All India Rank Cast/Actors: Bodhisattva Sharma as Vivek, Shashi Bhushan as Vivek’s Father, Sheeba Chaddha as Bundela Madam, Geeta Agrawal Sharma as Vivek’s Mother, Kailash Gowthaman as Rahul Reddy, Samta Sudhiksha as Sarika and Ayush Pandey as Rinku Yadav.
All India Rank Release Date: February 23rd, 2024
All India Rank Available On: Theatrical Release
All India Rank Released/Available In Languages: Hindi
All India Rank Runtime: 1h 41m
All India Rank Critic Review:
IIT. IIT. IIT.
The familiar chant of middle-class dads especially in the 1990s.
It is a familiar scene of two parallel tracks that rarely meet amicably. 17-year-old Lucknow boy Vivek (Bodhisattva Sharma) would rather be home than in Kota which is “Coaching ka Haridwar”. But IIT is an aspirational obsession for his dad (Shashi Bhushan) who believes that IITians stand taller than the rest of society. Bundela Madam (Sheeba Chaddha) runs the most prestigious classes in Kota, she chooses “only the cream” and dad feels like he’s won a battle when Vivek is selected.
Ms Bundela has her unconventional teaching methods which includes equating Mansoor Khan, the director of QSQT, with the author of their Physics textbook.
Writer Varun Grover who makes his debut as director attempts to keep it light which he succeeds in doing for a few minutes at the beginning with the dad smoking on the sly, high-cholesterol mom (Geeta Agrawal) gorging on sweets when no one’s looking and Vivek doing his own thing on the campus.
Using a few unnecessary songs, mostly in the background, Varun unfolds his take on students under pressure while parents face their own struggles back home. There’s a ‘Lights off’ in the background to set the campus routine and mom has to cope with a sleazeball who uses the PCO in her store to make obscene calls. There’s another BG song on how Vivek really has no choice. And yet another when friends get together to discuss their dreams, each student with a different angst and aim.
For some reason, everybody keeps asking Vivek how many girlfriends he’s had like it’s the most routine question to ask a 17-year-old. Funny?
Since it’s an established writer at the helm, calculated smart lines are strewn around. Samples: IIT is like a parachute, everybody’s under it. Calculus is the language of change. The Universe is not a random maths equation.
It would have turned out better if Varun had concentrated on telling a story not seen before. After two seasons of Kota Factory on OTT and two blockbuster feature films, 3 Idiots and 12th Fail which were more or less based on the same subject, the viewer is as troubled as Kota students to keep his focus on what’s happening.
It’s a struggle for parents and son. Mom falls ill, dad’s baked an upside-down Indian flag on a cake on Independence Day, and son’s either jerking off or using the eff word for IIT or bunking classes and guzzling beer. There’s also Sarika (Samta Sudhiksha) for further distraction.
A suicide on the campus and three friends on a two-wheeler, a poor rehash of 3 Idiots, topped with an abrupt ending, make you wonder what Varun aspired to narrate.
All India Rank- Watch It Or Not?: Re-watching 3 Idiots or 12th Fail would be the wiser option.
All India Rank Score Rating: 1.5 out of 5
All India Rank Official Trailer:
All India Rank Official Trailer (Credit: Varun Grover)
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