The decision by India's supreme court to establish caste-based reservations for jobs in education causes conflict between a teacher and his mentor.
Acting
Bachchan's trembling righteousness vs. Bajpayee's smug villainy.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes Sanskrit shlokas against systemic injustice.
Director
Prakash Jha
Amitabh Bachchan
Prabhakar Anand
Saif Ali Khan
Deepak Kumar
Deepika Padukone
Poorvi Anand
Manoj Bajpayee
Mithilesh Kumar Singh
Prateik Smita Patil
Sushant Seth
Aanchal Munjal
Muniya S. Yadav
Hema Malini
Shakuntala Thakral (Guest Appearance)
Tanvi Azmi
Mrs.Anand
Mukesh Tiwari
Police Inspector
Yashpal Sharma
Shambhu Kaka
Darshan Jariwala
Anirudh Prasad
Rajeev Verma
Damodar Seth
Saurabh Shukla
Education Minister
Sonal Jha
Shanti Bua
Sumeet Vyas
Teacher
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during live national debates on OBC quotas, the film's release was blocked in several states for 'inciting tension'—Jha sued and won.
Saif Ali Khan's casting as a Dalit character sparked controversy about upper-caste actors in reservation narratives, a debate the film never addresses within its own story.
IN
