Matchbox Shots’Â All India Rank (UA) is the story of a young man who is sent to the highly competitive Kota to prepare for the IIT entrance examination.
Vivek Singh (Bodhisattva Sharma) is being pressurised by his father to go to Kota for preparing for the highly competitive IIT examinations. Vivek is not keen because he is not sure whether he would ever qualify. But he obliges his father and goes to Kota where he is under tension and feels quite frustrated. To add to his tale of woes, a friend commits suicide in Kota because of being betrayed by friends. Vivek keeps complaining to his parents that he is unhappy in Kota although they keep struggling to fund his education. What happens finally? Does Vivek Singh qualify?
Varun Grover has written a very half-baked and silly script. The story does not have much substance and till interval point, there’s almost no progression. His screenplay is so weak that it actually tests the audience’s patience. The viewers often wonder why Grover wrote this drama or whether he is against IITians or in favour of them, whether he is all for the highly competitive examinations or against them. His thought process appears too confused to be true as the drama often meanders here and there — and aimlessly so! Vivek Singh endlessly whining about his Kota education seems silly, especially because he knows that his parents are moving heaven and earth to raise money for his studies. Varun Grover’s dialogues are alright.
Bodhisattva Sharma is average as Vivek Singh. Samta Sudiksha does fairly well in the role of Sarika Kumari. Shashi Bhushan is fair in the role of Vivek’s father, R.K. Singh. Geeta Agarwal makes her mark as Vivek’s mother. Sheeba Chaddha lends decent support as Bundela madame. Neeraj is alright as Chandan Rai. Ayush Pandey is okay as Rinku Yadav. Saadat Khan provides ordinary support as Mohit Verma.
Varun Grover’s direction is poor — and that’s putting it mildly. The film often becomes abstract. Mayukh-Mainak’s music is below the mark. Their background music is ordinary. Varun Grover’s lyrics are quite good. Vijay Ganguly’s choreography is functional. Archana Ghangrekar’s cinematography is so-so. Prachi Deshpande’s production designing is hardly worth a mention. Sanyukta Kaza’s editing ought to have been tighter.
On the whole, All India Rank is such a dull film that it may stand last in the ranking of films released this year so far.
Released on 23-2-’24 at Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Karmic Films. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.