This story is from September 5, 2007

Best on-screen teachers

Afsana Ahmed & Smrity Sharma / TNN / Sep 5, 2007, 00:00 IST

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On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, BT looks at some memorable roles played by Bollywood stars who taught a lesson.

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Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan in Black(TOI Photo) More picsTeachers say...
Bollywood, that factory of dreams, has not as yet explored or exploited the role of a teacher on screen in full detail.
But nobody’s complaining, because the few teachers that have been seen, have been played by actors who taught more than a lesson.
The most recent and best was Big B as Debraj Sahai, an alcoholic teacher to a deaf and blind student played by Rani Mukerji in Black.He also played a furtive professor in Darna Zaroori Hai and an idealistic filmi teacher in Desh Premi.

In 1970s, that delightful comedy Chupke Chupke by Hrishikesh Mukherjee had Dharmendra as a botany professor who disguises himself as a driver to marry his former student.
Jeetendra in Parichay wasn’t idealistic and didn’t preach like Vinod Khanna in Imtihaan, but yet brought about necessary changes in his students. Dev Anand in Hum Naujawan was good as a college principal in handling students on strike as he was both firm and understanding.

Talking of childhood crushes on teachers, nobody beats Simi Garewal as the sexy Catholic teacher Mary who left Raju, played by Rishi Kapoor, palpitating in Mera Naam Joker.
Both Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan as the hockey and cricket coaches in Chak De India and Lagaan respectively, have inspired millions and immortalised the role of the teacher in their own way.
Not to forget Naseeruddin Shah’s wonderfully delineated character of a teacher in Sir. And then there was the sexy chemistry teacher Chandni Chopra (Sushmita Sen in Main Hoon Na), wearing clingy chiffons and swinging her students with song and drama. Director Farha Khan who conceptualised the role and modelled it on the fantasy teacher of every school and college going student, said Sushmita embodied the hot teacher every male must have lusted after. “Every guy I have spoken to, including my brother Sajid and Shah Rukh Khan, have had a similar fantasy,” she said.
Dharmendra, who’s portrayed the serious and caricature-like professor in Dillagi, Chupke Chupke and Unpadh, said he got inspiration from his father.
“My father, a school teacher, was upset when he learned that I am joining films, because he wanted me to become a professor. So in movies, somehow, I lived my father’s dream by playing these roles. My father’s been my school teacher, a very strict one, and I have learned discipline from him. Even today when I visit my village and come across teachers who taught me, I touch their feet.”
Simi Garewal, who played Mary in Mera Naam Joker, said, “In many ways Mary was me. Because when Rajji wrote the script, he took my views on how I would react to situations like what Mary faced in the movie. But Rajji modelled this role on his fantasy. When he was studying in Dehradun, he had the hots for an Anglo Indian teacher.”
And Hema Malini, who played a professor of chemistry in Dillagi, said that Basu Chatterji had wanted a typical college teacher of those days. “But I altered the role a bit and instead of the boring bun and spectacles, I tied my hair into a plait.”

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