A true story of Dr. Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, who was suspended from his job because of his sexual orientation, movie ‘Aligarh’ was screened at Ravindra Bhavan on Saturday.
Aligarh is a 2016 Indian biographical drama film directed by Hansal Mehta and written by Apurva Asrani. It stars Manoj Bajpayee and Rajkummar Rao in the lead roles.
Set in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, it is the true story of Ramchandra Siras, a professor of Marathi and the head of the Modern Indian languages Faculty at the famed Aligarh Muslim University, who was suspended on grounds of morality. He was also sacked from his position of Reader and Chair of Modern Indian languages.
The film starts at the moment when the professor’s privacy is invaded by a film crew from a local TV station who forcibly enters his house and film him in objectionable condition with a rickshaw-puller. Siras is forced to leave his housing at the university, and is suspended from his job. He is contacted by a journalist who is sympathetic to him, and his case is taken up in court. The court rules in his favour and Siras' suspension is revoked, but before he can return to work, he is found dead.
The film had its world premiere at the 20th Busan International Film Festival, receiving a standing ovation. The film was released worldwide on February 26 2016 to critical acclaim. Bajpayee won critical acclaim and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Ramchandra Siras.
