Hindi Medium (2017)

Director: Saket Chaudhary

Story: Zeenat Lakhani and Saket Chaudhary

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Saba Qamar, Deepak Dobriyal

Music: Sachin-Jigar

Time: 132 minutes

Bottom-line: A family comedy with a powerful message; one of the best of 2017!

The 2017 comedy-drama film by Saket Chaudhary gives a much-needed wake-up call to all the parents in India who dream of a good schooling for their children. The film stars Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar in the lead roles, with Deepak Dobriyal, Swati Das and Deshita Sehgal in the supporting roles. Hindi Medium is one of the highest grossing Indian films till date.

Raj Batra (Khan) is an opulent businessman with his own boutique at Chandni Chowk, Delhi. He lives with his wife, Mita (Qamar), and his daughter, Pia (Sehgal). Raj is simple, unaware of the ways of the rich, while Mita is far more sophisticated. Both of them want their daughter to study in a top English-medium school in Delhi. Their primary target is Delhi Grammar School, which grants admission only to people within a 3-kilometre radius, so the family shifts to a new house. When they find out that parents are also interviewed for the admission, they take up “coaching”, but it fails to work. Raj tries to illegally get admission through the RTE Act, meant for the families with low earnings. When the school starts to catch parents who involve in this illegal activity, Raj and Mita have no choice but to pose as a poverty-stricken family. Does it work? Or are they exposed?

 

Irrfan as Raj (left), Sehgal as Pia, and Qamar as Mita

To be honest, education in India is slowly becoming a nightmare, and Hindi Medium gives an insight into the convoluted process of getting a kindergarten admission! Stories of parents waiting in long queues throughout the day, stories of parents taking counselling etc., while possibly slightly exaggerated in the film, are not far from reality. As the consultant says, “Parents approach me when the mother is pregnant!”, this could soon be the case in India. Various social issues are also addressed in the film. In such a posh society where the Batras live, children are judged by their parents’ behaviour, and parents are judged by the wealth they possess. Raj has to curb his enthusiasm and rustic instincts just to appear urbane in front of other parents so that it does not reflect badly on Pia.

 

Irrfan as Raj and Deepak as Shyam

Raj and Mita fall prey to the fact that they have to live up to their social status, even if means lying day in and day out. Living with the poor when actually rich, and pretending to have gone on a French holiday to impress the rich neighbours is indeed a crooked way to go about life. This is in stark contrast with the honest and down-to-earth life of Shyam Prakash (Deepak) and family, their neighbours in the slum. He offers them water when no one else does, and even gets himself injured to pay for Pia’s education. The bittersweet smile you see on his face when he is happy that Pia got admission but his own son didn’t, and the guilty smile on Raj and Mita’s faces will certainly make you feel uncomfortable in your seats. At a time when everyone considers their own selfish interests first, can someone truly be as unselfish and friendly as Shyam?

Hindi Medium also showcases one of the best performances of Irrfan Khan, Saba Qamar and Deepak Dobriyal. There are numerous scenes to look out for, from those involving the sarcastic humour that I like Irrfan Khan for, to his heart-warming speech in the climax. A tale that highlights what makes one truly human – the sacrifices, the emotions, the love – against the backdrop of Indian education and class hierarchy, Hindi Medium is one of the most enlightening films of recent times.

My Rating: 4.5/5