National Award-winning filmmaker Prakash Jha’s next directorial Pareeksha-The Final Test is all set to start streaming on OTT platform Zee 5 soon after releasing online during the prestigious Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) on June 27. The festival called LOVE LIFF AT HOME will be on from June 25 to the July 5.
Thanks to the outbreak of COVID-19, films like Gulabo Sitabo, Ghoomketi, Shakuntala Devi, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl are getting digital release this year.
Pareeksha was recently premiered at the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in its Panorama section.
The film’s stellar cast comprising Adil Hussain, Priyanka Bose, Sanjay Suri and child actor Shubham Jha is excited about the movie’s release on the OTT platform.
The acclaimed filmmaker was inspired by real events and chose to make the movie as a sharp statement on the current education system of our country. It highlights how quality education can only be affordable by the rich vis a vis the poor who cannot still access it.
Pareeksha is about a rickshaw puller Bucchi who dreams of providing good education to his son and showcases the rough and dangerous journey that a father has to traverse for the same.
Talking about the inspiration behind the film Jha says in a press statement, “Shri Abhayanand is an IPS officer and educationist who while serving as the Police Chief in Bihar’s Naxal-infested areas, came across kids from those villages who were so bright with their native wisdom that they inspired him to begin coaching them to crack the IIT-JEE… the toughest exam/test which the young students must clear to be able to join one of the best educational institutes in the country. Their success had a great impact in the crime-infested badlands of Bihar and made a difference.”
The IPS officer who inspired Jha talked about his experience of working with Jha.
“I had in one of my conversations with Prakash Jha ji mentioned having met mathematically talented village urchins who couldn’t even afford to go to school in the Naxal belt of Aurangabad in Bihar. I started a special project of coaching such children who could make their way to IIT/NIT. Prakash ji requested me one day to associate with him and help in the scriptwriting and dialogue specially related to physics questions. I felt happy that Prakash ji was making a film on this sensitive socio-economic theme. I have seen this film end to end. The film is not a biopic but has brought the sensitivity involved in the issue at hand in all dimensions possible. May this film find its rightful place in the social niche it portrays,” said the officer.
Actor Adil Hussain who plays Bucchi in the film says he is “thrilled that Pareeksha is being screened at the London Indian Film Festival.”
Explaining his role, Hussain says, “It is a very important film of our time. It is the story of a brilliant boy being deprived of his right to education due to his poverty-stricken family.
The far-reaching consequences of such a situation is disastrous!” The internationally acclaimed actor is upbeat about the OTT release. “Covid 19 has locked us all in. OTT platforms are serving as the windows to the world of stories. But good stories matter a lot and they shape our worldview. Pareeksha is such a story, which will stir your heart. It will make you feel better that you witnessed something you thought not possible!”
Actress Priyanka Bose plays Radhika, the wife of the rickshaw puller. Bose who acted in the Oscar-nominated Indo-Australian movie Lion, is thrilled about the OTT release. She adds, “Pareeksha is a special film. I want to thank LIFF team for inviting our film. It brings a simple story and an important message across to the audiences. I’m super thrilled that this special film has found a platform like Zee. It’s such a wide audience. This film reaches out in such a positive way.”
In a statement to the press, actor-producer Sanjay Suri describes Pareeksha “as a film with its heart in the right place.”
“It is about a father who aspires to educate his child, a child who has the seed of a genius and an officer who waters that seed for it to grow. With adequate opportunity, many can bloom and that’s the message I carry from the film,” he said.
Describing his experience of working with the film’s cast and crew, Suri adds, “It was wonderful working with Prakash Jha, Adil, Priyanka Bose, Shubham, Sachin Krishn (DOP) and all the other crew members. I love Prakash Jha’s very early morning shifts and early evening pack-ups, it goes with my natural rhythm. Was a pleasure.”
Meanwhile, the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) is excited to host the UK premiere of the film. Cary Rajinder Sawhney, the MBE, Executive & Programming Director says: “the film’s compelling social concern theme aligns well with the Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival’s principles of championing the realistic experiences of everyday people’s lives in South Asia.” He adds that LIFF is delighted to work again with the acclaimed director and the film’s multi-talented lead Adil Hussain.