Aligarh

Hansal Mehta's 'Aligarh' is a lot of things, but firstly, its a Near-Masterpiece. Mehta's Direction captures a true-story, that causes repulsion, anger & sympathy while the narrative flows. This is indeed Powerful Storytelling.

'Aligarh' is The true story of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, who was suspended from his job because of his sexual orientation.

'Aligarh' is challenging as well as affecting. You watch the protagonist struggle for being who he is. His journey, with great support from a reporter, who befriends him, is quietly devastating. 'Aligarh' is about the devils in our society, about the bigots, the merciless that exist among us. This is an important story, that's been told sensitively.

Apurva Asrani's Screenplay is excellent. Sure, its slow-moving, but the affect it leaves, is brilliant. Mehta's Direction is fabulous. 'Shahid' & now 'Aligarh', Mehta has found his voice in these true-stories & has depicted them with masterful treatment.

'Aligarh' is rested on the shoulders of Manoj Bajpai and Rajkummar Rao. And the SUPREMELY Talented Actors are dueling Brando's here. No Kidding, this is Acting in its purest form. Bajpai's portrayal of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, is graceful, devastating & a definition in subtlety. You watch a man broken, & his body-language, as well as his soft dialogue-delivery, left me awe-struck. Rao isn't far behind. As Journalist Deepu Sebastian, Rao gets a lesser showy role, but he delivers an effortlessly natural performance, that packs a solid punch. Bajpai & Rao are so committed in their parts, I forgot I was actually watching two actors performing parts. National-Awards, are you hearing? A Special Mention for Ashish Vidyarthi, who enacts the righteous lawyer, extraordinarily.

Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras was questioned for being who is was. The late teacher was found dead in 2010. But, didn't the people around him kill him way before that? Of course, he found friend in a reporter & got further support from a lawyer who screamed for justice, but did the people who respected him for years, eventually respect him? Being Gay isn't Criminal, Being Homophobic is. 'Aligarh' painfully captures a man's secrecy being questioned, ridiculed. Are we really gonna judge people even now for their sexuality? Are we again going to stay silent when our hogwash law criminalises Homosexuality? Are we going to tolerate bigots? My Answer Is NO. What's yours?

Until then, Watch 'Aligarh'.

Aligarh picks a take on all known issues and problems in the society regarding homosexuality. The best part is the decency of the storyline in which it has been structured. It has been edited well and flows respectfully. It could've been a wonder if the gripping nature would've been maintained. But often it digresses from the plot and disconnects the viewer.

Wonderfully directed by Hansal Mehta, he takes his sweet time in detailing irrelevant things. Many times it makes sense but only if editing is proper. Nevertheless, the effort is fantastic in getting the whole plot together.

Rajkummar Rao is just not stopping to improve himself with every movie. He has the sense of maintaining the required body language all through. Manoj Bajpayee underplayed a lot too much but delivered a good performance.

Overall, a decent and a respectful take on homosexuality but could've been a wonder if gripping nature would've been maintained.

Bollywood is definitely evolving experimenting on different and unique subjects. The silver lining is the untold stories of various characters and events which were lost in time is being brought back with sheer devotion and sincerity. January started with a bang releasing the story of evacuation of 1,70,000 Indians from Kuwait in Airlift and February followed with a gallant story of flight attendant rescuing 359 passengers from terrorist-hijacked plane in Neerja. After giving National Award winning film Shahid, Hansal Mehta is back with yet riveting bio-pic drama Aligarh that raises the question on self-righteousness and breaking the barrier.

Aligarh tells the true story in which Manoj Bajpayee plays a homosexual professor Dr Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras at the Aligarh University who is suspended from his job when he is caught in a sting operation.

Last year, it was Manjhi-The Mountain Man, Bajirao Mastani followed by Airlift and Neerja. The best part of watching these biographies is the inspiring and motivating stories which has resulted to outstanding appreciation from both audience and critics. It takes courage and guts to make a film like Aligarh.

The movie opens with a bang giving you goose-bumps. As the movie progress, you will be sucked into the film and the entire credit goes to Hansal Mehta for doing a fantastic research on the event which changed life of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras. The court room- drama, friendship between Manoj Bajpai and Rajkumar Rao and even the climax sequences are definitely the highlight of the film. Screenplay is engaging. Art direction and cinematography is simple yet powerful. Manoj Bajpai has delivered a solid performance. He fits into the character as if it was tailor-made for him. Rajkumar Rao lends in a good support.

A big thumbs up for brilliant direction, admiring performances and electrifying screenplay.

– Ketan Gupta

Reviewing this after the Supreme Court's historic judgement of decriminalizing homosexuality- September 2018

I was waiting for an opportune time to watch this film and could find none better than the day after this historic judgement.

This film is based on the real life story of Dr Siras, a professor of Aligarh Muslim University. He was hounded out of his job, due to being 'caught' with another man in the privacy of his home! He fought this injustice in court and his job was restored by the judiciary, but he was forced to commit suicide or even murdered. The way the film captures his story is beautiful. It will force any thinking human being to introspect on his or her prejudices against anyone.

Manoj Bajpayee as Prof Siras is immense; he carries the film on his shoulders and shows just how beautiful a person the professor was. He was a simple man, content in doing his job, and really good at his work. The way Bajpayee manages to flesh the character out is what the essence of good acting is. The dignity of his character and his vulnerability will make you cry as to how our heartless society treated such a person. Rajkumar Rao as the reporter who manages to strike a rapport with the professor, has done his job. There could have been a little less focus on his backstory as it does not add a lot to the film.

So all in all, this is a film to experience and hopefully to introspect on where we as a society have been going wrong. People such as Siras are meant to be respected and treasured; and not hounded; and the day that happens will mean that we as a society have arrived.

A few years back I watched The Brokeback Mountain. Those who have seen it will surely agree with me that the film did not speak about gay rights or anything remotely related to it. Instead it was a love story where a man instead of falling in love with a woman falls in love with another man. It was a very poignant tale of love; a love that most people failed to comprehend.

Aligarh made me feel the same. A common gay man tries to come to terms with after being suddenly forced out of the closet. Unlike Brokeback Mountain, this is based on a real story. But the film is like a poetry, that says a lot and leaves even more unsaid, but has a profound impact on the viewer.

Please don't watch this movie if you are expecting anything salacious or controversial. Watch it because when you are old and there is no 377 scare and you see a gay couple pass you by, you would know what they feel like because Professor Siras felt the same.