MumbaiOne hour agoWriter: Amit Karn
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The role of teachers in the formation of society has been important since time immemorial. Stars have also been getting a lot of popularity for decades due to the role of teachers in Bollywood. Be it ‘Chupke Chupke’, ‘Dillagi’, ‘Parichay’, ‘Exam’, ‘Professor’, or in recent years ‘Reservation’, ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘3 Idiots’ , ‘Super 30’ and ‘Hiccup’. This year, Vijay, who became a professor in South’s ‘Master’, set a different record. The fifth season of Netflix’s “Money Heist” streamed just a day before Teacher’s Day and features the main villain calling his fellow professor.
However, Hrithik Roshan and Rani Mukerji have given Bollywood the most successful films in terms of hero heroines playing the role of teachers. Rani Mukerji was in the role of teacher in ‘Hichki’. Its director Sidharth P Malhotra said, “This story is based on a true incident. Inspired by Brad Coen’s life in Atlanta. He suffers from Tourant syndrome. He is a very good friend of mine now. A book was written on his life. ‘Front of the Class’. My uncle Raj Mehta had asked me to read that book. Then we met Brad Coen. We wanted to do that story with the first male star. For six whole years I told that story to all the stars in the industry But everyone refused. Then I narrated Aditya Chopra at the behest of my wife. The stars had refused to do films, but Aditya Chopra said, save it. A wonderful film will be made on this.
Malhotra further added, “Then instead of the male star, we took the female star Rani Mukerji on board. Ganesh and Amber, who wrote ‘Balak Palak’, were on board. After 30 drafts, we finalized the script. Rani Mukerji also asked Brad Coen. She was in the role of a teacher suffering from Tourant Syndrome. The philosophy of the story was that if we make friends with our weaker aspects, who are our enemies, then our life will become easier.
The director said, “Rani Mukerji had only one condition regarding the shoot. Her shoot schedule should be from 7 to 12 in the morning. That is because her daughter Adira is asleep during that time. During that time she completes the shoot and then Adira wakes up. Earlier, she used to go home. She clearly said that she cannot miss a single moment of Adira’s childhood. We used to shoot again after 12 o’clock with the rest of the actors. In this way, we had only 35 days. I completed the film. Its making was 12 to 15 crores, but in India alone it did 60 crores. The business of the film in China was 160 crores. It was very successful.”
The lead artist of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ Darsheel Safari also spoke to Dainik Bhaskar. He told how Aamir Khan also trained him as a director and teacher on the sets. Darsheel said, “I was only 9 years old at that time. I got to learn the twelve stands of acting. It was not easy for Aamir sir, because that thing also he would understand to us as a child. I had to teach in the language. When I joined theater five years after that, I realized how smartly Aamir uncle had taught us all. That too, when Taare Zameen Par was his first film as a director. Sunset heads several times. But he used to take shots with the kids, still Aamir Uncle never lashed out at the kids. Aamir Uncle once invited us to his bungalow in Panchgani. Cooked food for everyone with his own hands. Main Toh Jain Toh Cooked a different dish for me. We watched Lagaan together. Played cricket too. To be honest, he has a great actor as well as a great teacher.”
Chetan Bhagat, referring to ‘3 Idiots’, said, “It was a take on our education system. Friendship, passion, an idea of entrepreneurship was expressed. It connected people and the film made history. The rest I teachers. I congratulate all the teachers of the country on this day. Teachers day is special every time. This time they also emerged as our real heroes like doctors, health workers. Teachers found themselves in new situations without any training in the covid period. He did not let his teaching pattern change overnight to hamper the future of the country’s fraternity. He fulfilled his duty by exceeding what is expected of him.
Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Super 30’ is also one of the most successful films on teachers. In this, he played the role of Patna’s famous teacher Anand Kumar. Anand Kumar himself said, “Hrithik Roshan always calls me Anand sir from the first meeting till now. Not only he, but Vikas Bahl’s parents also call me Anand sir. Being busy in computer game, he says after watching ‘Super 30’ that he also wants to become a teacher in future. Hrithik never called me Anand Kumar or Anand ji. Even a superstar like Hrithik addresses a teacher by his head. It is a big deal. In a recent meeting, Hrithik had said that because of me he got a chance to know the hidden teacher in his father too. Hrithik had earlier ordered my clothes of that era. We had ordered him old sweaters etc. from Bihar. He got so immersed in the character that it took him a long time to prepare for ‘War’ again. Also, after many years, he got a chance to eat the food of his childhood days. He ate a lot of samosas, pakodas etc.”
