Pareeksha trailer: Raises a cry for the right to good education for all 

The trailer of Prakash Jha’s upcoming film Pareeksha: The Final Test (2020) offers glimpses of the struggle that a poor rickshaw puller goes through to ensure his son gets a good quality education. Starring Adil Hussain and Sanjay Suri in the lead, the film, based on a real-life story, promises to explore the issue of unequal opportunities for the underprivileged for something as basic as education.

Incidents of children from an underprivileged background not getting access to good education in a society which benefits only the privileged, are reported almost every day. The unfair bias towards people of certain communities has also driven some of them to suicide.

The films's title, Pareeksha or examination is apt as it firstly signifies the remarkable journey of the rickshaw puller's son as he appears for an exam, but also the struggle for identity in a society that refuses to recognise his potential. The struggle here turns into the most challenging examination itself.

The trailer also focuses on the importance of education for every section of society. Through the hints of the rickshaw puller’s conflicts with a local politician and the depiction of the members of the administrative department of a renowned private school, which only wishes to profit by admitting children of rich parents, the film attempts to argue for the right to education for all.

Hussain seems to have nailed his avatar as a dedicated, humble yet undaunted father of a promising son. The passion for education is apparent in the sequence in which he merrily sings 'Ba Ba Black Sheep' while driving children to school in his van.

Suri, on the other hand, plays the saviour police officer, aiding Hussain in his quest. The film also features Priyanka Bose, who plays Hussain's wife and child artiste Shubham Jha. 

While Saket Chaudhary's Hindi Medium (2017) and Homi Adajania's English Medium (2020) have taken a humorous approach in telling stories about a father’s struggle to ensure his child gets the best education, Pareeksha seems to address the reality as it is. It also raises a voice against the hierarchy of power in our society. 

Pareeksha: The Final Test will premiere on Zee5 on 6 August. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to watch the film.