B.A. Pass – Film Review
Inspired it maybe…But Dark & Real it looks….
Film: BA Pass.
Producer: Narendra Singh & Ajay Bahl
Director: Ajay Bahl
Cast: Shilpa Shukla, Shadab Kamal, Rajesh Sharma, Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
Rating: 
The film is dark, very dark, because no where during the whole narrative you come across a ray of light nor shall we say a ray of hope for the doomed & disastrous young teenager on the threshold of achieving B.A Pass degree. Having lost his parents & at the Mercy of his Bua & having to take care of his two younger sisters, Mukesh (Shadab) moves to Delhi. Adapted from Mohan Sinhas short story, “Railway Aunty”- somehow the scenes appear so dark & brutally real, that you realize that director Ajay Bahl’s efforts are fully justified. Mukesh in his efforts to make two ends meet-does not get tuitions of children’s, but gets tuitions in the art of making love & giving it back to the auntiji’s of upper strata of society, who are sexually starved but loaded with the moolah!
His initiation into the gory game of lust, kinky sex & seduction is masterminded by blatantly sensuous & sex hungry seductress auntiji (Sarika)- Shilpa Shukla -who wastes no time once he is in her domain & not only satiates her carnal cravings but trains him to use his expertise on other species of her kind & her knowing. Mukesh not only earns his share but earns for Sarika Ji too.
There is one point in the film which appears imposed forcefully, and that is Mukesh’s going to the graveyard as if it is a coffee cafe hangout, and playing chess, and in the process seeking a friend in a grave digger Johnny (Dibyendu Bhattacharya) who also loves to play chess. It appears a clear cut ploy on the part of the director to make the plot grimmer & darker to go with the tone of the film, to the extent that Mukesh goes & sleeps in the graveyard when he is lost & aimless.
The film does push across a point that how a person sometimes becomes so helpless that his faculty of taking decisions is negated by some forceful situations he encounters in life & succumbs to the temptation of an easy way out.
This film belongs to Shilpa Shukla for an effortless portrayal of a character she has executed with utmost precision & perfection. She is so cold bloodedly flirtatious & frank in her sexcapades that given the situation, Mukesh gets into the groove of the act, equally with ease & discomfort initially, but with time becomes it.
That is the power Shilpa has generated in her performance, to involve the other characters to react equally, be it her husband or her old in law. Shadabs angst, because of deprivation, desperation, & betrayal of trust is visible in the range of emotions he displays, & virtually pulls off an incredibly difficult role that creates an impact of sorts. Dibyendu Bhattacharya is equally comfortable & accurate in his portrayal of a dark character of grave digger.
At 95 minutes, the film does have its gripping moments as the drama unfolds, but in all its depiction, debutant director Ajay Bahl pushes an envelope on the double faced, and double standard attitude of our society & fibre of moral value system it thrives on.
Worth a watch for its bold take on reality cinema !!!
