Umang Rishav

The long-gestating Super 30 tells the inspiring story of math genius Anand Kumar, who is attempting to change the lives of meritorious but destitute students, 30 at a time. Despite the rousing tale and fine performances, the film is bogged down by the lengthy run-time and needless doses of drama. Super 30 introduces Anand Kumar (Hrithik Roshan) with a flashback. Though his brilliance gets him a seat in the prestigious University of Cambridge, he is unable to attend because of lack of money. As he goes from door to door looking for sponsorship, his father passes away and he is forced to sell papads made by his mother.Anand's fortunes turn around when he is discovered by Lallan Singh (Aditya Srivastava), who runs a coaching centre for IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) aspirants and wants him on board as a teacher. However, when Anand realises that there are many Anand Kumars out there who are forced to give up on their dreams because of impoverished circumstances, he decides to give up the good life and open a free coaching centre for such deserving but poor students. Though Hrithik Roshan tries hard to look convincing as Anand Kumar, the brown make-up (the shades of which fluctuate through the film) just does not cut it. Strangely enough, though so much work has gone into giving the actor a darker complexion, nothing is done about his naturally hazel green eyes. Contact lenses, anyone? Hrithik's Bihari accent leaves much to be desired. However, if you can look past these, he delivers an earnest performance. Pankaj Tripathi as the education minister who runs a flourishing coaching business is fantastic. Mrunal Thakur has little to do, but holds her own in scenes with Hrithik.