Reliance Entertainment, HRX Films, Phantom and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment’s Super 30 is inspired by the life story of renowned mathematician Anand Kumar.
Anand Kumar (Hrithik Roshan) is a supremely bright student in school and is a mathematics genius. He hails from Bihar and comes from a lower middle-class family. His father (Virendra Saxena) works in the post-office while his mother (Sadhana Singh Shahabadi) is a housewife. He also has a brother (Nandish Singh).
Due to Anand Kumar’s genius, he gets an opportunity from the esteemed Cambridge University to study there but despite his father’s best efforts, the family is unable to make arrangements for the Cambridge education. Anand Kumar is crestfallen but the worst is yet to come. His father dies suddenly, leaving the family in an impoverished state. Anand Kumar is forced to sell papad from door to door to sustain the family.
Lallan Singh (Aditya Srivastava) spots him selling papad, recalls seeing him in school when he (Lallan Singh) had accompanied the minister (Pankaj Tripathi), and makes a fantastic offer to Anand – to teach in the IIT entrance coaching classes being run by him for the minister. Anand joins the faculty of Lallan Singh’s coaching classes because of which Lallan Singh zips ahead of competition by leaps and bounds as Anand Kumar is a name to reckon with. Anand Kumar and his family are now financially very secure.
Since the coaching classes can be afforded only by rich students, Anand Kumar soon realises that the poor students cannot benefit by his teaching. He recalls his father’s words when Anand was trying to send the solution to a very tough mathematical problem to a foreign magazine for publication – that the crown would now belong to the deserving, not to the king’s son! That does it. Anand resigns from the coaching classes and starts to teach deserving students from extremely poor families – that too for free! Not just that, Anand Kumar also provides for the lodging and boarding of the students numbering 30 in all. His students put their heart and soul into studies.
Students studying in Lallan Singh’s coaching classes and their parents are unhappy that Anand Kumar is no longer a faculty member. They complain to Lallan Singh, prompting the latter to try and lure Anand to return to teach his students. But when Anand is unwilling to budge, Lallan Singh tries to browbeat and even threaten him. Still, Anand is adamant. But soon, Anand is at his wits’ end as all his financial resources begin to get depleted. His students have to often go without meals. Finally, Anand goes to Lallan Singh when all else fails. Lallan Singh offers him a challenge which Anand accepts. What is the challenge? Does Anand win or lose?
Soon, there’s an attack on Anand Kumar. A grievously injured Anand is rushed to hospital but the doctor is unwilling to attend to him. Additionally, news comes in that the villains are on their way to the hospital to kill Anand Kumar. Who are these villains? What do Anand Kumar’s family and his students do? Does Anand get medication? How? Do the villains succeed in their sinister plan or are they beaten at their own game?
Soon, it’s time for the IIT entrance examination. Anand Kumar’s students appear for the examination. Finally, it’s D-day. The results are due to be declared – and Anand, his brother and his students are nervous as hell. What happens then?
Sanjeev Dutta has written a story which is both, inspirational and emotional. The story keeps the audience thoroughly engaged and involved. The difficulties which come in the way of the selfless Anand Kumar and his financially weak students and the manner in which they surmount them make for interesting viewing. Sanjeev Dutta’s screenplay is fantastic. The first half has some truly fun moments but it also has some extremely emotional moments. There are some claptrap moments also. The screenplay dips post-interval for a while but soon gains momentum. Once again, there are several emotional moments in the second half too and several scenes which will be met with thunderous applause. The climax is such a tear-jerker that the audience will cry, weep and sob.
Some of the truly terrific scenes which deserve special mention are: the scene in which a peon gives a million-dollar tip to Anand Kumar; the scene in which Anand Kumar expresses his gratitude to the peon; the scene in which Anand and his father seek financial assistance from the minister; the scene in which Anand Kumar gets up from his chair when he is called up on the dais by Lallan Singh to make an important announcement; the scene when he does make the announcement; the scene in which Anand Kumar’s non-English-speaking students make asses of themselves by speaking English in front of the English-speaking students but then, they even sing a song in English; the scene in which the ward boy in the hospital reacts to Anand Kumar lying unattended on a stretcher; the action sequence in the hospital; and the high-on-emotions climax. The scenes which will make the audience laugh out loud are the ones in which Anand Kumar’s mother explains to her husband why she doesn’t need her shawl as also the scene in which Anand Kumar explains why his girlfriend (Mrunal Thakur) is not as beautiful as she thinks, and also the scene in which his ex-girlfriend is travelling in the car with her husband (Manav Gohil).
Dialogues, penned by Sanjeev Dutta, are absolute gems. They reach straight to the heart. The dialogue about the condition of the roads being so bad that poor people like Anand Kumar have been forced to take huge leaps is an example of the brilliance of the dialogue writer.
Hrithik Roshan delivers an award-winning performance. His entire look, his demeanour, his style of talking, his accent, his gait, and, of course, his acting are all so extraordinary that he will win lots of applause as the hero of the film. His emotional breakdown is mind-blowing. Mrunal Thakur makes an impressive debut in a brief role. She is a natural actress and has good screen presence. Nandish Singh lends lovely support as Anand’s brother. Aditya Srivastava is pretty effective as Lallan Singh. Pankaj Tripathi (as the minister) leaves a wonderful mark with his inimitable acting but he has limited scenes. Virendra Saxena is splendid as Anand’s father. In the role of Anand’s mother, Sadhana Singh Shahabadi stands her own. Vijay Verma makes his presence beautifully felt as Fuga. Amit Sadh makes his mark in a special appearance. Rajesh Sharma (in a special appearance) and Chittaranjan Giri have their moments. Manav Gohil stands out even in a minuscule role. Karishma Lala Sharma, Paritosh Sand (as the father of Anand’s girlfriend), Susheel Pandey (as the peon in the library), Vijay Kumar (as the head librarian), and Gyan Prakash Pandey (as the assistant librarian) provide good support. All the students of Anand Kumar’s class are fantastic. The students of Lallan Singh’s classes also lend decent support.
Vikas Bahl’s direction deserves a lot of praise. He has handled the subject with immense sensitivity and proves that his understanding of human emotions is superb. Kudos to him for converting the story about a mathematician’s life into a heart-touching human drama. The cycle chain analogy is superb. Ajay-Atul’s music is good and goes perfectly with the film’s mood. The ‘Basanti don’t dance’ song is appealing in its own way. The other songs are also nice. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are good. Song picturisations (by Ganesh Acharya and Vijay Ganguly) are in synch with the mood of the film. Ajay-Atul’s background music is phenomenal. It heightens the impact of scenes to a large extent. Anay Goswamy’s cinematography is of a high order. Allan Amin’s action and stunt scenes are realistic. Production designing (by Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborty) is of a fine standard. Sreekar Prasad’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Super 30 is a hit film, no questions asked. It will reach the Rs. 100-crore mark pretty fast and it has bright chances of touching the Rs. 150-crore mark. It will do the best business in multiplexes and also in good single-screen cinemas of cities. Collections are bound to pick up as the positive word of mouth gains momentum.
Released on 12-7-’19 at Regal (daily 4 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Pictures Ltd. Publicity: quite good, qualitatively speaking; fair, quantitatively speaking. Opening: good. …….Also released all over. Opening ranged from fair to good everywhere.