Angrezi Medium

Hindi Medium (2017) was a path-breaking film about a couple's desire to get their daughter admitted to a good school. They try all sorts of loopholes to get that done. Angrezi Medium takes the idea forward and applies it to higher education on foreign shores. It's about a daughter's dream to study in a premier college in London and a father's determination to see the dream through.

Starting the story providing a real corny meaning of dad, we see a confused kid Champak (Irrfan Khan) who grows up being a single parent to a teenager. Tarika aka Taru (Radhika Madan) is a mediocre student trying to end up in top 3 just to attain the scholarship for a university in London. After a 'she gets it but don't' scenario, we see Champak juggling between the decision of keeping or letting his daughter go.

Angrezi Medium seems to need an excuse for its existence. Putting the ailing Irrfan back on the screen could be one of them. Until the gifted actor gets completely back in the game, it will have to do. Irrfan's first release since he was diagnosed with a neuroendrocine tumour in 2018 is a spiritual sequel to Saket Chaudhary's 2017 hit Hindi Medium.

Champak Bansal (Khan), owner of a famous mithai-shop in Udaipur, has been confused all his life. This, or that? Now or later? But there's never been any confusion when it comes to his daughter Tarika aka Taru (Madan): what she wants, she will get.

Hindi Medium's satirical journey looks at a set of parents switching between upscale to destitute lifestyles in a desperate bid to get their kid admitted in a prized school. Somewhere along the way, things become too far-fetched and preachy while making its point on elitism in education.

Sometimes, when you go to catch a film, it is best to leave your expectations at home. Often, all high expectations get you after those two hours is disappointment. That was somewhat my feelings after watching Homi Adajania's Angrezi Medium, a sequel to Saket Chaudhary's Hindi Medium. Perhaps, the first film set the bar so high that it is almost impossible to go past it.

Angrezi Medium's opening does not bode well for what is to come. Text on a black screen at the start offers an amusing definition of the Hindi word "pita" and while translating that definition into English, mistranslates "pita" as "parent". Ummm, "pita" is "father".

Angrezi Medium opens with a slate that defines a parent as "a strange creature with the profound ability to love its offspring irrationally". It's a fitting description, as pretty much anyone who's raised a child will tell you, and an especially accurate one in the case of this film's protagonist.

A simpleton from Udaipur Champak Bansal (Irrfan) who has the tendency to be confused from time to time belongs to the age old legacy of the famous chain of sweet delicacies Ghasitaram's. The happy go lucky Champak is blessed with a sweet teenage daughter, Tarika (Radhika Madan). One day, Tarika expresses her strong desire to study in a prestigious university in London.

Champak Bansal (Irrfan) is a simple, small-town businessman - one of the owner's of Ghasitaram sweet shop chain - who's leading a comfortable life with his teenage daughter, Tarika (Radhika Madan). But, Tarika has big dreams - of graduating from a recognised university in London. With little means to fulfil his daughter's ambition, how far will the father go to ensure Tarika realises her 'videshi aspirations'?

The man Irrfan Khan fleshes out with effort to spare in Homi Adajania's Angrezi Medium has a comic flaw. Champak Bansal, Udaipur mithai shop owner and single parent, is forever in two minds. Yes or no, this or that, here or there: he is inevitably pulled in contrary directions whenever he has to make a life-altering decision.

One Word Review... AngreziMedium: MEDIOCRE. Pales when compared to its predecessor #HindiMedium... Appeals in parts, not in totality... Writing of convenience... #Irrfan and #DeepakDobriyal superb. #RadhikaMadan decent. #Kareena, #Dimple wasted. #AngreziMediumReview