Age of uncertain futures is not bygone

I was discussing a research topic with a colleague. The name of a movie popped up in conversation , Ankush (1986), itni shakti hume dena data…wali movie…I decided to watch Ankush this weekend with bollywood drama expectations, assuming I would encounter a dated cinematic narrative whose relevance had long faded. But, film did not feel like a historical artefact; it felt like a diagnostic lens through which I could reinterpret many of the anxieties I observe among Indian youth today. This realisation complex me to inquire into how certain structural tensions persist across time, even as their outward forms change.

The first striking continuity lies in the representation of suspended aspiration. The four young men in the film, frequently dismissed as idle, occupy a social position that is neither fully excluded nor meaningfully integrated. This condition finds a contemporary analogue, albeit in transformed spaces. Today’s “street corner” is often digital rather than physical. It appears in prolonged engagement with job portals, professional networking platforms, and algorithmically curated feeds that promise opportunity while simultaneously amplifying competition. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted by the National Statistical Office, youth unemployment rates (typically defined for individuals aged 15–29) have remained substantially higher than the national average, with urban educated youth facing particularly acute challenges in securing stable employment. This empirical pattern suggests that the condition depicted in the film is not merely narrative exaggeration but resonates with enduring structural constraints.

This tension becomes more pronounced when one considers the expanding role of education. Arjun’s predicament as an unemployed engineering graduate illustrates a contradiction that has intensified in contemporary India: the rapid expansion of higher education has not been matched by commensurate growth in high-quality employment. Data from the All India Survey on Higher Education indicate a steady increase in enrolment over the past decade, reflecting both demographic pressure and aspirational investment by households. However, labour market absorption remains uneven. The outcome is not a simple absence of jobs but a misalignment between qualifications and available opportunities. In analytical terms, this reflects a structural lag, where institutional expansion in one domain outpaces adjustment in another.

it is necessary to avoid an overly linear comparison. Contemporary youth inhabit a markedly different economic environment characterised by globalisation, technological integration, and the proliferation of new occupational forms. These transformations have generated opportunities that were unavailable in the early 1980s. Yet they have also introduced new uncertainties. The rise of platform-based work exemplifies this duality. Reports by NITI Aayog estimate that India’s gig workforce may expand to over 20 million workers in the near future. Such work offers flexibility and entry points into income generation, but it often lacks stability, social security, and long-term progression. Thus, the issue is not simply scarcity of work but the changing quality and predictability of employment.

The film’s depiction of institutional failure invites a further, more cautious reflection on legitimacy and trust. In Ankush, the failure of justice is narratively central, but its sociological significance lies in how individuals interpret institutional outcomes. Contemporary evidence suggests a more complex picture. While India’s judicial system continues to function as a key site of redress, it also faces well-documented challenges, including case backlogs and delays. Data from the National Judicial Data Grid indicate millions of pending cases across courts, which can shape public perceptions of accessibility and efficiency. It would be analytically imprecise to equate cinematic representation with empirical reality; however, it is reasonable to suggest that perceptions of procedural delay or opacity can influence how young people evaluate institutional reliability.

This brings the discussion to the question of generational experience. It is tempting to describe “Gen Z” as uniformly disillusioned, but such a characterisation would obscure significant internal variation. Youth experiences in India are stratified by class, caste, gender, and region. For some, digital economies and global connectivity have expanded horizons; for others, structural constraints remain binding. What can be observed with greater confidence is a shared exposure to uncertainty. The transition from education to stable employment has become less predictable, and the markers of success have become more diffuse. In this sense, uncertainty functions not as a universal condition but as a widely distributed risk.

An analogy may clarify this shift. Earlier developmental trajectories resembled a relatively linear pathway, where progression from education to employment, though never guaranteed, followed a broadly recognisable sequence. Today, the pathway resembles a branching network with multiple entry and exit points, frequent reversals, and uneven rewards. Individuals navigate this network with varying resources, which significantly shapes their outcomes. The result is not the disappearance of aspiration but its fragmentation across competing and often unstable avenues.

The enduring relevance of Ankush therefore lies not in its specific narrative events but in its articulation of a structural misalignment between aspiration and opportunity. This misalignment does not manifest identically across decades, yet its underlying logic persists. When educational systems expand expectations without corresponding labour market transformation, and when institutional processes struggle to maintain perceived fairness and efficiency, conditions emerge in which uncertainty becomes a defining feature of youth experience.

As I reflect on the film in relation to contemporary realities, I am less inclined to treat it as a commentary on a bygone era and more as a reminder of an unresolved structural question. The challenge is not simply to generate opportunities, but to ensure that institutional arrangements evolve in a manner that can absorb, reward, and stabilise the aspirations they help produce. Without such alignment, each successive generation may find itself confronting variations of the same predicament, even as the context continues to change.