A honest effort to expose harsh reality
Pareeksha which is streaming now on Zee5 was premiered at the 50th International Film Festival of India in the Indian Panorama Section in 2019 and it is based on the true story of IPS officer Abhayanand who used to teach the children in slums of Bihar.
Prakash Jha is one of those very few directors who make films with a purpose and intent to create awareness. Pareeksha is yet another brilliant effort by him which highlights the differences between haves and have-nots with some magnificent storytelling arc unearthing the chinks in our education system.
Buchchi Paswan (Adil Hussain) a rickshaw puller who ferries children to Sapphire International school in Ranchi everyday dreams of making his son Bulbul Kumar (Shubham Jha) a topper in studies so that he achieves something big instead of ending up as a rickshaw puller like him in future.
He toils hard to fulfill his desire to provide Bulbul with best education and being a meritorious student, Bulbul never lets him down. The only problem is with the school in which Bulbul studies and Buchchi firmly believes that studying in a Government school does not take his son anywhere. So Buchchi decides to change the school to Sappharie as it’s more superior in all aspects and gives more exposure to his son than the Government school.
Buchchi succeeds in getting admission to Bulbul in Sapphire with great difficulty and he chooses a wrong path to fulfill his desires thereafter due to which he gets arrested by police. SP Kailash Anand (Sanjay Suri) who witnesses the spark in Bulbul and after knowing the dream of Buchchi decides to mentor Bulbul so that he can fare better in board exam.
Despite several challenges, Bulbul fares better in the exams bringing back the glory to the household of Buchchi whose happiness knew no bounds but he has to pay a heavy price in the form of his character and integrity which he has sacrificed for the sake of his son.
Adil essays out one of the brilliant performances and the character of Buchchi touches every heart. Priyanka Bose as Radhika has done a splendid job with her subtle performance and Shubham steals the show with his innocent looks and remarkable expressions.
The performance of Sanjay Suri is another big asset of this film and he stands out particularly the dialogue ‘the slum children excel in studies due to their hunger and hard work whereas others don’t have the hunger to succeed’ during the confrontation scene with the political leader and his men will give everyone goosebumps.
Its Prakash Jha all the way who needs to be applauded for conceiving and presenting such a socially relevant story with great conviction. The class differences that prevail in society and how they cannibalize our education system are depicted in a touching manner.
The music by Advait Nemlekar suits the mood of the film without any extra frills, the editing by Santosh Mandal is perfect and photography of Sachin Krishn goes along with the flow of the film giving it a clean and tidy look.
Though the theme resembles Super 30, freshness in performances and different kind of content packed with social relevance are features of Pareeksha and it’s a must-watch for all progressive minded people who clamor for changes in our education system to provide equal opportunities to merit irrespective of caste, class, and creed.
Rating:3.5/5
