Aarakshan (Hindi: आरक्षण, translation: Reservation) is an upcoming Hindi film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone. Directed by Prakash Jha, it is a high voltage socio-political drama based on the controversial policies of caste based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. Like the majority of Jha's films, it takes on issues about the society and political affairs of India. Most of the shooting took place in Minal Residency, Oriental College, Upper Lake in Bhopal.[1] The film also stars Prateik Babbar andManoj Bajpai and is set to release on August 12, 2011.
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[edit]Cast
- Amitabh Bachchan as Prabhakar Anand
- Saif Ali Khan as Deepak Kumar
- Deepika Padukone as Poorbi Anand
- Manoj Bajpayee as Mithilesh Singh
- Prateik Babbar as Sushant Seth
- Tanvi Azmi
- Hema Malini
- Chetan Pandit
- Mukesh Tiwari
- Yashpal Sharma
- Darshan Jariwala
- Saurabh Shukla
- Vinay Apte
- Anita Kanwar
- S. M. Zaheer
- Aanchal Munjal
- Rahul Daksh
[edit]Production
The shooting began on 15 January 2011. Director Prakash Jha finished casting but the male lead was not finalized. Ajay Devgn was first considered for the role, however Ajay had many other projects in hand, including Golmaal 3 and Singham. So Jha decided to cast Saif Ali Khan.[2] Khan literally found it very hard to juggle between two films at once because he had to learn Sanskrit for his role in the film. The shooting finished in early March 2011.
[edit]Soundtrack
| Aarakshan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original CD Cover | ||||
| Soundtrack album by Shankar Ehsaan Loy | ||||
| Released | 11 July 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2011 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Hindi | |||
| Label | Sony BMG | |||
| Producer | Prakash Jha | |||
| Shankar Ehsaan Loy chronology | ||||
| ||||
The soundtrack is composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The album consists of six tracks. The soundtrack features the vocal talents of Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghosal, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Raman Mahadevan, Shankar Mahadevan and classical singer Pandit Channulal Mishra. The concept of song "Kaun Si Dor" was of Prasoon Joshi, the songwriter of the album, who came up with the first lines of the song. The trio then went on to develop the song, and roped in Channulal Mishra, who agreed to sing the song as per their request.[3] The Soundtrack was released on 11 July 2011.
All lyrics written by Prasoon Joshi, all music composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.
| Track listing[4] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Achha Lagta Hai" | Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal | 3:57 | ||||||
| 2. | "Mauka" | Mahalakshmi Iyer, Raman Mahadevan, Tarun Sagar, Gaurav Gupta & Rehan Khan | 4:51 | ||||||
| 3. | "Kaun Si Dor" | Channulal Mishra, Shreya Ghoshal | 5:45 | ||||||
| 4. | "Roshanee" | Shankar Mahadevan | 4:37 | ||||||
| 5. | "Saans Albeli" | Channulal Mishra | 3:14 | ||||||
| 6. | "Mauka (Remix)" | Abhijit Vaghani | 3:26 | ||||||
[edit]Reception
Upon release, the album received generally mixed reviews from the critics. IANS review stated that "the composers to churn out a chart-buster with Aarakshan."[5] 'Planet Bollywood felt thatPrasoon Joshi - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy "failed to create the same magic as in Taare Zameen Par."[6]
Sheetal Tiwari of Bollyspice, in her review review, described the soundtrack as "brilliant with an astounding lyrical quality." She also praised the composer trio for "their versatility to compose for any subject."[7] Karthik of Milliblog, described the album as "short and lively",[8] while Harshit of HappySing called the album "a small treat of four songs from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Prasoon Joshi."[9]
[edit]Controversy
In the first week of May 2011, civic authorities in Bhopal bulldozed the sets of Aarakshan because it was erected on disputed land.[10]
Some pro-Dalit groups in Kanpur protested Saif Ali Khan being cast in the role of a Dalit.[11] They objected to the actor's royal background and saw his role of a so-called Dalit as an insult to the community.[12]
[edit]References
- ^ "Big B in Bhopal".
- ^ IANS (10 December 2010). "Saif Ali replaces Ajay Devgan in 'Aarakshan'". Real Bollywood. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bxt5rf6XaA
- ^ "'Aarakshan' songs have universal appeal: Jha - Movies News - Bollywood - ibnlive". Ibnlive.in.com. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
- ^ "Music Review: Aarakshan". Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- ^ "Aarakshan - music review by Mitesh Saraf". Planet Bollywood. 2011-07-05. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- ^ "Aarakshan Music Review". BollySpice. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- ^ Posted by Karthik (2011-07-14). "Aarakshan (Music review), Hindi – Shankar Ehsaan Loy & Prasoon Joshi by Milliblog!". Itwofs.com. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- ^ Posted by Harshit (2011-07-13). "Aarakshan Music Review (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Prasoon Joshi)". HappySing. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- ^ Sets of 'Aarakshan' bulldozed, Prakash Jha upset
- ^ Aarakshan upsets So-called-Dalit group
- ^ Flak for Saif’s Dalit act
