Aligarh

In one of the moving scenes towards the end a tired old man fighting for his right and dignity sadly tells his journalist friend, "soch raha hoon main Umrika chale jayun. Udhar mere Jase log chain Se re-he sakte hai". That sentence takes me back to my formative years when different sexual orientations were not openly discussed & acknowledged in the society. It was a time when a slightest trait of homosexuality was ridiculed. With time and experience there's many like me who have evolved and understood what freedom is but sadly a large section of the nation are still cocooned in a regressive time wrap. Aligarh is a poignant critique of such a homophobic invasive society that tries to control the lives of others.

Hansal Mehta should be appreciated for choosing a film on real-life academician Dr Ramchandra Siras who was denied his job in the Aligarh University due to his sexual orientation. They left no-stone unturned to make his life a living nightmare. The film gives a harrowing picture of the grudges of an illogical moss-back community thrown to a sensitive man who was full of love and poetry. Beyond this sensitive issue credit goes to Ishani Banerjee (story) & Apurva Asrani (screenplay) for making a heart warming commentary on loneliness and desire for love. Mehta's film has a certain pace which is in-sync with Dr Siras – calm, soft and poetic and the dialogs add on to the mood. One of my favorite dialogs is when Dr Siras calmly reacts to the word "gay"- "koi mere feeling KO 3 aksharon mien kaise samjah sakte hai". Brilliant!! The courtroom sequences on the issue of moral policing deserves attention. Within my limited understanding of this medium I can confidently say that Manoj Bajpayee's portrayal of the ordeal of the real-life professor shall go down as a landmark performance in the history of Hindi cinema. What a fabulous actor!! Rajkumar Rao is another great talent who gave an able support to Bajpayee.

Like last week's Neerja we got another film on a real-life hero : Dr Siras, a social martyr who fought for a cause - for individual freedom & the right to live one's life respectfully.

If possible please support the film & the cause behind it..

Aligarh was chosen as the opening film of the Mumbai Film Festival and I went to see it wondering if the story, based on real life events, had been sanitized for the screen. To the screenplay writer and director's credit it has not. The sad story of 64 year old Professor Sirus, who was suspended and systematically harassed by Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for having gay sex with a cycle-rickshaw driver, has been told here in all its poignancy. In it's time, it was a big case for gay rights in India, but Sirus was a frustratingly difficult protagonist, an unattractive personage unwillingly to face the media, unwilling to identify as gay, unable to see the larger issues at stake. Manoj Bajpayee does an excellent job in the complex role of the unhappy Sirus, with all its contradictions. He's shown drinking excessively every night, listening to maudlin Lata Mangeshkar songs. I don't know if Rajkumar Rao is based on a real-life character, but he plays a crucial role as the reporter who tries to draw Sirus out of his shell. He only party succeeds. For one, Sirus was very proud of his position as professor of Marathi at AMU and he was very loyal to AMU itself. He tells Rao he the victim of campus politics because he was promoted to chair the linguistics department, provoking petty jealousies. People knew he was homosexual and used it against him, sending two goons to break into his house to film him having sex. What followed was a downward spiral, but Hansal Mehta somehow manages to keep things from getting too depressing. One interesting scene has the now famous Professor Sirus being invited to a sophisticated gay gathering while in the city, where his newfound fans insist he sing a Marathi song. He does so, rather badly, and then collapses drunk.

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.

#Aligarh: Don't you dare watch this movie if homosexuality makes you laugh or mocking like 'gay' makes you feel more macho..

Aligarh is a powerfully sensitive cinema, never ever dared before on the canvas of Bollywood.. Aligarh is like that hot lava cake which will melt you with it's incredible portrayal of a person who is a homosexual, yet an outcast, he is blessed with the notion of love, yet afraid of the society, who is declared an immoral, yet teaches us lessons of morality which no book can..

Manoj Bajpayee has delivered a scintillating performance of a lifetime, which I am sure very few actors can even dream of achieving.. He shivers, he cries, he shouts, he hides like a cat, he loves, he lives.. he inspires.

If India should send one movie to Oscars this year, it has to be Aligarh. 5/5

(Warning: This is a sensitive cinema & watch it with some sensitivity.. Some scenes are too graphic, kind of normal for an average Hollywood lover, but can be a bit shocking for an Indian movie goer. Had a fight with a group of morons who were laughing on some scenes as if the entire morality responsibility has been imposed on them. They had to be forcefully evacuated from the theater, and thankfully, people supported me.)

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'.