Bollywood has invested heavily in biopics this decade and following this trend is the Hrithik Roshan film Super 30. It tells the real-life story of mathematician Anand Kumar from Bihar, known for his free coaching program called Super 30—A free-of-cost training program that aims at taking the poor-yet-talented students into the cutthroat competition of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), with an eye on securing admission to the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology). The program has seen 422 students out of 480 succeed in this quest since 2002, garnering attention even from the international media.
Set in the 1990s, the film sees the journey of Anand Kumar (Hrithik Roshan) from his younger days as a math genius to a full-fledged tutor who is the talk of Patna town. Born into a middle class family—his father was a clerk at the postal department—nothing came easy for Anand, but he was determined to excel in studies, defying all odds. With his father’s unconditional backing and his brother’s assurance, he dared to dream, only for his ambitions to hit a road block. What happens thereafter, and his subsequent journey towards the globally acclaimed program will leave you engrossed.
After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, Hrithik is back on screen and he puts in an affable performance as the inspirational teacher. Generally known for his dapper looks, this is a role that demands him to be stripped of the style quotient and glamour. The make-up team has done their bit to present Hrithik as the struggling Bihari genius with a unique approach to teaching students as his Greek God-like facial features present a challenge to make him look craggy and rough. Nevertheless, the final output is decent and Hrithik manages to pull off efficiently.
The key element of any biopic is its ability to marry the real and reel in terms of story-telling. Considering that Anand’s success story is widely known across the globe, director Vikas Bahl has tried to stay true to the core plot in the first half. It’s post-interval that he decides to take some cinematic liberty in executing the success story of the Super 30 program through a series of unconventional sequences that are interesting but half-baked in terms of execution. In addition to this, a few scenes do reek of excessive melodrama.
Writer Sanjeev Dutta comes up with some well-conceived sequences, but their execution on-screen could have been better. Having made us all root for the shy and unassuming Rani in his second directorial venture Queen, Bahl isn’t able to captivate the audience with what is an inspirational real-life story. The pace of the film is a little sluggish as it does take its own time in unfolding.
The film still manages to engage for which credit should go to Hrithik’s performance. In terms of spontaneity, this has to be right up there among his finest performances. The purists may be critical of his diction which isn’t inch-perfect (but certainly workable) but his emoting skills are exemplary, especially in the sequences that demand subtlety. His camaraderie with the students is a treat to watch and is core to the film’s denouement.
Virendra Saxena (as Anand’s dad) is reliable as always in a cameo appearance while Nandish Singh (as Anand’s brother) is understated yet efficient. Aditya Srivastava plays the antagonist as a ruthless businessman.
The performances are what keep the film going, along with the fact that it’s a real-life story that deals with the relevant topic of ‘education for all’. Perhaps, a more visionary director could have made the film flawless in all aspects. Despite the slightly slow screenplay and melodramatic moments, Super 30 is a decent watch as Hrithik manages to keep you glued with his honest performance. After all, in this world of cutthroat competition, every town wishes for an Anand Kumar to help crack the exams.
