All India Rank Review - Finds The Control, Not The Equation

All India Rank Review: After the success of Kota Factory, Aspirants, and 12th Fail, Varun Grover decided to go ahead with All India Rank, but was that a wise decision? Let's see both sides. Positive: Yes, it might be a good idea considering that the audience is interested in watching such stories. Negative: If the audience has already seen and liked those other projects, what's left to be seen? He should have thought about it, especially while writing this script, because there is hardly anything in this film to excite you. I agree; there is a funny humour and an apt 90s feel, but that's not enough. The drama, emotions, and whole motive fail to generate a proper viewing experience. Some things are incredibly nice since nobody has thought about such intellectual segments, but overall, it couldn't pass the IIT of the cinema world.Lucknow-based Vivek (Bodhisatwa Sharma) is sent to Kota for the ITT preps by his father, RK Singh (Shashi Bhushan). Vivek isn't sure whether he really wants to pass the IIT or is just doing it for his papa's forced dreams, but his confused mind is overlapped by the surroundings of the IIT's jungle. The school topper starts realising that his fake ego of being smart is nothing in front of these people because everyone here is a topper. Earlier, it was a race to find a topper amongst commoners, but now it's a race to find the topper amongst toppers. This philosophy is true; I can assure you that because I have gone through it. The writing felt quite interesting until here, but after this, the film started losing its flow. Vivek befriends a couple of boys and a girl, Sarika Kumari (Samta Sudiksha). As expected, Vivek and Sarika fall in love, but is it going to disturb their studies? In the meantime, we have another story running back in Vivek's hometown. Vivek's father and mother are both in trouble, so now Vivek must conquer the fort of IIT to take charge of his family as a responsible son.The film lasts for about 100 minutes, and that's why it never feels boring. What doesn't score is the screenwriting. After a while, it seems like the story is stuck at a point. It just denies moving ahead. For what? We don't know. And when we know the reason at the end, we ask ourselves, What was the meaning of the whole plot when one had to lose (find) the control in the end? AIR seriously has some serious issues with its writing, especially the conclusion, which I agree, to some extent, is true, but somehow doesn't inspire you. And such films can't be safe if they think they can do without being an inspirational drama in today's times.Grover has written some good—I mean, some really good—scenes and dialogues. The 90s feel is so visible—be it QSQT, Mansoor Khan, Aamir Khan (late 80s, though), Shah Rukh from Darr, Washing Powder Nirma, PCO, or a few TV ads here and there. Grover's nuances make you believe in the era it is set in. Another impressive thing was the extremely creative animation stuff narrating Vivek's thought process. I'd also like to add some praise for the realistic touch Grover has given to the film, the characters, and the locations. The hero does not have to look like a "hero," the heroine does not have to project a glamorous "heroine" image, and the ending does not have to be forcefully "positive," as we have seen in recent years. Despite these positives, All India Rank somewhere loses its rank due to bad merits.All the actors looked natural and composed. Bodhisattva Sharma is not your Bollywood movie hero, but a real IIT student. Shashi Bhushan is like a parody of an engineer, while Samta Sudiksha is your simple college crush—not a monthly-chaging national crush, I repeat, not a "national crush." Sheeba Chaddha is too friendly to be a teacher, and that too in the 90s? You must be kidding. Geeta Agarwal, Neeraj, Sadat Khan, and Ayush Pandey were decent in their roles. AIR's technical aspects seemed fine considering the moderate budget it has. The production value didn't compromise the needs of the story. The editing could have been better, and the cinematography was just okay. Director Varun Grover has tried something new—something off the regular beats—but it wasn't enough. I couldn't relate to the humour being so vulgar for the 90s' India, and some sexual aspirations were out of context. It was an attempt to give a closer look at the lives of the people, but I think it just downgraded the quality of the product. Final words: the film needed to study more to pass the exam. It found the control by the end, but not the equation of science, life, and cinema.