Great Games
The term “Great Games” (inspired by the French term Le grand jeu suggesting risk, chance and deception) was coined in the 19th century to frame the rivalry between the competing British and Russian Empires over dominating Asia.
From the writer of Pyaar ke Side Effects and Shaadi ke Side Effects- Hindi Medium is an initiative towards ‘educational’ cinema as the film tries to tutor the audience about the concept of education.
The family-oriented movie endeavours to catch the glimpse of Indian parents in the modern generation with its satirical approach and features Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar in the lead roles. In India, English is not a language but a class where every parent wants their children to belong. While this was the scenario a decade ago, it has just worsened with time. Parents now not only want their kids to learn English as a language but want to inculcate the ‘English class’ sophistication in them as soon as they are born.
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Earlier the pressure was only on the students to fit in the society, now the parents have also taken part in this preposterous race. Tillotama Shome with her brilliant performance as an education consultant, projects this condition in the Indian society with her satirical sequence.
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The casting director has done a brilliant job while the screenplay lacks smooth transitions in various places. The first act of the movie has comical lengths of a couple Irrfan Khan (Raj Batra) and Saba Qamar (Mita) leaving no stone unturned to get their daughter admitted into one of the A-grade schools in the city.
In the second-half, Deepak Dobriyal surprisingly outshines Irrfan Khan with his outstanding performance. He uplifts the monotonous act and takes it to a new direction.
He teaches the family ‘the art of poverty’ and brings the plight of the poor into the limelight. Deepak’s character creates thought provoking moments for the Indian parents who relate to the satire almost completely. The middle-class population of our country is shown to suffer the most from such classist ideas in the society.
Neither do they belong to the elitist members nor can they have the privileges of that of a lower class family.
The story slowly provokes sentimental emotions as it proceeds with Right to Education Act for the unprivileged kids come into the picture. It’s the end that dilutes the success of the film. While the story begins with subtle commentary on the hypocritical and prejudicial society, it gradually becomes a flat storyline preaching the idea excessively to get into the head of the audience. What started as a fresh approach towards social issues became a narrative with moralising connotations.
However, the film deserves applaud for the attempt to spread the important message of education and corruption in the society. It is a worth watch for the audience.
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