Review – Admissions Open

Admissions Open

Director : KD Satyam

Writing credits : Some unknown genius

Music : Amit Trivedi

Cast : Anupam Kher, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ankur Khanna

What goes for it : A superb execution of Bollywood’s absurd wave techniques

What goes against the audience : A short length. This should have been a 180 minute feature. I’m sure they could’ve stretched it to show some deeper insights into SPIRIT.

Cinemaa Opinion : 2010 is definitely the year of Bollywood’s Absurd Wave. Admissions Open is a beacon shining high. Scroll down for a detailed review.

The School of Absurd

• A newcomer cast with a smattering of industry veterans. Casting Pattern : Checked.
• The film starts with a scathing criticism of the education system on voiceover. And then it talks about revolution. Lofty Concepts : Checked.
• Mention of parental pressures, peer pressures, apathetic institutions, the rat-race. Multitude of issues : Checked.
• A slogan – Do what you’re born to do. An apparent genuine sincerity : Checked.
• The opening scene – a school farewell. Genuine sincerity makes way for intellectual inadequacies. Treatment Pattern : Checked.
• Remake of a Hollywood C-grader, Accepted. Source Quality : Checked.
• The rest of the movie – a rip-roaring unintentional comedy. All checks passed. Subject certified as a genuine Bollywood’s Absurd Wave product.

Caution : Educational Spoilers Ahead (and in the film too, literally)

Let me describe the opening scene in a little more detail. Passing out students come on stage in turns and recount their experiences. One teacher (the gruffy stereotype) is singled out by the kids, the target of jokes being him breaking wind, his nicknames etc. Gruffy fumes while the rest of the teachers glance around, disinterested. One student almost breaks into a commentary on his fantasies about the buxom lady teacher stereotype. Another munches on a burger. And finally, its the turn of our hero, Arjun (Ankur Khanna) to take the stage and establish the tone of the film in no uncertain terms by going a step ahead of all that the other students have done so far. The scene ends with Arjun being carried on the shoulders of his classmates, gruffy shouting at the top of his voice and the rest of the staff still glances around, just as disinterested as ever.

Arjun is an underachiever – the leader of the non-achiever pack from the school. His father is a “Great Computer Scientist” (sic) and his sister is following in the family footsteps of academic excellence. Since they don’t agree with Arjun, “great computer scientist” is reduced to a nagging bore while the sister is a compulsive whistle blower. To balance things though, even the brightest student of the school is part of Arjun’s pack. Though he just doesn’t fit in. He gets an admission into the best engineering college in town, while the worst reject the rest of the gang. He’s a squeaky coward, while the rest are brave originals since he doesn’t believe in lofty concepts without any grounding and the others swear by it. He drinks chai while the rest swig Pepsi. The demarcation is clear. The education system that exists today is black all over. A complete failure. And this cruel, insensitive system has only one solution. Tariq Siddiqui (Anupam Kher) and his “revolutionary” SPIRIT (South Pune Institute of Research & Information Technology).

Tariq, an ex-professor, who believed in the strength of academics suffers a personal shock (shown in a flashback and no points for guessing what) that converts him to the world’s most vociferous opponent of Pune’s cruel education system (the voiceover in the beginning made it crystal clear that the film is about Pune & Pune only). So, he concieves a revolutionary education format where there will be no admission tests, no evaluations, no structured courses, and will allow students to pick and choose whatever subjects they desire. The academic bedrock on which he lays the foundation of this college is a wasted Prof. Devang (Ashish Vidyarthi), who has ditched the book for the whisky flask. What tilts the scales in Devang’s favour are his intimidating nonsensical rants on creativity, excellence & synergy. He applies for accredition to the National Accredition Council but is turned down for good reasons. The non-achiever pack is impressed by his nonsense and join hands with him, promising him enough students so that he can start off and force the accredition council to clear SPIRIT. But alas, till the inauguration day eve, nobody other than the 5 protagonists are ready to fill the “admission forms”. Even the topper has been thrown out of the pack since he dared speak up against the brilliance of Prof. Siddiqui’s concept.

Come inauguration day, and SPIRIT receives a setback – Siddiqui conks off randomly. And the non-achievers are contemplating the future of the college over a pool table. Surprise!!! There are hundreds of students waiting for registrations. And inspired by the response, the non-achievers take upon themselves the responsibility of running the college. So, Arjun delivers a speech on the revolutionary college that all the misfits are going to be a part of and sets the wheels in motion. But there’s a problem. Nobody knows where Siddiqui had kept the format for the college. In come makeshift arrangements. A whiteboard is set up and all prospective students are asked to come up and write a subject of their choice. And viola, the college curriculum is ready. South Pune Institute of Research & Information Technology offers programs in Science, Dancing, Acting, Biking, Physical Fitness, Bhaigiri, Cooking & Music…okay, make that whatever the students want to learn. And the students are their own teachers too. Though Prof. Devang is still there as a tribute to the Drunken Master of the kung-fu films of yore – never tiring of his rants, still focussed on synergy.

The underachievers get a boost when they find Siddiqui’s format. So dumb were they, looking everywhere. All they needed to do was to walk down to the closest book shop and ask for a copy. It even had an ISBN bar-code on it. And by the looks of it, wasn’t worth more than a 100 rupees. Armed with the discovery, the pack starts the college academics and all the students get on with learning whatever they were born to do. Meanwhile, the education system is being bashed up into submission by the film’s writers. Kapil Sibal might as well want to take some cover. The “good” colleges are hotbeds of ragging, nobody cares to teach anything and the management couldn’t care any less. Topper & Arjun’s heartthrob reject their seats in the “good” college and go spiritual. Topper suddenly wants to be a painter and the girl adds modelling to the college’s curriculum. The new management cum student lobby cum housekeeping staff cum front office cum academic council of the college applies for accredition again. Poor things are turned down again…isn’t the system SO CRUEL?? But the SPIRITed ones have the final laugh in a climax sequences that Police Academy would’ve been proud of. An early end to a terrific laugh riot.

The film credits show the name of a media institute and I’m sure that it was the source of most of the “talent” that went into this film. Trust me, I so want to do a course there. Would be an experience of a lifetime. I’ll get to learn how to “act” like the “actors” in the film. I’ll learn how to make an impression by being loud like Ankur Khanna. Or I could learn the subtleties of body language from the student who wants to study bhaigiri. The female lead could be a coach of a lifetime for hamming up. And the villian (the “bad” student) could be a mentor in exuding menace on the screen through his acting…a menace that permeates right through to the audience, making them scared of his very presence on the screen. The veteran supporting cast leaves no stone unturned in providing their support to the youngsters. Anupam Kher is inspirational; Ashish Vidyarthi is super-inspirational, Rati Agnihotri is the epitome of motherhood and Sudesh Berry (Siddiqui’s family doctor) acts worth a lifetime in just one scene. When he lectures Anupam on his bad lifestyle, the mountains shake and I was pleasantly surprised that the theatre didn’t come down due to the siesmic waves he generated. By the way, I missed the scriptwriter’s name in the credits and have been scrounging the net to get it. So far, I’ve been unable to. Would be really grateful to anyone who could point me in the right direction. I want to worship this legend all my life. Amit Trivedi’s music was the only disappointment in the film…and I’m not being sarcastic here at all. The songs looked like unused leftovers from Dev D & Wake Up Sid. Nothing of note.

Which brings us to the man who helmed this masterpiece – KD Satyam. Another torchbearer of Bollywood’s absurd wave. Satyam’s direction style is far more yuppy and contemporary than his other counterparts – KRK (Deshdrohi) & Jagbir Dahiya (Kuch Kariye). He captures the angst of today’s youth brilliantly. What’s more important, he showcases a segment of the youth that has been criminally neglected by the film industry so far – the non-achievers. After all, wasn’t this the section of society that gave us Bill Gates & Dhirubhai Ambani? By giving the film a deeply anarchist tone, Satyam turns conventions over their head and works out this pseudo-realist satire on our education system. Most importantly – its great to see the absurd wave finally find its bearings in the film world. Not even half a year has passed and we already have 2 all-time greats from the school. Are we asking for more?