Hindi
The movie loses plot after second half
Mumbai: Aarakshan, as the title suggests, is an issue-based film, that of reservation for the various underprivileged sections of the Indian society. The theme itself defines its audience between those who care about the issue and those who will want to watch it for its entertainment quotient.
The film has already become a victim of a section of politicians and a cause for major media debate, having been banned in certain states despite being duly censored. This deters makers from attempting a film on social debate in future.
Amitabh Bachchan, befitting his personality, is a very principled head of an institution run by a trust which he has taken to top position in the state where every parent wants his ward to study.
However, there are those who resent his steadfastness, such as Manoj Bajpayee, the vice principal of the college. While Amitabh Bachchan believes in maintaining the honour of the profession of imparting knowledge, Bajpayee considers it a money making business and against the college‘s policy, runs his own coaching classes. Also a party to his plans is a politician, Saurabh Shukla, and a college trustee whose son has been denied admission on the grounds of merit.
They finally manage to remove Amitabh Bachchan from his post and install Manoj Bajpayee as the principal. All this occurs in the backdrop of the debate over the reservation policy endorsed by the Supreme Court.
So far so good, as the film exudes some youthful atmosphere, romance and some verbal encounters over the reservation policy. But as it moves to its second half, the film loses the plot; things like Manoj Bajpayee taking possession of Amitabh Bachchan‘s house and opening a thriving coaching class there is farfetched as is the latter‘s opening free coaching class in a stable across the street for poor with no bar on others to counter Manoj Bajpayee‘s greed and ambitions.
The free coaching class, known as Tabela Class, soon draws pupils in hordes including many from Manoj Bajpayee‘s classes. The film then stretches its honest Vs corrupt and greedy politicians and administrators while glorifying endlessly the protagonist‘s virtues in a most predictable style, seen in scores of films before. It finally reaches a climax in the most routine way with the institutions chief patron, Hema Malini, popping up suddenly from her 32-year hiatus.
The script is insipid and the direction lacks the expected flashes of brilliance. The pace is too slow. Musical score does not lend much to the proceedings. Editing is slack. Bachchan is his usual self while Tanvi Azmi‘s casting gives the cast some freshness. Saif Ali Khan and Prateik are good and jell well as friends. Deepika is passable. Bajpayee is convincing as a conniving tutor.
Aarakshan in totality is a dry film with a debate on a system few would be interested in even over a drink; as a film certainly not.
Hindi
Jio Studios unveils AI-powered Krishna teaser at NAB Show 2026
Global first look of Krishna uses Galleri5 AI pipeline on Azure, Historyverse slate as Jio’s Dhurandhar crosses Rs 3,000cr worldwide.
MUMBAI: Krishna has just dropped a divine teaser and this time the gods are powered by silicon, not just scripture. Jio Studios and Collective Studios’ Historyverse stole the spotlight at the NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas with the world’s first teaser for their upcoming theatrical feature Krishna, directed by Manu Anand. The big reveal happened during Microsoft’s keynote “Powering Intelligent Media, From AI Experimentation to Real-World Impact,” where the film’s AI-native production pipeline took centre stage alongside Collective Artists Network’s in-house platform, Galleri5.
At the heart of this mythological spectacle lies a fresh cinematic workflow built by Galleri5 on Microsoft Azure’s advanced AI and cloud infrastructure. Forget bolting AI onto traditional VFX or animation, this is an end-to-end, production-grade system woven into every layer: world-building, character creation, shot design and final output. Yet the storytelling remains firmly director-led, emphasising emotional depth, stillness, music and performance rather than pure spectacle. The result? Large-format theatrical cinema rooted in Indian history and culture, but conceived in ways that were simply not possible before.
Collective Artists Network runs Galleri5 natively on Azure, leveraging Microsoft Foundry and cutting-edge AI tools to handle film, episodic and advertising workflows in a secure enterprise environment. Microsoft highlighted Collective as a “Frontier” organisation successfully moving AI from pilot projects to real production-scale deployment in cinema. The technology is also on display at Microsoft’s NAB booth in the West Hall (Booth W1731).
Jio Studios (Media & Content Business, Reliance Industries), president Jyoti Deshpande said the project advances the studio’s mission to take Indian stories global with scale, ambition and authenticity, “With Krishna, we are embracing cutting-edge AI-led filmmaking while democratising these tools to make them more accessible, intuitive and cost-effective for storytellers everywhere.”
Collective Artists Network founder & group CEO Vijay Subramaniam added, “We’re using technology developed in India to carry our culture and history to audiences worldwide at a scale never seen before.”
Microsoft, vice president for telco media & entertainment, gaming Silvia Candiani noted that the media industry has reached an inflection point, “AI is no longer about experimentation but delivering real impact at production scale… By building AI-native creative systems on Microsoft Azure, Collective exemplifies how storytellers can unlock new formats, move faster and realise a true return on intelligence while keeping human creativity at the centre.”
Krishna forms part of Historyverse, Collective Studios’ ambitious slate of history and culture-driven IPs. The slate draws from iconic figures and traditions that shaped the Indian subcontinent, including stories inspired by Kali, Karna and Durga. It builds on the already-released Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh series, showing how ancient narratives can be reimagined for modern screens.
Jio Studios, India’s leading content studio and the media and content arm of Reliance Industries, continues its blockbuster run. The studio’s Dhurandhar franchise led by Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge has become the first Indian film series to cross Rs 3,000 crore worldwide. It also delivered three consecutive years of India’s highest-grossing Hindi films: Stree 2 (2024), Dhurandhar (2025) and Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026). In just eight years, Jio Studios has assembled a library of over 160 films and series, with more than 60 titles winning over 500 awards. Other notable successes include Laapataa Ladies (India’s official Oscar entry 2025), Stree, Article 370, Shaitaan and Mrs.
The NAB unveiling marks another step in Jio Studios and Collective’s push to blend Indian storytelling talent with frontier technology proving that the future of cinema may well be both ancient in spirit and thoroughly modern in execution. For audiences who love epic tales with a fresh twist, Krishna promises to deliver divine drama, this time with a little help from the cloud.
