Nil Battey Sannata
Nil Battey Sannata
Apeksha repels even the thought of studying mathematics much like how mosquitos repel mosquito repellents. Apeksha is a spirited and fun-loving 15-year-old girl for whom waking up in time for school is an everyday struggle. Her hardworking mother, Chanda, played by Swara Bhaskar, dots on her and has a sole aim in life- to get her daughter work towards one. Chanda is appalled when she discovers that her daughter too thinks of working as a maid when she grows up, just like her mother.Nil Battey Sannata (slang for good-for-nothing) is a Hindi language film about a mother-daughter duo, caught in the cob webs of poverty and everyday struggles. Apeksha’s rhetoric question to her mother, “Do you even have the means to educate me beyond high school?" is hard-hitting. Why should simple necessities of life like education be a privilege for some people?
In one of the scenes, Apeksha’s classmate talks about mathematics being fun and how he enjoys playing with numbers. Through this scene, a very interesting life lesson can be derived: Enjoy whatever you do, life would invariably turn out to be fun and not a burden. Try doing that with education!
The story tries to reinforce the importance of education in being self-reliant and the value it brings into one’s life. It is light-hearted, easy on the eyes and mind, and heart-touching.
The best feature about cinema of this kind is that it dares not to be preachy and articulates its message without breaking into a song and dance routine every now and then. In fact, the songs are fun and incorporated well into the script.
Easily relatable and fun to keep the kids engaged with, show this film to your students/kids for a quick interesting session.
