The crass commercialisation of education is beautifully potrayed in Paathshaala. The locale is Saraswathi Vidya Mandir, which is headed by upright principal Aditya Sahay ( Nana Patekar ) who has served with distinction for the past 3 decades. During his tenure the school has prouduced many a distinguished alumni who are CEO, industrialist, businessmen, politicians etc. He is known for his discipline and emphaty to students. The scene where a student pisses in his pants brings out peel of laughter and realty of the campus discipline. Over a period of time the school goes down in ranking in the rat race.
The trustees are now desperate to encash the brand equity of the school. The invite Aditya Sahay and give him an ulitimatum that he should produce substantial profits within a short span of time. Otherwsie the management would prefer upgraduation of the school to provide 5 star type of facility and realise better fees. A comprehensive plan is submitted to the principal. He has to implement it or get out of the way.
Rahul Prakash Udayavar ( Shahid Kapoor ) joins the school as an English teacher with music as a hobby. The principal requests him to teach music too, but he refuses since he is not perfect in the field. Anjali Mathur ( Ayesha Takia ) plays a multiple role of dietician ( nutrition specialist ) warden and music teacher. She convinces Rahul to teach music to students.
When you want to bring major change it is better to despatch key personnel on leave or holiday, which is indication that days are numbered for the principal. This is universal policy i suppose in the corporate world too, it is implemented. In comes the villianious character of Sharma who believes in carrying out the dictates of the trustee to the core. He begins a series of cost escalation measures on various food items, music classes, sports kit, etc which are all aimed at generating more revenue for the school. Including the school fees is hiked substantially. When the parents protest he quotes the supreme court verdict that private schools have the discretion of charging whatever fees they decided. He starts insulting the school teachers and strictly advices them to follow the guidelines of the trustee.
The count down for Nana has begun to exit from the school, the management employ professional mavericks to train students for various competition and extra curricular activities to hype the schools achievement. Will the trustees be successful in their effort. Will the teachers co operate with the management ? A dilemma of sorts plays out in the mind of Anjali whether to quit and go abroad instead of rotting in India, What is the motivation for Rahul to stay back in SVM ? The climax of the movie is rivetting. All the doubts will be answered in the movie.
During my days schools and colleges were not commercial at all the central school fees was Rs 7 pm, Degree was Rs 15 pm and MBA was Rs 25 pm. The question of paying single np donation was not there, nor tution was seen as a good practise. So education was less of a burden for parents and children. The kids were free to play the game of their choice, there was no compulsion. Nor extra curicular activity such as drama or elocution or quiz was compulsory. We used to once a way participate just for the fun of it not for any reward or recognition.
Well for all parents and teacher this film is an eye opener. Teachers should be passionate to mould the students as good citizens of the future. I hope this movie receives tax free status so that it can be watched for the sheer pleasure of understanding the old school of thought.
How is the education institution going to fulfill the rising demands of the teachers salary and perks. Well the key to this will be govt. subsidy and donation by the alumni who pass out from the school. And of course the current trend of parent taking loan in the name of the ward to complete education and later to be repaid by the ward is the way to go. The mellowed down role of Nana Patekar is seen to believed in Paathshala.
The trustees are now desperate to encash the brand equity of the school. The invite Aditya Sahay and give him an ulitimatum that he should produce substantial profits within a short span of time. Otherwsie the management would prefer upgraduation of the school to provide 5 star type of facility and realise better fees. A comprehensive plan is submitted to the principal. He has to implement it or get out of the way.
Rahul Prakash Udayavar ( Shahid Kapoor ) joins the school as an English teacher with music as a hobby. The principal requests him to teach music too, but he refuses since he is not perfect in the field. Anjali Mathur ( Ayesha Takia ) plays a multiple role of dietician ( nutrition specialist ) warden and music teacher. She convinces Rahul to teach music to students.
When you want to bring major change it is better to despatch key personnel on leave or holiday, which is indication that days are numbered for the principal. This is universal policy i suppose in the corporate world too, it is implemented. In comes the villianious character of Sharma who believes in carrying out the dictates of the trustee to the core. He begins a series of cost escalation measures on various food items, music classes, sports kit, etc which are all aimed at generating more revenue for the school. Including the school fees is hiked substantially. When the parents protest he quotes the supreme court verdict that private schools have the discretion of charging whatever fees they decided. He starts insulting the school teachers and strictly advices them to follow the guidelines of the trustee.
The count down for Nana has begun to exit from the school, the management employ professional mavericks to train students for various competition and extra curricular activities to hype the schools achievement. Will the trustees be successful in their effort. Will the teachers co operate with the management ? A dilemma of sorts plays out in the mind of Anjali whether to quit and go abroad instead of rotting in India, What is the motivation for Rahul to stay back in SVM ? The climax of the movie is rivetting. All the doubts will be answered in the movie.
During my days schools and colleges were not commercial at all the central school fees was Rs 7 pm, Degree was Rs 15 pm and MBA was Rs 25 pm. The question of paying single np donation was not there, nor tution was seen as a good practise. So education was less of a burden for parents and children. The kids were free to play the game of their choice, there was no compulsion. Nor extra curicular activity such as drama or elocution or quiz was compulsory. We used to once a way participate just for the fun of it not for any reward or recognition.
Well for all parents and teacher this film is an eye opener. Teachers should be passionate to mould the students as good citizens of the future. I hope this movie receives tax free status so that it can be watched for the sheer pleasure of understanding the old school of thought.
How is the education institution going to fulfill the rising demands of the teachers salary and perks. Well the key to this will be govt. subsidy and donation by the alumni who pass out from the school. And of course the current trend of parent taking loan in the name of the ward to complete education and later to be repaid by the ward is the way to go. The mellowed down role of Nana Patekar is seen to believed in Paathshala.
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