All India Rank

Story: This small town coming-of-age drama follows 17-year-old Vivek (Bodhisattva Sharma), who is sent to Kota from Lucknow by his father to prepare for the IIT JEE entrance examination.

Review: Known for his sharp writing, standup comic-writer-lyricist Varun Grover makes his directorial debut by decoding a quintessential middle-class dream. ‘Mera beta doctor ya engineer banega’ topped all parental aspirations back in the late 90’s, where the film is set in. Respect in society ranked first and nothing guaranteed that more to a family than birthing an IITian. This was a step ahead of ‘engineer-doctor’. But what does the son want? Can an academic achievement make an individual better or inculcate better values in him? All India Rank hopes to take a closer look at this collective dream of India’s aam aadmi through a nostalgic lens but fails to get you invested in its story or people.

Navigating campus life, coaching classes, inner turmoil, financial stress, societal pressures, friendship and first love have been the core of many well-made films be it 12th Fail, Super 30 or 3 Idiots. Kota Factory, the series has a similar premise, so the content has been amply explored. The treatment can be a game changer but that too, isn’t the case here. Events feel monotonous and listless. Metaphors that equate life with physics and mathematical equations do little to stir emotions.

You do spot a few tender, non stereotypical moments, too like Vivek fiddling with the sticking wrist tape that was quite a rage in the late 90’s or the mother refraining from uttering the word ‘sex’, given the taboo. However, the film moves at a glacial pace and fails to draw you in its world of hope and failure. You don’t feel invested in the characters or their dilemmas, nor are you curious or concerned about their emotional crisis. Given Varun's expertise in writing satire, the script feels gravely bland and uninspiring. The storytelling manages to evoke boredom.

All the three lead performances, Bodhisattva Sharma as Vivek, Shashi Bhushan as father RK Singh and Geeta Agrawal Sharma as mother Manju Rani, are sincere but struggle to uplift a jaded plot. Sheeba Chaddha is strangely underutilised.

Varun Grover’s directorial debut feels like a tedious Math class that you would rather skip. This is not a bad film. It’s a boring film and sometimes, that’s worse.