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| Source-picvp.com |
Sitting in a dimly lit room, with all the material possessions
around him, is a man the dusk of his life. Alone in his room, he has bolted all
the locks and closed all the curtains. One hand is holding on to the whiskey
while the other is lost in the dance to the voice of comfort on his cassette
player.
Aligarh is based on the true story of Marathi Professor
S.R.Siras of the Aligarh University. He was suspended from the university on charges
of immoral activities, based on the sting video made after forceful entry
inside his bedroom by journalists and staff of the college. The immoral
activities in question: him making love to a man.
source-bbc.com
Aligarh is much more than a mere documentation of how the
shameful and gross injustice that was meted out the man who was three months
close to his retirement. Hansal Mehta has made Aligarh with an aim to project
the human side of the issue. He skilfully plays down the public angle to
capture the personal space. His movie is about recognising the common man
amidst the sheer lablelism that people indulge in. As Professor Siras says,” gay
word se mujhe problem hai baba, koi meri feeling ko teen aksharon mei kaise
samjh sakta hai?”.
source-zeenews.india.com
Manoj Bajpayee has owned the role of a professor caught up
in rough seas. You can feel the ageing man with the droopy shoulders and the
delayed, thoughtful replies. He is the agent through whom we meet the regular man,
a lonely man. When the petitions start to roll, to help him fight the case, this
simple man replies he is not interested in activism. He just wants to live with
dignity. The cinematography is laced with scenes of silence with Manoj Bajpayee
doing his nothings to highlight the heart-breaking loneliness of this ‘outsider’
who teaches Marathi in an urdu speaking town.
source-catchnews.com
Rajkumar Rao is the Good Samaritan of the movie, who is the man
who is intent of fulfilling his duty to ask the right questions as a journalist
and move beyond to understand the man the Siras was. His chemistry with Manoj
Bajpayee is very natural.There is also a good supporting cast but the focus
doesn’t move much from the central players.
Where the dialogues by Apurva Asrani are absolutely reflective
of the common man’s tongue, the music by Karan Kulkarni both enhances the
emotions and give a good support the story. The screenplay is laid is such a
way to slowly disclose and bring out the gravity of what had happened that ill-fated
day. But although the intent might’ve been to highlight the sad banality of the
professor’s life after the incident, I as audience felt a little detached due
to the prolonged silent scenes in the movie. The writing lacked the hard impact
which one felt right in the gut with a movie like Shahid.
Nonetheless, Aligarh carries a good intention of highlight
the ‘human’ amidst the issue.
Watch it for-
1. The unfair incident 2. Manoj Bajpayee 3. And Rajkumar Rao.
Rating-3.5/5
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