After the humongous global success of S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ and the widespread critical acclaim acquired by Shaunak Sen’s ‘All That Breathes’, another Indian movie, has now made the Indian film industry proud on an international platform, albeit quietly.
A slice-of-life dramedy film called ‘All India Rank’, helmed by screenwriter and lyricist Varun Grover (in his directorial debut), recently had its world premiere at the 2023 edition of the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). And the unique record created by this Indian film is that ‘All India Rank’ has become the first ever Indian movie to be given the honour of being the closing film of the IFFR film fest in a span of fifty-two years.
National Film Award winner Varun Grover, who had previously lent his writing skills for projects like ‘Masaan’ and ‘Sacred Games’, thanked the festival audiences for the warm reception. The IFFR audience seemed to be in awe of the Indian film ‘All India Rank’ and gave it a round of applause after its screening.
Set in the 1990s period, the underlying story of ‘All India Rank’ 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 backdrop. The list includes ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Kota Factory’, ‘Laakhon Mein Ek Season-1’, and ‘Alma Matters’, amongst others. It would be interesting to see how different and insightful Varun Grover’s ‘All India Rank’ will be from the aforementioned titles. The theatrical / OTT release date for ‘All India Rank’ in India is yet to be announced by the makers. Stay tuned to Binged until then.