We are welcomed by a slickly styled Fugga (Vijay Varma), who’s delivering a speech regarding Anand Kumar (Hrithik Roshan). Into a flashback scene, the story rewinds to 1996 where it all started. Anand, a brilliant student, gets declined from a college library just because he wasn’t a student. This hurts and inspires him at the same time, which leads to getting him selected for Cambridge.
Life had other plans for Anand, as, after suffering a personal tragedy he’s left with not many options. A local coaching owner picks him up and offers a job as a teacher. But, even that wasn’t he wanted so he moves towards his aim creating some good and many bad friends. He leads a group of 30 students, educating them for free to prepare for IIT’s entrance exam. How he dodges the obstacles and reach till the finish line is what the story is all about.
It’s not at all easy to get your act together in a movie such as this. Full marks to Hrithik Roshan for not losing his head for a single scene. He performs each scene as his first & excels in them. Yes, the dialect fluctuates from being a caricature to actually nailing it. He has mastered the look and the walk, which helps him to express with perfection. Nandish Singh as Hrithik’s brother delivers a confident performance. His smart and sensible screen presence aids the leads to do their job.
Pankaj Tripathi owns every scene he is in. Not a big role, but a memorable one. Watch out for an outstanding scene between him and Aditya Shrivastava (CID Fame). Aditya aptly supports the story with his performance. He doesn’t go over-the-top stereotypically and fits in the cast well. All of the kids know what are they doing. They’re guided well with the dialogue delivery and screen presence.
Vijay Varma shines in a cameo, holds to the emotional quotient of his character. Mrunal Thakur looks beautiful! Her chemistry with HR is the base of a love story which should’ve been explored a little more than it was.
Vikas Bahl goes all rustic to depict a time which could’ve been shown in a simple manner. The colour correction, props used aren’t enough to match the aura of the 90s. I would’ve loved more of a ‘Yeh Meri Family’ treatment to the subject. Because of the weak art direction, Vikas misses many opportunities to pick up some scenes. He leads some brilliant emotional sequences, too, but overall there’s something missing.
Rating: 7/10