The series. Class, begins on a muddled note; it pans from a murder to a teenage boy who presumably committed it, gets ticketed as ‘mad’ by the police, and ends up for an interrogation. And it’s from this very facade that Ashim Ahluwalia showcased the hidden casteism the country lives by. As the boy’s name gets called out, “Dheeraj Kumar Valmiki”, the cops are rampant and quick to determine him from the ‘lower caste immediately’ and wonder how he got admitted to Hampton International.
The scene transitions to a flashback, and we see inundating ruins of a school and the teenage boy throwing a cold stare, narrating the incident and almost designating how he has not chosen to witness the viciousness but how the gore has been thrown at him to gulp it down.
The series further exalts to the premises of Hampton International. Dheeraj, the first narrator, who takes his first ride to the school on his bicycle, almost gets whipped by a rushing car. The car belongs to affluent scholars from Hampton. Here again, the director successfully documents the distinguishing note between the two classes.
Dheeraj, Saba and Balli arrive at the premises, and the first thing they get a hit off is ‘prejudices’ and ‘judgements’. What’s more, they feel immediately excluded from the crowd; and it gets prominence when Dheeraj spots Saba, and Saba feels content in finding him out of her ‘Ajeeb jagah’.
An overarching theme materialises throughout the eight runtimes, jam-packed with sex, drugs, and avarice: it can be challenging to possess and traverse the hierarchy in an elite academic setting. However, while you might find it a ‘mere school drama’, the coatings counted to it are too overwhelming to look upon. Moreover, it could be emotionally enfeebling for the ones who desert from certitude. Still, this constant provoking of ‘elitism’ could be way more catastrophic than you ever envisioned; therefore, things take a sinister turn in the process.
The Indian adaptation of Class profoundly concentrates on the scrimping and ethnic diversity between the castes, which are germane to India, even while scouting motifs of minority oppression, religious bigotry, and queer persecution. However, it hits realism when the heads of Hampton thinks it to be a prospect to ‘promote’ their school in gapes to ‘serving the underprivileged’. So, it’s invariably becoming a frolicking of accumulating names, and in the end, nobody really cares about the labour-class.
Verdict
The series, from the stables of Bodhi Tree Entertainment, holds its strings to the mystery on a wholesome frame, not making it a mere romanticised school drama. Inclusion of shots and interrogations of the students. It’s to say that the director harbours cunning and pulpy suspense throughout with an ideal Indian narrative. Also, that’s what keeps it standing out from its Spanish counterpart and makes it a concrete, entertaining watch.
IWMBuzz rates it 4 stars.