Review: Aligarh (2016)

A Masterstroke Direction

Score: 9/10

Aligarh carries a sense of intellect and understanding in the way it has been directed. It doesn't try to be philosophical or engrossing in any form, It stays raw and unfiltered letting the viewers have a first hand experience of the problems that accompany ageing, whether its the loneliness or a step down of the speed in their daily mannerisms, to decide for themselves to settle on a perception. It explores in a subtle way the life of Professor Siras, his simple tastes, listening to Lata Mangeshkar classics and having a glass full of whiskey.

The direction in particular is one of the finest one may have come across in the recent past, in Bollywood. Its confident and bold. Bold because it has stayed almost entirely honest to the material instead of holding itself back fearing whether it will work right for the audience, because there are places which can make people go utterly bored or sublimely orgasmic. One such scene is when Siras is listening to "Aap ki Nazro ne Samjha", he is so absorbed in the intoxication of the song that it takes him to a meditative state, making him come in terms of the negativity of his life in its core, subsequently bringing out tears, impeccably acted by Manoj Bajpai. Even with the long list of his honorable performances, I rate this, his best. When it comes to acting, another act, Rajkumar Yadav's lovable portrayal of Deepu Sebastian, a budding journalist writer from Kerala is flawless to the T. The sound design (Madan Kulkarni) as well as the music (Karan Kulkarni) is near perfect for the film. The cinematography isn't a treat but then again a film like this wouldn't fit to any sort of cinematography except a realistic and practical kind. The editing is class, slowly revealing the pieces left off from the previous scenes which help us construct it non linearly, till the final conclusion, by which time it is completely developed.

The beauty of the film lies in its detailed attention towards the smaller aspects to give a matured outlook of the whole product. Hats Off to Hansal Mehta for his efforts!