Aligarh
- Director: Hansal Mehta
- Writer: Ishani Banerjee; Apurva Asrani
- Producer: Sunil Lulla; Aftab Qureshi
CGiii Comment
Great things have been said about this film...but, the hyperbole being used is a little - let's say...over-the-top.
Yes...we agree, it's a brave film...in that, India changes its mind towards homosexuality as often as a curry is gobbled in the Delhi Express on Deptford High Street...it's a busy restaurant!
And, being a true [fairly recent] story...it shows the corruption of officials and the farce that is India's legal system.
So...yes, brave...it most definitely is...but...the director had neither idea nor skill to exploit the powerful potential that this story had.
This could have been a riveting courtroom battle...instead, we are given a few scenes with gobby barristers being repulsively respectful and blisteringly unintelligent.
There's the journalist, a performance by Rajkummar Rao that both grates and claws from start to finish...why the director gave him so much screen-time is mystifying...his story is incidental, mostly unnecessary and stretches the film out to the point of monotony.
The star of the show is the lighting crew, the night scenes are particularly stunning.
Manoj Bajpayee's sedate and thoughtful performance comes a close second. Although some of his scenes do go on for an inordinate amount of time...the Bollywood song scene (drivel), the story-telling scene (dreary)...too, too long. Cut them!
That said...it's a decent enough film...it could have been so much more if it had been put into more thoughtful and skilled hands. The writers and director were not the best people for this job.
Shame...the potential to be very, very special was there...alas, squandered.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Probably the best film yet on the Indian gay male experience, Hansal Mehta directs a riveting and nuanced tale that is as touching as it is powerful. Professor Siras is suspended by his university after a photographer breaks into his house and catches him in bed with his male rickshaw-driver lover. Deepu, an ambitious young journalist, hears of the sensational story and heads to Aligarh University to meet Siras. What he discovers is a shy intellectual, wracked by embarrassment. Deepu carries out a more detailed investigation and reveals that the university was behind the break-in. Deepu and LGBT activists convince Siras to challenge the suspension in high court, becoming the spearhead in the fight for gay rights in India. Apurva Asrani's script allows Mehta to take us on a delicate journey of subtle emotions, while Manoj Bajapayee and Rajkummar Rao deliver compelling performances as the professor and campaigning journalist.
Cast & Characters
Sukhesh Arora as Tahir Islam;
Manoj Bajpayee as Professor Siras;
Balaji Gauri as Nita Grewal;
Sumit Gulati as Tashi;
Dilnaz Irani as Namita;
Sachin Parikh as Anuj;
K.R. Parmeshwar as Prof. Sridharan;
Rajkummar Rao as Deepu Sebastian;
Ishwak Singh as Arvind Narayan;
Nutan Surya as Anjali Gopalan;
Divya Unny as Reporter;
Suman Vaidya as Shadab Qureshi;
Ashish Vidyarthi as Anand Grover