BOLLYWOOD GOES TO THE CLASSROOM
Filmmakers and experts talk about why films about education system are growing popular
Bollywood films with plots that revolve around the Indian education system — a field that has intrigue, scandal, action, tension, hooliganism et
al in spades — are becoming more and more common.
The Irrfan Khan-starrer Hindi Medium, which focused on Indian parents’ desire to enrol their children in ‘elite’ schools, shook up the box office and was widely acclaimed in 2017. This year, the buzz is around the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30, which is about the life of education pioneer Anand Kumar, a mathematician and mentor to underprivileged children. Movie buffs are also talking about the Emraan Hashmi-starrer Cheat India, which was described as “an edge-of-the-seat drama inspired by real incidents in the Indian education system” in a tweet by the actor.
Soumik Sen, who directed Gulaab Gang (2014), is helming Cheat India. The Indian education system, according to Soumik, is “flawed”. He says, “In our country, securing a job is the most important problem, and that’s linked to higher education. We load our children with degrees and there’s a mad rush to get into colleges. There’s this constant pressure to be better than the rest. Our education system is flawed,” he says, adding, “My upcoming film is for students who are under pressure to excel in a competitive environment.
Soumiks’s film’s title suggests that the plot might deal with students’ desperate attempts to be crowned as ‘top students’.
In 2016, there were two education-oriented Bollywood films: Chalk n Duster, starring Shabana Azmi and Juhi Chawla, which talked about the commercialisation of the Indian private education system; and Rough Book (2016), starring Tannishtha Chatterjee, on the division among students on the basis of their grades.
The success of Hindi Medium has also spawned a sequel, which is slated to go on the floors later in 2018. Filmmaker Saket Chaudhary, the man behind Hindi Medium, says that he decided to make the movie, as he wanted to showcase the desperation of parents who wanted better prospects for their children and a “better future” for them. He muses, “Education is considered a means of stability in our country. I feel that more such films should be made, as these are relatively untouched areas. If more movies are made about such topics, then there’ll be more focus on the issues prevalent in the [education] system.”
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh feels that Bollywood filmmakers are taking up such subjects not so much to do an exposé on the education system, but because they think the stories have novelty and commercial viability. “It must be exciting for filmmakers to talk about it. The subject must have appealed to them,” he says, adding, “Also, if stars are ready to do such films, then I think it’s always interesting for filmmakers to take up such stories.”