The docuseries offers a few interesting perspectives, but misses the mark overall!
“There are only two types of engineers the ones who are IITians, and those who wish they were IITians.” This pompous statement marks the beginning of the three-part docuseries, which attempts to show us student life in IIT Kharagpur. The series then informs us that Kharagpur was established by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951 to ‘show the world how far India could go’, adding that the IIT acceptance rate is more stringent than Ivy-league universities.
Director Pratik Patra and Prashant Raj are IIT alumni, and the insider’s gaze shows. Unfortunately, it often leaves out outsiders with no connection to the IIT experience. And so, the series, which is undoubtedly interesting in parts, unfolds like a family movie with inside jokes. So enclosed is the storytelling that interviewees are introduced as ‘Ashok Da Azad Hall’ which make no sense to an outsider.
Alma Matters: Inside the IIT Dream Review, Ep 1: A deep dive into IIT Kharagpur cracks the entertainment code
Alma Matters: Inside the IIT Dream chronicles IIT Kharagpur s history and current scenario to understand and breakdown the grandeur behind the Indian Institute of Technology. Written By
Sanjana Jadhav 9356 reads Mumbai Updated: May 14, 2021 03:25 pm Alma Matters: Inside the IIT Dream Review, Ep 1: A deep dive into IIT Kharagpur cracks the entertainment code.
Alma Matters
Alma Matters Stars: 3/5
With Netflix bringing ample of Indian content to its streaming platform, this week instead of a film, we get to see the docuseries Alma Matters: Inside the IIT Dream. The show is divided into almost three 50-minute long episodes and takes us inside some of the brightest brains of the country and their engineering dreams. However, Alma Matters begins on a quite different note.