It is always good to have certain expectations with a biggie. After all, when an actor [Hrithik Roshan] picks a hitherto unexplored subject offered by a capable director [Vikas Behl – Queen], invests two and a half years of his life into it, has a major producer [Sajid Nadiadwala] backing it up and then battles all challenges en route release to ensure that something exciting is presented to the audience, you know that the film has to be special.
Well, this is how Super 30 turns out to be. It is super, and it is special.
The film is of course fictionalised to a major extent even though it is based on the real life story of mathematician Anand Kumar. It makes sense as well because with the Bollywood entertainment quotient coming into play, Super 30 turns out to be far more engaging than it could possibly have been had the story been narrated as is without the masala element.
Well, it is this masala element that keeps the narrative of Super 30 exciting for most part of it. With all the drama that ensues and the thrills that take place in the last 30 minutes, it turns out to be a paisa vasool experience indeed. You cheer for the character played by Hrithik Roshan right from the beginning when he gets an offer from Cambridge University no less, feel sad for him when he is ridiculed by those in power [Pankaj Tripathi], root for him when he gets a big opportunity by education mafia [Aditya Srivastava], hope for newer life for him when he establishes his own institute with his brother [Nandish Singh], expect the unexpected when he gets help from an unknown entity [Amit Sadh] and then celebrate as he sets up his team of Super 30 for success.
That’s how Super 30 turn out to be – a film that could as well have been termed as unbelievable had it not been based on a real life entity. Of course, in this entire turn of events, it is surprisingly the over-realism quotient at certain junctures of the film where you feel that the drama has turned a bit overbearing. While there is nothing wrong in emotional manipulation (we have seen Raj Kumar Hirani do that umpteenth number of times), it is the manner in which it is done that makes you uncomfortable a couple of times. After all, there is as much as ‘gareebi’ and ‘laachari’ that you can digest, especially after the point has been made and you want the story to proceed at a much rapid pace.
This is the reason why at certain places the songs really take forward the narrative (‘Paisa’ is the highlight of the film) whereas at others they makes it sluggish (‘Basanti’ could well have been just a couple of minutes long and that’s about it). However, when the entire team of Super 30 comes together in a powerful climax where the battle of good versus evil brings on all the action, you are engrossed in the proceedings and even find yourself clapping and cheering aloud for them all.
While the entire team of supporting actors does its job well, the man of the moment – Hrithik Roshan – does quite well to ensure that all eyes are on him when the episodes unfold. He is someone who gets into the character well but still you do see his star presence making a strong mark as well, which ensures that there is a balance in his performance. Just watch him hold a couple of scenes in each half of the film with just his expressions and no dialogues, and you would know.
As a whole too, Super 30 does well in striking a balance between telling a commercial tale while maintaining the sanctity of real life episodes, hence turning out to be a film that definitely deserves a big screen watch.