Shiksha Mandal: Strong Performances Make It Worth A Watch
Yogendra is freelance writer
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By Yogendra
First publised on 2022-11-13 11:16:15
About the Author
Yogendra is freelance writer
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The Vyapam education scam in Madhya Pradesh has spawned many screen stories and Shiksha Mandal is latest in the line. The MX Player series starts off so strongly that one braces for a few hours of exciting binge-watching. But sadly, despite a contemporary story of huge interest and a super strong cast, the series cannot hold the promise displayed in the opening sequence where a fraudster sitting for the medical paper for someone else is caught by the flying squad and escapes narrowly.
If Shiksha Mandal is made watchable despite its obvious flaws (uninspired writing and flawed execution), it is mainly due to Pavan Malhotra as the crime lord Dhansu Yadav and Gulshan Devaiah as Aditya, a simple middle-class teacher who runs a medical exam coaching centre in Bhopal; and to some extent Gauhar Khan who plays Anuradha, the head of the STF team deputed to investigate the murder of an influential politician.
The story revolves around the murder of the politicians son and the disappearance of Aditya's sister on the day the results of the medical exams are announced. It is then that Aditya discovers that his sister sat for the exam for someone else. He also discovers that she was blackmailed into doing so and another lead connects her disappearance with the murder of the politician's son. It is in Aditya's quest to find his sister and Anuradha's mission to nail the killers that the story moves and shows how Dhansu Yadav and a mysterious 'Boss', along with bit players like the one who talks in English and lisps (so gross for comic relief in this age and time), have a stranglehold on the Shiksha Mandal (education department) and how they buy or blackmail toppers into sitting for others' exams and fleece the parents of medical aspirants. The whole gamut of irregularities like false admit cards, blank or half-filled answer sheets, fake degrees and rank swapping are all included in the deadly game being played by 'boss' through his network. Despite the blood, gore and snappy movement, the whole does not turn out to be as exciting as it could have been.
But Pavan Malhotra is menacing as Dhansu Yadav that he manages to scare just with his eyes and does not need to pick up a weapon. Gulshan Devaiah is also wonderful as the teacher who has relationship problems but gives his all to discover his sister. If Shiksha Mandal is worth a watch, it is only to see these two fine actors at the top of their craft in an otherwise average series.
