We have previously made our readers aware that the National Film Award winning lyricist and screenwriter Varun Grover, who had lent his writing skills for projects like ‘Masaan’ and ‘Sacred Games’, is making his directorial debut with a film titled ‘All India Rank’. The movie is slated for a theatrical release on 23rd February 2024. And earlier today, the film’s trailer was also revealed. Let’s see what it tells us about the film.
‘All India Rank’ trailer starts off with a boy who is sent away from his home to prepare for the IIT exam in a reputed coaching center. The trailer also shows how the protagonist struggles and bonds with his fellow mates and develops feelings for a girl while dealing with parental pressures. The underlying tone of the film has a rather light-hearted feel of ‘Kota Factory’ to it rather than the seriousness and emotional intensity of ‘12th Fail’. But it strikes a chord.
‘All India Rank’ is set in the 1990s period and the underlying story revolves around a middle-class seventeen-something boy named Vivek, who is sent to the famous coaching hub Kota to prepare for and get enrolled into one of the premium engineering institutes – the IITs. How the protagonist deals with his adolescence alongside the gruelling IIT prep and the parents’ expectations, ostensibly forms the film’s crux. Being an IIT graduate himself, ‘All India Rank’ is Varun Grover’s semi-autobiographical account of sorts.
Previously, several films and series have been made on the engineering exams / IIT preparation / UPSC preparation backdrop. The list includes ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Kota Factory’, ‘Laakhon Mein Ek Season-1’, ‘Aspirants’, and most recently Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘12th Fail’, amongst others. It would be interesting to see how different and insightful Varun Grover’s ‘All India Rank’ will be from the aforementioned titles. Stay tuned to Binged for the latest OTT and film industry updates.
एक लंबे सफ़र का हासिल, आपके नाम। थोड़ा अजीब है ये सोचना कि निर्देशक के रूप में मेरी पहली फ़िल्म का ट्रेलर आज आ गया।
— वरुण 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) February 5, 2024
Surreal & emotional moment that my directorial debut’s trailer is here - to be shared with the world.
ALL INDIA RANK releases 23rd Feb.https://t.co/wRjviDbojy