ALIGARH MOVIE REVIEW

Inspired from a real life story, the movie is not a plaintive depiction. It is serious cinema and a real life living moment of a common man with a different sexual orientation who is forced to not come out in today’s society. The screenplay is melancholic, passive and will tug at your heart-strings without much ado.

This bold story advocates strong right to equality, privacy and morality in the country.  Despite the strong flavor, it is filled with many light moments. Apurva Asrani has depicted the whole tale from the perspective of a simple common man. The wait he endures for the court’s dismissal coupled with society’s unnecessary opinion on his partner preferences is grilling.

Hansal Mehta has woven many nuances into the task of storytelling in the most professional way possible. Manoj Bajpayee has lived the character and proven once again on what a great performer he is. His expressions will leave you spell bound. There are many moments in the story where Manoj’s teary eyes will leave you wondering why life is so unfair?

With the screenplay being already slow, the fact that the love scenes play on a loop is a disadvantage. Rigged story line, easy predictability and nominal exchange of dialogues also cuts slack.

Rajkummar Rao and Ashish Vidyarthi have also done justice to their roles and contributed to the essence of the story.Vidyarthi’s command over the language and Rajkummar’s adorable body language is a diversion from the gravity of the story’s situation.Satya Rai Nagpaul's cinematography and Karan Kulkarni's background scores are the pillars of the movie. They showcase Bajpayee's loneliness and helplessness in the most euphemistic way possible. At times instead of stirring empathy, Bajpayee's character makes us wonder about the underlying message.

Whatever said, the idea of taking up such a bold concept is appreciative. Living in a society where mouthing the word gay makes people run away, voicing their rights and fighting for them is proof enough that the standard of cinema is increasing.

Aligarh is more like a scene out of our day to day life and proudly addresses the prejudices in the society. Be it workplace politics or homophobia, the movie highlights all of these with one spine chilling account. It makes us question why are we so unfair towards the LGBT community. Equal rights apply to every one of us, right? Or not? Watch it for the experience from the other side of the tunnel.