"This was one film that has just stayed with me."
In the glistening realm of Bollywood, student-teacher dramas are in a league of their own.
With absorbing narratives, compelling characters, and emotional resolutions, these films are unique.
Sometimes, the teachers in these films must win the trust of their students.
On the other hand, the students must work hard to impress their teachers.
Regardless of the conflict, however, these movies are spellbinding viewing experiences.
Join DESIblitz as we showcase 12 great student-teacher dramas that all Bollywood fans must see.
Parichay (1972)
Director: Gulzar
Stars: Jeetendra, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Pran
Beginning with the classic era of Bollywood, Parichay is hard-hitting and warm at the same time.
The retired army colonel Rai Sahab (Pran) lives with his unruly grandchildren who do not like him.
Rai Sahab eventually hires Ravi (Jeetendra) as a tutor for them.
Despite the best efforts of the children to scare Ravi away, he wins them over when he plays the sitar for them.
Ravi then takes his students out for picnics and tells them stories, thereby improving their behaviour.
He and Rai Sahab’s eldest grandchild Rama Roy (Jaya Bachchan) fall in love in the process.
Parichay is a heartwarming film infused with beautiful music.
For the chartbuster ‘Beeti Na Bitai Raina‘, Lata Mangeshkar won a National Award for ‘Best Female Playback Singer’ in 1972.
Mohabbatein (2000)
Director: Aditya Chopra
Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein is notable for being the first film to star Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan together.
The film tells the story of Narayan Shankar (Amitabh) who bans romance and love among his students.
This causes tension between him and three pupils: Vikram ‘Vicky’ Kapoor (Uday Chopra), Sameer Sharma (Jugal Hansraj), and Karan Choudhry (Jimmy Sheirgill).
Things change when Raj Aryan Malhotra (Shah Rukh) arrives at the school as a music teacher.
Raj champions love and he helps the three boys unite with their respective partners.
He also reveals that the love of his life is Megha Shankar (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) who is Narayan’s daughter.
She accompanies Raj as a ghost as she is now dead.
Mohabbatein is a hard-hitting tale of pupils going head-to-head with their educators, thus making it one of the most compelling student-teacher dramas.
Black (2005)
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Ayesha Kapur, Shernaz Patel
Continuing with the legend Amitabh Bachchan, we come to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black.
The film stars Amitabh as Debraj Sahai, who becomes Michelle McNally’s (Rani Mukerji) teacher.
Michelle is blind, deaf, and mute. When she is a child, Debraj employs harsh and physical methods to discipline and teach her.
After a few problems, Michelle takes to his lessons and improves her quality of life.
Eventually, she gets accepted into university, but Debraj must battle his demons as he slowly succumbs to Alzheimer’s Disease.
Black is a poignant depiction of the bond between a teacher and a student.
Amitabh and Rani deliver career-defining performances.
Black swept all award ceremonies in 2005, making the film a fixture in Indian film history.
Iqbal (2005)
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Stars: Naseeruddin Shah, Shreyas Talpade, Girish Karnad, Shweta Basu Prasad
Intertwining sports with disability, Iqbal is one of the most charming student-teacher dramas.
Iqbal Saeed Khan (Shreyas Talpade) is a deaf and mute young man who dreams of playing cricket.
While his father disapproves of the idea, Iqbal’s sister supports him.
When things don’t go to plan, Iqbal seeks help from former cricket champion Mohit Mishra (Naseeruddin Shah).
Cultivating a relatable onscreen bond, Iqbal becomes a great bowler under the guidance of Mohit.
Hindustan Times praises the film and states:
“A simple, charming, warm story, which happens to be about much more than cricket, and it’s sure to bowl you over.”
Iqbal is a tale of sportsmanship, willpower, and courage.
Chak De India (2007)
Director: Shimit Amin
Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Malvade, Shilpa Shukla, Chitrashi Rawat, Vibha Chibber
As we continue with movies based on sports, we arrive at Chak De India.
Using hockey as its source of drama, the film sees Shah Rukh Khan as the unrelenting hockey coach Kabir Khan.
A disgraced former player himself, Kabir becomes the coach of the Indian National Women’s team.
Although his players struggle to adapt to his strictness, they soon realise that he has their best interests at heart.
During the tournament, his ‘Sattar Minute‘ speech is hard-hitting and rousing.
It remains one of SRK’s most iconic scenes.
The title song is also one of the industry’s best sports songs.
Chak De India made the heads of Indians rise in glory. For that, it is one of the best Bollywood student-teacher dramas ever.
Taare Zameen Par (2007)
Director: Aamir Khan
Stars: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tanay Chheda, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma
One of Bollywood’s first offerings to focus on dyslexia, Taare Zameen Par never fails to moisten eyes.
The film narrates the tale of Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), who suffers from a learning disorder.
However, due to the impression that he is lazy, he is packed off to a strict boarding school.
Ishaan’s life becomes a misery, that is until a compassionate art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) enters the scene.
Nikumbh improves Ishaan’s state by helping him overcome his dyslexia, as well as honing his passion for painting.
When asked about his favourite films, Hrithik Roshan replies:
“Taare Zameen Par. Won’t talk about my films but in the current history of films this was one film that has just stayed with me.”
The impact the film has had on childcare, education, and families is indescribable.
3 Idiots (2009)
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Stars: Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Boman Irani, Omi
Continuing with the fantastic actor Aamir Khan, we arrive at the rib-tickling drama 3 Idiots.
The film is about three friends studying to become engineers.
Their college is the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), which is run by Dr Viru ‘Virus’ Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani).
Virus puts pressure on his students to make it big and come first.
Meanwhile, Farhan Qureshi’s (R Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi’s (Sharman Joshi) attitudes prove to be stumbling blocks to their success.
Farhan’s real ambition is to become a photographer, while Raju constantly lives in fear.
Ranchhoddas ‘Rancho’ Shamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) is carefree and happy-go-lucky. He tries to teach his friends and others to chase excellence rather than success.
His methods often cause belligerence and disdain from Virus, adding layers of complexity to the film.
3 Idiots is one of the most popular films ever made. The student-teacher strand undeniably contributed to that.
Paathshala (2010)
Director: Milind Ukey
Stars: Nana Patekar, Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia
Paathshala encapsulates several elements of school life including corruption, teenage crushes, and friendship.
The precinct of the film is the boarding school Saraswati Vidya Mandir, which is principled by Aditya Sahay (Nana Patekar).
Teachers at the school include Rahul Prakash Udyavar (Shahid Kapoor) and Anjali Kapoor (Ayesha Takia).
The staff later discover that Aditya is being unfair to students. For example, he heightens their fees needlessly and forces parents to buy extra things from the school.
Rahul, along with the other teachers, cannot bear this and they support the students in leading a strike against the school.
The strike captures media attention and Aditya delivers a heartfelt speech behind his reasoning.
Although Paathshaala was not a box office success, its core message and depiction of student-teacher relationships have helped it develop a cult following.
Stanley Ka Dabba (2011)
Director: Amole Gupta
Stars: Partho Gupte, Divya Dutta, Divya Jagdale, Raj Zutshi, Amole Gupta
Stanley Ka Dabba capitalises on the protagonist’s relationship with not one but two teachers.
Stanley Fernandes (Partho Gupte) is a polite boy who is popular among his peers. He has a warm relationship with the English teacher Ms Rosy (Divya Dutta).
However, Stanley doesn’t bring his lunch to school, as there is nobody at home to cook for him.
Thrown into the mix is the gluttonous and greedy Hindi teacher Verma (Amole Gupta), who eyes the food of his students.
When Verma catches his students sharing their lunch with Stanley, he furiously banishes the latter from school.
Stanley soon returns with his lunch and offers it to Verma in return for rejoining school.
Guilt-ridden from Stanley’s sincerity, Verma resigns and delivers a handwritten apology to Stanley.
Stanley Ka Dabba is an uplifting film and one of Bollywood’s finest student-teacher dramas.
Hichki (2018)
Director: Siddharth P Malhotra
Stars: Rani Mukerji, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Sachin Pilgaonkar
Hichki presents Rani Mukerji like you’ve never seen her before.
Rani plays Naina Mathur who wants to become a teacher.
However, she is repeatedly rejected due to her Tourette’s Syndrome.
Naina is eventually hired to teach a class of insolent students who are uncontrollable.
At first, Naina’s students mock her for her disability, but she teaches them resilience and patience.
The film ends with an older Naina retiring from school and reuniting with her former students, who are all now successful.
Rani is superb in the role. She reveals her prediction of the film’s impact:
“After watching the film, everyone is going to call their favourite teacher.
“This is going to happen a hundred per cent.”
Super 30 (2019)
Director: Vikas Bahl
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Mrunal Thakur, Nandish Sandhu, Virendra Saxena, Pankaj Tripathi
This film is not only one of the greatest student-teacher dramas, but it is also one of Bollywood’s best biopics.
Super 30 sees Hrithik Roshan become the mathematician Anand Kumar.
Anand opened a programme named Super 30 to teach 30 poor students for the JEE Advanced examinations.
The film is adorned with motivation, overcoming hurdles, and championing equality.
In one scene, Anand tells his students: “Rich people constantly dug potholes in our way.
“This was their biggest mistake as they taught us how to jump.”
Hrithik disappears into Anand’s character. This is shown especially in the climax where Anand breaks down.
The emotion in Hrithik’s eyes is utterly palpable and one cheers for Anand and his students.
Maidaan (2024)
Director: Amit Sharma
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Priyamani, Gajraj Rao, Baharul Islam
Ajay Devgn is an actor known for his intensity and brilliant talent.
He showcases that to its zenith in Maidaan.
As Ajay inhabits the world of the real-life football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, a gripping film is created.
In the 1950s, Rahim formed a team himself as he highlighted the importance of stamina and focus in football.
He leads the team to several victories while dealing with personal devastation himself.
Director Amit Sharma divulges the challenges of the film’s shooting:
“Many players were coming from abroad. Lockdowns would be lifted but no flights would start.
“We had to wait. It was quite a difficult task to finish shooting. It was challenging as well as satisfying.
“I knew there would be difficulties. I think that was a challenge I took.”
Maidaan is a rousing sports drama, which is a testament to patriotism, bravery, and strength.
Student-teacher dramas are the light of Bollywood films.
If done right, they can have resounding impacts on the education system as well as the general audience.
All these films have extraordinary stories with talented actors and filmmakers telling them.
They have all earned a place in the annals of Indian filmdom.
So, grab some popcorn and prepare to embrace these wonderful student-teacher dramas.
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