Two weeks ago, a suicide note by a Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirant went viral online. It was the second suicide in a month in Kota, which is known for its coaching institutes that train students for engineering entrance exams. Incidentally, the next week, the trailer of All India Rank, which marks writer-lyricist-comic Varun Grover’s directorial debut, dropped online. When we sit down with Grover, our conversation naturally begins with the pressure that our education system thrusts on 17-year-olds. Imagine a world where a little girl feels it's easier to kill herself than go through with the JEE prep? He says, "Kids feeling pushed to harm themselves is a symptom of a much deeper issue.The whole idea that someone who is not even 18 has only two years to decide what they want to be in their lives and if they don't they will be stuck in a tunnel that they are making through a mountain. That mindset has been there since forever. This pressure is created by a whole system. The parents, peers, teachers at school. There is a success industry validated by reports like IIT-ian getting into Google and making a salary of 1 crores. These success stories are actually triggers for other kids because it tells them either be this or be a nobody. This push to be successful in life at 16 is too much when you've just hit puberty and you are still figuring out your body, feelings, surroundings. When you mention that you want to study history or arts, you are seen as a lesser mortal."

The JEE forms the film’s backdrop