Tripti Singh

Sitting through this movie was like sitting through 2.5 hours of nails being scratched on a black board. I sat incredulously through the first half, with "what the heck have I come for" resounding in my head, but I fought on nevertheless since I really like Kangana and Rajkumar Rao. Then I dragged myself from the refreshment area back to the screen post interval, in the rare hope that perhaps the actors will redeem themselves and the white-noise like movie, with some masterstroke. I found myself laughing during the movie, and I figured it wasn't at any witty exchange on screen, but at myself for sitting through it. Dear lord, evening wasted.

4 out of 5 stars A must watch despite the mysteriously negative critic reviews. The majority of the public that decided to go for the movie instead of rejecting it basis reviews, has given it a resounding thumbs up. No movie is everyone's cup of tea. Never has been. This isn't either. But this movie does what a movie can to inspire generations to overcome obstacles, to explore ones potential which is hidden away because someone sometime told you you're not good enough or that others are better than you. The movie addresses a real, very, very real issue India faces - the lack of access to basic rights such as education, for the impoverished. How often do we stop our cars and truly think about the beggar child knocking at our window beyond what his/her shabby image portrays? How we often do we stop to ASK "do you attend school", or go ahead and sponsor an education for the child? Here is a man, Anand Kumar, portrayed with such depth of emotion by Hritik Roshan that you cry when he cries and you celebrate when he celebrates, who is bringing the needy and talented under his roof, with the pure intention and an unbelieveable determination to improve the lives of families by ensuring that ONE child goes to a pretigious school (IIT, in this case), for the best education the country can apparently offer, and go on to improve the lives of not only family but the generations to come. Terrific job done of conveying with credibility and immensely moving performances of the whole cast the story of an unsung hero who, admit it, most of us did not even know about. What a shame we never know them, forget celebrate them. Cheers to a new era of Indian cinema.