Aligarh. Review on Aligarh

#Aligarh: Timing, they say, is everything. There couldn’t have been a better time to release Aligarh. The Supreme Court has just referred the petition seeking decriminalization of section 377 to a five member panel. There is a raging debate going on in the country about Individual freedom being suppressed in the name of religious fanaticism, collective morality and jingoistic nationalism. While the premise of the film is based on Prof. Srinivas Ramachandra Siras’s sexual orientation, deep down Aligarh doesn’t just talk about homosexuality; it in fact asks much deeper questions about Individual dignity, about the right to privacy and equality. It bares open a deep rooted moral myopia that we as a society suffer from, it talks about love that needs to be felt and understood, it exposes the loneliness of advancing age.

Sitting on a chair, in one corner of the room, Prof Siras is slowly sipping his drink and humming “Aapki Nazron ne Samjha”. His eyes are shut, he is completely hypnotised by Lata Mangeshkar’s mellifluous voice, his hands move automatically in tune with the music. The weariness on his face slowly starts going away being replaced by a sense of bliss. The song and the scene is a poignant portrayal of the essence of Aligarh. Manoj Bajpayee who earlier worked with Hansal Mehta in “ Dil pe Mat le Yaar” gives a scintillating performance as Prof. Siras. Taking method acting to an altogether different level, Bajpayee, brilliantly depicts the fragility and loneliness of an aging man with alternate sexuality. As a scared and scattered Prof. Siras, Bajapayee’s distressed yet scathing eyes will haunt you long after you leave the auditorium. Standing upto Manoj Bajpayee in such form is a tough act to follow. But Mehta’s Man Friday Rajkumar Rao as journalist Deepu Sebastian does a fine job. He brings in an honesty that is so palpable. Their conversations are a fodder for contemplation. Credit also goes to Writer – Editor Apurva Asrani, who has earlier worked with Mehta in Shahid & City Lights, for fleshing out the characters, for making them real and for keeping the length at 120 minutes. Mehta shoots Aligarh metaphorically, capturing the lonely road in a winter night, the boat ride in the vastness of the river, capturing the inner loneliness of an aging man being brandished as an outcast. The agony is so palpable, the anguish is so poignant.

Aligarh is an important film, in the context of where we as a society stand today. It asks many disturbing questions. Who decides what is right or wrong? Who defines the contour of morality and ethics? It reiterates the importance of individual freedom in a democracy. Aligarh forces you to think, to contemplate, to reflect. Your courage to answer them will determine how history will judge you. Go and experience it.