- A new English school-teacher also teaches music but ends up leading both teachers and students to revolt against the school management.
- Rahul Prakash Udyavar joins Saraswati Vidya Mandir, which is located in Mumbai's Eastern suburbs, as an English teacher. Shortly thereafter he also agrees to teach music at the request of nutritionist Anjali Mathur. With the school facing shortage of funds, pressure is being brought by Manager Lallan Sharma to try to get students' parents to pay more for a variety of activities. When the Principal, Aditya Sahay, supports Lallan, the students and staff are forced to raise funds. Despite their best efforts, however, the stage is set for a much-publicized confrontation that could result in the closure of this institution.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)
- The story begins with a new English teacher Rahul Udyavar (Shahid Kapoor) joining Saraswati Vidya Mandir school, in the Mirpurkhas suburbs. He strikes instant rapport with students and teachers alike. Principal Aditya Sahay (Nana Patekar) is a tough as nails principal of the school who has built his reputation as a brilliant educator along with the reputation of his school. Soon Aditya comes to know of Rahul's music abilities & asks him to teach the music class too. Rahul & fellow teacher Anjali (Ayesha Takia) come closer gradually. Anjali is also the hostel warden. One of the students also gets infatuated with Rahul.
In a staff meeting Aditya laments the falling reputation of the school & lack of funds to provide better facilities to students. In a follow up email, Aditya lays out the school resurgence plan which includes: increasing class strength from an already high 40 to 65 or reduce staff. Sports teacher Mr. Chauhan (Sushant Singh) is the leader of the teacher's union & with the agreement of all teachers, he refuses the plan.
This puts Aditya in a corner with the board of directors & chairman Mr. Dholakia, who raps Aditya & gives him one last chance to put the school of the right track. Aditya responds by implementing draconian measures such as increasing price of lunch coupons, forcing players to buy sports equipment from school, allowing sale of junk food on school premises & forcing students to buy music instruments from school. The school staff has to bear the ire of angry parents.
When Rahul Udyavar unifies the teachers Anjali (Ayesha Takia) and sports teacher Mr. Chauhan (Sushant Singh) against the atrocities of the school's management, Aditya defends the management's decision. This comes as a shocker to the teachers as Sahay is known for his dedication as an educator for the last 32 years who has built the school's high reputation. The teachers decide to resign together to force Aditya to roll back his decisions but realize that Aditya has already prepared an alternate staff list who will take over the school at a moment's notice, so they decide not to ahead with their plan.
The situation becomes graver as school management becomes overambitious with its growth and involves media planners in the extracurricular activities. This demands the involvement of students in TV reality shows and other media PR activities used for building the school's image in public which starts reflecting on the students' stress levels. The pressure on young minds increases incredibly, leading to unexpected and grim consequences.
The values & principles of the staff & students are repeatedly compromised in the name of media coverage & publicity. For e.g., asking students to maintain the human pyramid for extended duration in searing heat, or demoralizing students in music audition, or extended shoots for a "reality TV show" in searing heat, renting out school kids for TV commercials etc. In each case, the commercial interests put unprecedented stress of students to the extent of direct insult & consequent demoralization.
Caught in the web of commercialization, the students go on strike unable to take the pressure, and it becomes a national issue. The strike is initially only supported by Rahul, but as other teachers come to know of it, they come out in full support of Rahul & stand by him & the students.
Aditya resigns & is then sympathetically prompted by Rahul to tell the truth to the kids. Aditya reveals that Dholakia put pressure on Aditya to upgrade the school & facilities to increase revenue, without giving any funds. Dholakia also threatened to close the school down if the profits didn't improve in 1 year. Hence Aditya resorted to the commercialization of education. Aditya is respectfully sent off by staff & students to his retirement life.
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