11 movies that you must watch this Teachers' Day

Naina, Rani Mukherjee’s character in Hichki, is a teacher who overcomes Tourette Syndrome, a neurological disorder which is characterised by repetitive, involuntary movements. She has to battle both her health condition and a group of unruly students, who because of their socio-economic situation, end up becoming rebels and troublemakers. Based on American motivational speaker and teacher Brad Cohen’s book, Front of the Class, the film captures the spirit of a teacher who goes from being ridiculed for her tics to earning the respect and admiration of the same set of students.

While it may not have made much of a splash in the box office, Chalk n Duster is noteworthy for bringing up a topic that needs to be addressed: that of the rampant corruption and privatisation that exists in the education system today. Vidya, played by Shabana Azmi and Jyoti, played by Juhi Chawla, are two teachers who are in the profession because of their passion for teaching. Their students love and respect them and all is well until their school gets taken over by a new management whose eyes are only on profits. The sincere teachers take on the system to protect a profession they love so much – teaching.

This jewel of a film by Amul Gupte has the director himself essay the role of a greedy teacher who loves to wolf down his students’ lunches. Verma (Gupte), who the kids call khadoos, turns his anger towards Stanley (played by Partho Gupte, his son) when he finds out that the students have been sharing their lunches with the boy. The movie highlights the fact that teachers are humans with faults too, and also captures the socio-economic differences that students face while at school.

If all teachers were like Ram Shankar Nikumbh, the art teacher played by Aamir Khan in Taare Zameen Par, the world would be a much happier place. India’s official entry into the 2009 Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category, brought the previously unexplored topic of learning disabilities into the fore by telling the story of Ishaan Awasti, a dyslexic 8-year-old, who finds solace in art. As Awasthi, played brilliantly by Darsheel Safary, retreats further into his cocoon, Nikumbh brings much cheer and fun into the classroom, and, in the process helps Awasthi overcome his disability.

This film reveals the relationship between a deaf and mute boy, Iqbal, played to perfection by Shreyas Talpade, and his coach and mentor Mohit, a former cricketer turned alcoholic, played by Naseeruddin Shah. With the support of Mohit, Iqbal overcomes hardships and realises his dream of playing for the national team. Iqbal won the National Award for the Best Film on Other Social issues.

A failed former captain of the Indian national hockey team coaches the Indian women’s hockey team to victory. The film, which became a huge hit, had Shah Rukh Khan play the pivotal role, and is partly based on a true story. Chak De explores themes such as bigotry, patriotism, racial discrimination, the step-sisterly treatment that women’s hockey is given in the country, and the role a good coach has in moulding a team. A must-watch this Teacher’s Day for Khan who plays the mentor to perfection, while battling against his own problems.

A film that broke all records, 3 Idiots is the story of three friends and a scatter-brained, narrow-minded principal (Boman Irani) who is a disciplinarian.
While Rancho, played by Aamir Khan, rebels against the system, Farhan (R Madhavan) is forced into taking up engineering while he actually wants to be a wildlife photographer. Raju (Sharman Joshi), on the other hand, is so depressed and worried about failing that he attempts to commit suicide.
Rancho takes things into his hands and proves that life is not all about studies and good results. The principal, Viru Sahastrabudhhe also undergoes a transformation after his daughters (Kareena Kapoor and Mona Singh) tell him that his son had committed suicide after he was unable to clear his engineering entrance exam.
3 Idiots throws light on the Indian mentality of forcing children into taking up subjects and courses that they are not inclined towards.

Inspired by Helen Keller’s life, the 2005 masterpiece by Sanjay Leela Bhansali portrays the relationship between a blind and deaf girl (played by Rani Mukherjee) and her teacher (Amitabh Bachchan). After guiding Michele (Mukherjee) to become a graduate while fighting against her family that disapproved of his harsh ways, Debraj Sahai (Bachhan) develops Alzheimers and drifts into oblivion. A must-watch for the heart-warming manner in which the student-teacher relationship has been portrayed.

‘Sir, sir, o Sir – We love You’ – the iconic anthem is from Mahesh Bhatt’s 1993 film Sir, which starred Naseeruddin Shah as a professor and Pooja Bhatt as his student. In the campus love story, Shah helps Bhatt overcome her stammering and is ready to even risk his life for his students.

Aparna Sen’s National Award winning film, 36 Chowringhee Lane tells the story of a lonely Anglo-Indian English teacher, the relationship she shares with her former student (Debashree Roy) and her lover (Dhritiman Chatterjee), who use her home to further their courtship and with her students to whom she teaches Shakespeare.
Violet, the teacher played by Jennifer Kendall, is a lonely soul whose days are spent with students who don’t share her passion for English, a dying brother and a black Tabby cat.
She finds joy and solace in the tea-time company she shares with Roy and Chatterjee, while they find her flat to be a convenient location for their daily rendezvous. The film ends in a bitter note, though, when Violet realises that she is alone and no one cares to listen to her or her poetry.

The 1972 drama partly inspired by the Sound of Music and based on a Bengali novel, Rangeen Uttarain by Raj Kumar Maitra, tells the story of Ravi (Jeetendra) a tutor who moulds five unruly children who live with their strict grandfather. In the process, Ravi falls in love with the eldest daughter (Jaya Bhaduri) and marries her, with the blessings of the grandfather.