Teachers heap praises on Haami

The extended summer vacation in Bengal is bringing repeat audience to the theatres for Haami. On Thursday, the entire teaching section of La Martiniere for Girls watched the film, produced by Windows, at a south Kolkata plex. In the afternoon that day, teachers of MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School caught a show at Nandan.
Before that, on June 16, 500 students of The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School, along with teachers and staff members, saw a special screening of Haami organised by the school at Nandan.Makers Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee are happy with the turn of events. In fact, Shiboprosad attended the Thursday morning show along with presenter Atanu Raychaudhuri after he came to know that teachers were watching the film. Brata Banerjee, seven-year-old star of the summer blockbuster, was also floored when everyone heaped praises on him. “The extended summer vacation has been a boon for us. Principals, teaching and non-teaching staff are watching the film and there are special shows everywhere. It proves cinema has no language barrier; the non-Bengali students are equally enjoying the film. Haami is running for 45 days and we’re still getting houseful shows; we feel humbled by all the love. We’ll like more schools to watch it,” said Shiboprosad. Principals of the three institutions told us what struck a chord with them.
Brij Bhushan Singh, headmaster, The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School: Pradip Seth, the managing trustee of our school, called me after watching the film. He suggested that the school organise an outing so that every student gets to watch the film, which deals with a contemporary subject. There was a special screening for 500 students and each one of them loved it. The film deals with the trust issues between school and parents and what should be done so that children are benefited. I must say, after years, we all watched a film that is truly inspiring and entertaining at the same time.
Herbert George, principal, MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School: I first watched the film as the director and his team had invited me for a screening. After watching it, I felt that both my teaching and non-teaching faculties should catch Haami, as the film deals with a very important issue. So, all of us went together to watch it when the school was closed due to the unbearable heat. I feel the main objective of the film is to bring the school and parents closer so that they share a great rapport and help in a child’s overall welfare. To build a relationship of trust, teachers and parents should come forward with open arms, and that’s what this film urges. Needless to say, it’s a must-watch.
Rupkatha Sarkar, principal, La Martiniere for Girls: Many of us teachers had already watched the film, including me. But we felt, as teachers, we should all watch Haami together and went for it again. Kudos to the director duo for dealing with child psychology in the movie. The dialogues too make you think. Both teachers and guardians should realise that it is not a battle between a child and us and we should listen to them and value their opinions. The trust, which is eroding between the school and the parents, has to be brought back as it’s the key factor in nurturing a child’s growth.