National Award-winning
filmmaker Prakash Jha, whose every film has a strong social message attached to
it, is coming up with his next, “Pareeksha: The Final Test”, which he says
discusses the “huge gap between the haves and have nots in today’s time”.

Inspired by real life events, the story revolves around a rickshaw puller named
Buchchi, who dreams of giving his son good education. The film will get a
direct-to-digital release on Zee5. The film, which stars Adil Hussain, Sanjay
Suri, Priyanka Bose, and child artiste Shubham Jha, highlights the gaps in the
country’s education system.

Jha, while narrating the
trailer of his film, says the social inequality leads to division in the
education system. “There is a scene where a person tells Adil Hussain (who plays
the role of rickshaw puller)  that the
studies of this school is for educated kids and your child won’t be able to
settle here” “Irony is that even if you are celebrating 98 percent marks of a
driver’s son and asking him to keep up the good work and reach heights, how can
he do that when he doesn’t have social equality. This is the division in the
education system,” Jha told Opoyi.

“Pareeksha: The Final
Test” had its UK premiere on June 27 at the Bagri Foundation London Indian
Film Festival (LIFF). The film also had its India premiere at the 50th
International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in the Panorama section.

The film is inspired by the
real-life experience of IPS officer Abhayanand, former DGP of Bihar.
Abhayanand, while serving in Naxal-hit areas in Bihar, started coaching classes
for underprivileged children  along with
mathematician Anand Kumar, known for his Super 30 programme, to help them crack
IIT-JEE exams.

Jha, known for his critically-acclaimed
films such as Raajneeti, Apaharan, Gangaajal, Mrityudand and Damul, says that
he is neither a judge nor a commentator or educationist to pass his remarks on
the Indian education system, he is just a storyteller who is always in search
of good stories.

 “There are some stories that I feel must be
told and that’s why I pick them up,” he said. “Nowadays everyone wants to be a
manager or an engineer… There are families who work day in and day out to save
money for the education of their children. No college guarantees 100 per cent
placement so many management graduates end up in the hospitality industry, call
centres and many other odd jobs and all that after spending loads of money on
their degree,” the acclaimed filmmakers said, stressing that “In our system, we
somehow forgot what is history, literature, geography, civics philosophy,
psychology… hum padhna bhool hi gaye (we have forgotten how to study).” And
in this mad race, when you get to hear that a not-so-privileged bright child
made a mark all on his own, the story needs attention, he says.

 “When a child of an autorickshaw driver
becomes an IPS officer, these stories bring a ray of hope for many and must be
highlighted,” said Jha, who is happy that his film will reach to the wider
audience with the OTT release.

“OTT is a vast platform.
Yes, as filmmakers we want our films to get theatrical release but keeping in
mind the current scenario, you don’t know when that will happen. With digital
release, we are excited to show our films to a wider audience,” he said.