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National Award winner lyricist, storyteller, comedian – Varun Grover is making his directorial debut with his upcoming film, All India Rank. The movie tells the story of a 17-year-old Vivek who is sent away from home to a prep school to get ready for the entrance examination to the highly competitive IIT, the MIT of India. Ahead of the film’s release, Varun sat down for an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble and opened up about AIR, Kota suicides and societal pressure on kids in the grab of coaching culture.
Varun Grover talks about All India Rank
Talking about AIR (All India Rank), Varun said, “This particular story is very personal. It comes from my own life, a chapter of my life of preparing for IIT coaching and the kind of stress I went through, the kind of stress I saw in other kids around me go through, and the way the society treats you in that one year. Woh saari cheezein mere liye bohot personal si thi aur woh kahaani mein likhna chahta tha isse pehle ki mein bhul jaau ya mein aur cheezon mein busy ho jaau. It was so personal that I did not want to give this script to any other director.”
Furthermore, Varun shared his thoughts on Kota student suicides and said, “It is so depressing. It is so heartbreaking to see that every few weeks there’s another kid struggling, another kid trying to reach out to their parents but not able to, and then sometimes ending their lives. It’s a systemic failure, not just the failures of their parents and coaching system. The entire system has made this obsession with clearing a competitive exam and have the ‘be all and everything’ of their lives.”
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He added, “At 16 or 17 years of age, puri zindagi aapke aage hai. You can be anyone and anything. And still, woh feeling di jaati hai ki iss saal agar aapne nahi clear kia toh zindagi bhar loser rahoge. Yeh bohot saalon se, bohot saare ne di hai. And that feeling bohot buri hoti hai. 17 aur 18 saal ke bacche hai, unhone duniya nahi dekhi hai. They have no access to mental health, practitioners or any kind of therapy. For them, this is the end of life. The system has to change and that awareness has to come from all the parts of society. And I feel, yes, coaching institutes are major culprits in this game because they are monetizing it.”
Varun went on to add, “Maine dekha tha ek ad on social media. It’s an actual ad jispe likha tha ‘Gadhe ko bhi physics pada de’. Even if you’re not interested in physics, you are bad at that particular subject, we will teach you. Parents feel ki humara baccha baaki sab theek hi kar raha hai, then physics woh gadhe ko pada sakta hai toh tumko pada hi dega toh jaao pado. So that and the reverse language that if you don’t study, you’re a loser for the rest of your life. That is putting so much burden and hopefully it changes if everyone wakes up from this hysteria.”
All India Rank is slated to release on 23rd February, 2024.
Watch the interview:
