Super 30

Category :TradingPublished on Nov-15-2019 08:37:32

The word super might be a stretch to describe Hrithik Roshan’s new film Super 30, even if it does chronicle the inspiring true story of Anand Kumar, the mathematician and educationist from Bihar who has helped hundreds of poor students crack the rigorous IIT entrance exams. It’s a remarkable achievement – Anand Kumar’s commitment to ensure that education does not remain the exclusive privilege of those with deep pockets – and it’s one that deserves to be celebrated. But director Vikas Bahl and writer Sanjeev Dutta don’t seem convinced about the inherent dramatic potential of their protagonist’s story, choosing therefore to exaggerate details, omit crucial facts, and dial up the melodrama in order to raise the stakes.

Hrithik, who looks nothing like the real Anand Kumar, is slathered with brown face and body paint, thus reinforcing the embarrassing Bollywood stereotype of the dark-skinned ‘poor Indian’. The actor nevertheless imbues the character, especially in the film’s early bits, with charming innocence. We first meet him as a young math genius, the son of a humble postman in Patna, who lands then loses a scholarship to Cambridge because his family can’t afford to send him to England. In one of the film’s most heartbreaking scenes, Anand desperately appeals to an unscrupulous minister to make good on his promise for financial support.