Day: October 22, 2011

What does affirmative action truly mean?  Is it necessary?  Is it effective?  Who does it really benefit?  Why is it such a controversial topic?  These and related questions are the stuff that Aarakshan attempts to cover in this almost three-hour long movie.  An oft-debated but unfortunately dimly-understood topic, the notion of affirmative action is a highly charged one, at least in India.  While the Mandal Commission’s recommendations for affirmative action policies in education and employment were well-meaning, the unintended consequences of the application of the law left much to be desired.  Notwithstanding this fact, it is a travesty of societal shortsightedness that prevents one community, nay, one person, from appreciating another’s point of view.  Especially in a land where the population is so large and ever-growing, that there isn’t too much room– or time– for reflection and appreciation of multiple perspectives.

But coming back to the movie, I believe that the story does a fine job– yes, I said, fine job– of covering this complex topic.  And unlike the many Indian reviews that I’ve read about this movie, I am glad to report that I didn’t believe the storyline was disjointed– it might have been somewhat belabored on a few points of personal introspection and episodes of self-pity, but in the final analysis, this is a story that went beyond the immediate impact of the alleged justice and injustice of a well-meaning program; it spoke to the heart of the matter in recommending practical courses of action that would go to the root of the problem.  One cannot expect an affirmative-action program to be an end-all; it is only a token measure to redress the wrongs of the past, and to acknowledge that inequities in wealth and social standing are very real determinants of the success that one makes of one’s life.  True “equal opportunity” would be one that gave two parties the equal opportunity to gain something– when all other factors leading up to the moment of reaching for that opportunity have been equal.  But when that has not been true, i.e., when there have been glaring differences in the quality of life in both parties leading up to that moment of reaching for that proverbial apple of opportunity, it is then not really “equal”!  This is a fundamental fact that one and all must understand, sooner or later.  The so-called playing-field was never equal to begin with, so how can you assume the “opportunity” would be equal?  It is not.  Which is why the establishment of affirmative-action programs are essential to a society that wishes to count itself among the enlightened and the just.  This is the heart of the matter of this topic, and one that this movie has quite remarkably tried to build upon.

Sure, there were some detours and deviations along the way in this movie, but then if it weren’t for that, it might as well have become a documentary!  But once the story got to the core of the argument– which was to highlight the unequal playing-field in a land already torn with so much inequality, it then went on to weave into the story the ways and means by which one ought to address the problem.  The answer lies not in further building up an infrastructure of coaching and tutorial establishments outside of our institutions of secondary and higher education, but rather in taking a good look into the mirror and putting down seeds into the hearts and minds of the parents and students at large, and in building a garden to grow and nurture from within the establishment.

Mr. Bachchan, this is another lovely feather in your cap, and Mr. Saif Ali Khan, you’re starting to show serious promise for roles beyond the usual song-and-dance man.  As for Mr. Prakash Jha– as director, you have my admiration for taking on a notoriously difficulty subject and building greater and deeper awareness that goes beyond the superficial.  Incidentally, that personal angle on Mr. Bachchan’s character wasn’t all that tedious when you think about it– it was an insightful study into a defense mechanism that has to be applauded as being one of the better human responses to a frustrating set of circumstances, and one that may even be emulated for all the strength of character it portrays.  Because we all know of course, that what won’t kill us will only make us stronger!