'Reservation') is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language political drama film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Deepika Padukone, and Prateik Babbar.

In 2008, Deepak Kumar (Saif Ali Khan), an MSc topper, is at an interview for the teacher's post at an affluent school.

Deepak is comforted by his friend, Sushant (Prateik Babbar), an upper-caste boy, and his girlfriend, Poorvi (Deepika Padukone), who is Dr. Anand's daughter.

The minister decides to install his own man, Dr. Mithilesh Singh (Manoj Bajpayee), on the STM college board.

When asked by a reporter, Dr. Anand shares his personal opinion – that some form of reservation, free of politics and economics, is good for society.

He begins teaching small groups of needy and backward students from the bastee (nearby neighbourhood), at the cowshed.

The situation is diffused by the arrival of Shakuntala Tai, the reclusive magnate who started the STM institutions.

Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan learnt teaching skills in mathematics from Bihar's Super 30 founder Anand Kumar.

[3] Most of the film's shooting took place in Minal Residency, Oriental College, Upper Lake in Bhopal.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated it with 4 stars and said – "On the whole, Aarakshan communicates an engaging story with very relatable characters.

[6] Dainik Bhaskar awarded three stars in their review and wrote – "Watch it for the conflicts between the characters and an outstanding performance by Amitabh Bachchan.

"[8] Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and said: "Given all the pre-release brouhaha over its emotive subject matter (leading to several states banning its public screening), Aarakshan is quite a copout.

It ends up being more about the depredations of the nation’s education mafia than the vexed question of job and college quotas for backward caste candidates and its fallout.

But the dramatisation of the conflict over the quota raj that divides India down the middle tends to border on the excessively shrill, if not completely shallow.

[10] The controversial film has received a compliment from unlikely quarters in Chhattisgarh with the state Scheduled Tribes Commission seeking a tax-free status for the Amitabh Bachchan starrer.

[11] Sukanya Venkatraghavan of Filmfare gave it 2 stars out of 5, stating "The problem with Aarakshan is its meandering graph.

It starts off solidly enough, keeping up a pace that will engross you until interval time except for two totally unnecessary songs.

From there on, the film sheds its theme of ideals and becomes a one on one contest that, to put it really tritely, is a tug of war between two coaching classes.

The dialogue is strong and opinionated and actors like Saif Ali Khan and Manoj Bajpai do everything to get you to like the film (...)Aarakshan has all the right intentions but it is a tad confusing in its stance.

"[12] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "a deathly boring slog" and adding: "With so much to say, the movie drags on endlessly, with over-written scenes, over-the-top emotions and dialogues that are so heavy, they end up being inaccessible.

[21] Aarakshan's total worldwide net collections after three weeks were Rs 645 million[citation needed] making it a below average movie.

Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood hungama gave it 2 out of 5 stars and said: "Aarakshan doesn't boast of the kind of score that has in it to make waves commercially since almost all songs mainly have a situational appeal to them.

"[24] "Mauka" was voted the best song in IRDS Film awards 2011 by Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), a Lucknow-based Civil society for depicting the contradictory positions being taken on reservation by its opponents and supporters[25] In early May 2011, civic authorities in Bhopal bulldozed the sets of Aarakshan because it was erected on disputed land.

[30] Mayawati government banned the film in UP for two months on grounds that it could create law and order problem in the state.

[31] National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) viewed the movie after getting complaints of its objectionable content.

[33] Prakash Jha and producers of Aarakshan moved the Supreme Court to lift the ban on the film in the three states.