All India Rank marks the feature film debut of director Varun Grover. He picks up an interesting story and in some places, one does feel the pain of thousands of students who arrive in Kota dreaming of a better future. A few scenes stand out while the homage to the 90s life is sweet. But overall, the 98-minute-long film is dry and hardly has any story. It doesn’t go anywhere. The finale is the biggest minus point as the film ends on an abrupt and unconvincing note. That it arrives when 12th Fail is fresh in the minds of viewers also goes against this flick as both the films are kind of based on a similar idea. The performances thankfully make the film watchable. Bodhisattva Sharma puts up a very honest performance. Samta Sudiksha (Sarika Kumari) is very likeable. Shashi Bhushan (R K Singh) is decent while Geeta Agarwal Sharma (Manju), who has been seen in many films of late, leaves a mark. Sheeba Chaddha is superb in a chirpy character. The others do well. All in all, All India Rank fails to impress.
My rating – ** out of 5!