Movie Review: Super 30 | Filmy yet heart-warming : The Tribune India

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Movie Review: Super 30 | Filmy yet heart-warming

Shiksha pe sab ka adhikaar hai. The moment these words are uttered, we are reminded of the harsh reality. Yes, we all know that despite the RTE Act, education eludes the under-privileged and a few of us work to correct this anomaly.

Movie Review: Super 30 | Filmy yet heart-warming

Super 30



Nonika Singh

Shiksha pe sab ka adhikaar hai. The moment these words are uttered, we are reminded of the harsh reality. Yes, we all know that despite the RTE Act, education eludes the under-privileged and a few of us work to correct this anomaly. Super 30 is a biopic of a man who has made the impossible possible by tapping 30 geniuses each year and ensuring they walk the hallowed portals of the prestigious IIT. In sync with the protagonist’s more than noble motives, the underpinning of the film is the glaring inequality in the education system, which keeps the poor out.

If back in time Eklavaya didn’t have Dronacharya, the same plight ails bright young students from impoverished backgrounds.Today’s Dronacharya ahem mathematician Anand Kumar in this case (essayed on screen by Hrithik Roshan) too falls in the trap of coaching classes or rather coaching mafia as Pankaj Tripathi’s character of minister rubs it in. Only Anand Kumar saw light and became the change he wanted to see. 

The narrative takes us into his inspirational journey, his struggles and the obstacles he encountered on the path to success.  After all providing free of cost education, that too in a gurukul mode, couldn’t have been a cakewalk for a man of little means. Only as expected from Bollywood, the film does turn melodramatic, but even in its filmy moments never fails to touch a chord.  

Greek God looking Hrithik Roshan could have been its Achilles’ heel. Indeed, he might seem bit of an unfit for the part of someone from humble background that is son of a postman. And it is not easy to shirk off the gnawing feeling that what we are seeing is indeed the superstar Hrithik Roshan, even though he has been suitably de-glammed and tanned for the realistic feel. Roshan, however, internalises the character and despite his bright green eyes, slips into the role with sincerity of expression and underplayed mannerisms. There are two standout moments, one when he learns he has managed to get admission into Cambridge University and the other when results of his students are out. Both are feats by all standards and the way Roshan processes these two significant facts is truly admirable. 

Pankaj Tripathi, as the mean minister, can only be expected to add an extra layer and he does so with endearing vehemence. 

Aditya Srivastava as the greedy mind of coaching centre is more than effective. Students, a bunch of 30, look their parts. Their lives may not be king size but their dreams sure are. And the film’s biggest triumph is it makes you acknowledge their right to dream and actualise it. Indeed, post intermission the twists and the drama seems trifle too concocted. Our superhero might be spared the heroic action. But his students do put in a brave front by turning his science lessons into practical warfare against goons. Now this might seem bit of a stretch. But as the postscript tells us what appears to be cinematic liberty, especially the attack on Anand Kumar is actually not far from the truth. Besides, the bigger truth here is that a missionary like Anand Kumar is very much a flesh and blood person. A celluloid salute to the visionary is not only in order but the very least an insular and not so empathetic society like ours can do.

Did he merit a better film? Perhaps, a more pointed and closer to life recreation would have done greater justice to his mettle and spirit. But despite the Bollywoodisation and peppering of what appears to be more of a fictionalised account, his extraordinary story warms up your heart and deserves to be watched. Super 30 may not be superb but certainly stirs emotions of the right kind.

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