Hindi Medium (2017)
The apparent difference in outlook in spirituality between the Western and Eastern philosophy is quite visible. The former revolves around its fixation on following preset rules to appease the Maker. In the case of the latter, it appears to be more like an eternal quest. It is a lifelong journey to hunt for the secrets of the Universe. The whole teachings in the Vedanta, Buddhism, Confucianism and the Tao scriptures are towards this end.
In simple terms, Eastern cultures are seekers of knowledge. Sometimes, this also became their own undoing. When the Western cultures first hit the Indian shores, the natives slowly neglected their age-old wisdom. They plunged head-long into their newfound obsession of acquiring erudition from the visitors, only to be led astray.
This hunger for knowledge has not been quenched after all these years. The world over, Asians, armed with their right discipline and dedication, are slowly but surely making their presence felt once again. In academic, artistic and scientific fields, they are redeeming their rightful places.
The movie, 'Hindi Medium' and its spiritual successor, 'Angrezi Medium' (English Medium) are evidence of the length Indian parents would go to ensure that their offspring will get a sound education.
In 'Hindi Medium', a nouveau riche couple move into posh housing estate to register their young daughter in a prestigious grammar school. When the daughter failed to make it into the school register, the parents realise that they could still qualify under the quota set aside for the underprivileged students. They move into the most impoverished side of the town masquerading as the urban poor. The unpleasant living conditions, the dodging from the school inspector and the overprotective nature of their neighbours form the basis of this comedic, yet thought-provoking presentation.
'Angrezi Medium' (2020) is Irrfan Khan's swansong. Here, he is a single parent of a bright teenage girl. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake of clipping his deceased wife's desire to study, he yearns for his daughter to win the scholarship to study in the UK. Khan also has a nagging legal battle with his family members over his small-time Indian sweets business. The court case goes against his favour. His bad luck, the presiding judge happened to be the husband of the principal of his daughter's school. The daughter's scholarship gets cancelled when Khan verbally abused the judge in a school function. The rest of the story is how Khan, against all the odds, although some of them are unbelievable, still manages to get his daughter enrolled in a university in the UK.
The apparent difference in outlook in spirituality between the Western and Eastern philosophy is quite visible. The former revolves around its fixation on following preset rules to appease the Maker. In the case of the latter, it appears to be more like an eternal quest. It is a lifelong journey to hunt for the secrets of the Universe. The whole teachings in the Vedanta, Buddhism, Confucianism and the Tao scriptures are towards this end.
In simple terms, Eastern cultures are seekers of knowledge. Sometimes, this also became their own undoing. When the Western cultures first hit the Indian shores, the natives slowly neglected their age-old wisdom. They plunged head-long into their newfound obsession of acquiring erudition from the visitors, only to be led astray.
This hunger for knowledge has not been quenched after all these years. The world over, Asians, armed with their right discipline and dedication, are slowly but surely making their presence felt once again. In academic, artistic and scientific fields, they are redeeming their rightful places.
The movie, 'Hindi Medium' and its spiritual successor, 'Angrezi Medium' (English Medium) are evidence of the length Indian parents would go to ensure that their offspring will get a sound education.
In 'Hindi Medium', a nouveau riche couple move into posh housing estate to register their young daughter in a prestigious grammar school. When the daughter failed to make it into the school register, the parents realise that they could still qualify under the quota set aside for the underprivileged students. They move into the most impoverished side of the town masquerading as the urban poor. The unpleasant living conditions, the dodging from the school inspector and the overprotective nature of their neighbours form the basis of this comedic, yet thought-provoking presentation.
'Angrezi Medium' (2020) is Irrfan Khan's swansong. Here, he is a single parent of a bright teenage girl. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake of clipping his deceased wife's desire to study, he yearns for his daughter to win the scholarship to study in the UK. Khan also has a nagging legal battle with his family members over his small-time Indian sweets business. The court case goes against his favour. His bad luck, the presiding judge happened to be the husband of the principal of his daughter's school. The daughter's scholarship gets cancelled when Khan verbally abused the judge in a school function. The rest of the story is how Khan, against all the odds, although some of them are unbelievable, still manages to get his daughter enrolled in a university in the UK.
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