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.
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.