Hichki
Director: Sidharth Malhotra. Cast: Rani Mukerjee, Neeraj Kabi, Supriya Pilgonkar , Shivakumar (2018. 106 minutes. Hindi, with English subtitles.)
The movie is something that Indian educators can easily identify with. It is about social inclusion and the liberating power of education. The setting is Mumbai where Naina Mathur, with a brilliant academic record behind her, dreams of becoming a school teacher. But, from childhood, she is hampered by a neuro-disorder called Tourette Syndrome, causing an embarrassing speech hindrance especially when she is tense. She has had to face ridicule and humiliation for this from childhood. In interview after interview, she is rejected because of this problem. But Naina is determined to become a teacher.
Her opportunity arrives when she is recruited by St Notkers, a reputed school, since a teacher leaves in the middle of the year, and no one else wants to teach class 9F, which has kids who are considered failures. They are from the slum, and got admission in the posh school through the RTE clause. Most teachers see them as “municipality garbage.” The students are a tough lot—unruly, more interested in fighting and playing pranks than in studies. Naina’s challenge is to connect with them and direct their energies in the right direction.
The loving, patient and creative ways in which she wins over these students from whom other teachers expected nothing good, and turns them around academically and otherwise, forms the narrative of this gripping and well-acted movie. Naina’s radiant cheerfulness, her never-say-die attitude and her evident interest in each student works the miracle. Hichki is also a family saga. It is truly inspirational, showing what a determined and imaginative teacher can achieve with her students. The concluding scene will bring tears to many eyes.
Karol: A Man Who Became Pope
Director: Giacomo Battiato. Cast: Piotr Adamczyk, Małgosia Bela,Raoul Bova, Matt Craven, Ken Duken, Ennio Fantastichini, Olgierd Łukaszewicz ,Lech Mackiewicz. (2005. 155 minutes)
The movie draws inspiration from Gian Franco Svidercoschi’s book Stories of Karol: The Unknown Life of John Paul II. Released close on the heels of St. John Paul II’s death, it is a loving tribute to one of the most remarkable leaders of the 20th century, who has had a deep influence on Church and secular society. It covers Karol’s early life and the shaping influences that made him the exceptional leader he was. The events over the four decades from the Word War II to 1978, when he was elected Pope.
The movie begins with the Nazi planes bombing Cracow, and the flight of people from their homes. Karol’s mother and his elder brother are already dead. Soon he loses his father too. Nazi Germany occupied Poland in 1939, intent on wiping out Polish culture. During World War years he was part of an underground theatre, offering cultural resistance. Though his academic aspirations are thwarted and many of his friends perished in the concentration camps, he did his priestly training while working in a stone quarry. It gave him an intimate knowledge of the working class and a deep appreciation for the dignity of labour. The brutalities of the time are depicted tellingly. When the Soviets drove the Nazis out, Poland had no respite from tyranny and violence. Poland suffered much under the Nazi occupation and then under Communist rule.
Karol’s life is shaped by the long suffering of his people. He was deeply inspired by the Cardinal, who stood up to the Communists, and by exemplary priests who paid a heavy price for their courage. One of the most dramatic moments is his confrontation with the Communist regime’s attempt to create Nova Huta the city without God where, under his leadership, they erected a church. The concluding sequence makes use of the actual TV footage of that historic moment when the first Pope from behind the Iron Curtain was introduced to the world. The movie’s success was followed by a sequel dealing with John Paul’s papacy years, called, “The Pope Who Remained a Man.”
Dr Gigy Joseph
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