Having already portrayed a Maharashtrian character of Bhiku Mhatre, a gangster in Ramgopal Verma’s film ‘Satya’ 18 years ago; this time Manoj Bajpayee portrays the character of a 64 year old Professor of Marathi language, in latest released film ‘Aligarh’. Manoj has very honestly portrayed the professor, who becomes a victim of internal politics at Aligarh Muslim University. This being a true story, Manoj has gone so much into depth of the humiliation faced by this character, that you feel you are watching Prof. Siras and not Manoj Bajpayee the actor, on the screen.
There is no doubt that Manoj Bajpayee is a talented actor, but the credit for portraying him, in this role, also goes to director Hansal Mehta, who found him most suitable actor, to play this most difficult role. The film’s story obviously revolves around Prof. Shrinivas Siras, who is appointed as Chairman of Indian Languages Section. Considering him as an outsider, his fellow professors in the university play a dirty game, to malign him, by using local channel reporters to carry out a tricky sting operation, to prove him ‘Gay’. As a result of which, Prof. Siras is suspended from his job.
The Professor receives the support of some Human rights activists, who provide him with the best lawyer ( Ashish Vidyarthi) and fight his case, as during that period, i.e. in the year 2010, the court had decriminalized homosexuality, while delivering the judgment in one of the cases. Using this as strong reference, they win the case for Prof. Siras; but unfortunately, before the order is received to reinstate him in the job, Prof. is found dead in his house, under mysterious circumstances. A news paper reporter Dipu( Rajkumar Rao) based in Delhi, also tries to help the professor, going out of his way.
The national award winning Director Hansal Mehta, has very skillfully used flashbacks to show the unfolding of events in the life of Professor, especially when he narrates actual happenings, to the reporter , who is seriously trying to investigate his case to prove him ‘not guilty’. The film is slow in pace at many times; but, that does not matter much, as the screenplay of this film has been written to present the minute details of the lead character , such as his expressions and body language. Good scope has also been given to actor Rajkumar Rao, who portrays the role of a committed journalist,. Good photography and suitable music are the other plus points of this film. Those who love to watch sensible realistic films, ‘Aligarh’ is just the right choice.
Rating ( ****)