On Philosophy and Hindi Cinema

Suggested Citation: Kushal Sohal. 2020. 'Philosophy and Cinema', Think Pieces Series No. 1. Education.SouthAsia (https://educationsouthasia.web.ox.ac.uk/).

An analysis of the educational narrative in Hindi Cinema from Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein (2000) through to Homi Adajania’s Angrezi Medium (2020) reveals multiple attempts to grapple with the sheer complexity of educational challenges and philosophies in Indian society. The audience is led to appreciate critiques of the paranoia that surrounds social judgement and expectations; its destruction of stressful narratives of success-failure; and an ultimate movement from extreme discipline to creative freedom. However, we must also consistently contend with the disturbing gender stereotyping and patriarchal discourses that are prevalent in such stories. Yet, where Hindi Cinema becomes a particularly interesting lens through which to think about pedagogy is where it reflects on the educational as an emotional experience; this idea appears to be derived from a long tradition of ‘spiritual humanism’ in Indian educational philosophy. In both formal and informal settings, this idea is significant and merits analysis even more so in a present characterised by political polarisation and Covid-19 – tumultuous moments that should force a rethink of the value ascribed to education itself, not just for Indians but for the wider world too.

Spiritual Humanism

Though legacies of the colonial project continue to hinder its realisation on the national and even the global scale once envisioned, it is worthwhile reflecting on the idea of emotional experience in Indian educational thought. Moving from the ideas of Buddha, Nanak, and Kabir to those championed by political thinkers of the early twentieth century, we are able to trace a way of doing education that is broadly-speaking ‘spiritually humanist’. Indeed, it is about an ethical process – a liberating and moralizing journey towards divine and infinite truths. The educational ambition is to develop a critical selfhood that rejects the ways of materialism and the artificial nature of rote-learning, it favors immersion in the beauty that resides in the natural world.  Though the precise balance to be struck between spontaneity and discipline is debated and that differences here lead to nuanced ideas of freedom, we are able to speak of a universal desire to develop the whole personality. Furthermore, education is said to awaken a dormant idea of shared humanity, one led by the principle of service. This leads to the realisation of one’s own selfhood and manifests itself as disinterested engagement in interactions with others. An appreciation for infinite truths through such expressions of service is said to constitute an atmosphere of love. This mode of education is incredibly political for it is concerned with civic culture; it longs to develop an atmosphere that ensures harmony in diversity. Whether it be Phule, Ambedkar, Tagore, or Gandhi, we ultimately see education spoken of as a tool able to eradicate social discrimination and realise idealized social harmony. Though there is variation within this broadly-speaking ‘spiritually humanist’ Indian educational mode, there is a core ambition to realise this promise of education through creating the time and space for raw, natural, emotional experiences. Though the precise details that constitute such a moment are debated, there is a shared belief that such moments produce preconditions for unparalleled vulnerability and, therefore, movement towards a depth of understanding that is otherwise beyond reach. Its talk of freedom and curiosity as opposed to restriction and close-mindedness is characteristic of this educational choice: it longs to speak a language of love, not fear. It is here where Hindi Cinema becomes particularly interesting. Through this medium a vivid picture of this vision of Indian educational thought can be painted; it can illustrate the feeling of feelings itself.

Hindi Cinema

We can spot a trend in the twenty-first century educational narrative in Hindi Cinema. True education is often said to be embodied in a present-focused idea of 'creative freedom'; this is its dream or promise. There is, however, often a sacrificial element. Characters need to meet material needs and juggle the historical baggage that undergirds the familial expectations that education connotes social mobility. The climax of films, however, is often the ‘spiritual humanist’ educational transformation. In both formal and informal settings, protagonists ultimately find their selves, teachers champion interactive and critical engagement, and familial attitudes slowly transform for the better. Mohabbatein is a particularly interesting example. It is focused on the curtailment of emotions in an institutionalised and Hindu conservative appropriation of the ancient ‘Gurukul’. While the principal insists on honour, discipline, and tradition, the new, young music teacher makes it his ethical duty to champion its opponent: creative freedom. It is as if a Socratic discourse takes shape between the two competing ideas. A fragile insistence on permanency, obedience, and fear is actively confronted by ideas of freedom, vulnerability, and love. Through almost hyper-enchanted displays of emotions, the paranoid principal is slowly persuaded to reorient his own personal dealings with emotional experiences. The core idea is that one should listen to the truths of the heart as opposed to curtailing its natural expression: "duniya mein kitni hain nafratein, phir bhi dilon mein chahatein" (though there may be much hatred in this world, even then the ways of love reside in their hearts).

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades (2004) is also an interesting film through which to consider the emotional experience in informal educational moments. By venturing into the rural countryside to learn of the harsh realities that face a poverty-stricken fellow countryman, the privileged protagonist undergoes a sharpening of his shared sense of humanity and heightening in the active consciousness of the need to serve. It is the raw, emotional experience that shatters self-centredness and awakens one to interconnectedness. This leads him to sing the following words: "sabke ek hi sapne hai, socho toh sab apne hai, koi bhi kisi se yahan ghair nahin, seedhi baat hai samjho yaara" (everyone has the same dreams, if you think that everyone is ours and that no one here is a stranger, oh friend – it is a simple matter to understand). In both Taare Zameen Par (2007) and 3 Idiots (2009) actor Aamir Khan, the great grand-nephew of the Indian Republic’s first Education Minister Abul Kalam Azad, drives the championing of creative freedom. Both as the art teacher who rekindles faith in a dyslexic child’s sense of self and as the budding engineer who rejects rote-learning and encourages friends to follow their passions with critical thought, he embodies the liberating potential of a personalised, experience-led education. 

Though clouded by their near exclusive, urban middle/upper-class appeal, films such as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) are also useful lenses through which we can think about education as being an emotional experience. The notion of finding oneself and living in the moment – whether it be by travelling in a globalised world or through partaking in activities beyond ones comfort zone – reflects a longing to be freed from structure. It suggests spontaneity and the unknown excites. This is shown to conflict with society’s expectations of one anchoring as opposed to floating; there is a need to strike a balance between wandering aimlessly and rooted responsibility. The educational, therefore, is a journey to know gratitude. Characters only find peace when they become allies and embracers of emotional complexity. This serenity is symbolised by nature in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: “hawa ke jhokon ke jaise aazad rehna seekho, tum ek dariya ke jaise lehron mein behna seekho” (learn to live freely like the gusts of wind, learn to flow in waves like a river does). Siddharth Malhotra’s Hichki (2018) and Adajania’s Angrezi Medium are two of the more recent examples. Whether it be gifting a sense of agency to a teacher and students in a society that dismisses the disabled and poor, or reflections on the inter-generational conflict that emerges in drives to fulfil educational dreams, we continue to see Hindi Cinema attempt to challenge what education means for its audience. Its critiques are imperfect and ridden with many biases and concerns that themselves need assessing. However, there remains utility in exploring its narrative on education as an emotional experience. This idea underpins the spiritual humanism in Indian educational thought. Cinema has a critical role to play in making it a reality.