world. Watch it if you are a fan of #AdilHussain. The film does expose the social and financial issues around education and raises some fundamental questions around how education is still a distant dream for millions. Along the way, there are other sub themes around the medium of instruction, the humane side of law and how vested interests kill aspirations. This is a story that needs to be told but in a new avatar !
