Teacher's day 2021: How Bollywood celebrates teachers in films

Whether it’s an on-screen role or an off-screen one, teachers offer lessons that go beyond a syllabus. Every year, in October, the world catches on to that fact and celebrates the lesson-givers on a day marked International Teacher’s Day. The occasion is marked in India, however, on September 5. And so today we look at the movies that had us tearing up, remembering the teachers we’ve met and never forgotten.

‘Super 30’: When Math genius Anand Kumar played by Hrithik Roshan takes it upon himself to help underprivileged students beat the IIT-JEE examinations, he is committing to his craft. The fact that this is not a completely fictional story only adds to its impact.

'Main Hoon Naa': The Shah Rukh Khan drama brought us the beauty queen-turned-actor Sushmita Sen who wowed us with her glamourous dressing just as much as her teaching ability.

‘Taare Zameen Par’: In this movie about dyslexia, Aamir Khan’s Ram Shankar Nikumbh plays an important role in addressing learning problems and in doing so, demonstrates how a teacher can change a student’s life.

‘3 idiots’ and ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’: When it comes to portraying a severe and shrewd dean, Boman Irani is simply unstoppable. We admire the actor for the unique and distinct peculiarities he brought to both of these characters, which make his parts so unforgettable.

‘Student of the Year’: We’ve also seen Rishi Kapoor in Karan Johar's Student Of The Year, when he played a college dean, and we have to admit, we lauded his ability to play the role of a flamboyant man, one he had never played in his life.

'Hitchki’: Playing the role of a young woman with Tourette syndrome who is struggling to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher, Rani Mukerji gave an award-winning performance in ‘Hitchki’.

‘Rockford’: 13-year-old Rajesh Naidu is having a hard time fitting in to the hostel life at Rockford Boys’ High School. The school’s physical training (PT) instructor Johnny Matthew played by Nagesh Kukunoor comes to Naidu’s aid in the drama. Matthew becomes his Naidu’s support as he navigates teenage and its milestones including love, friendship and heartbreak.

'Black': Amitabh Bachchan, The veteran actor tried his hand at being a teacher and left his audience speechless with his incredible abilities in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Black’. Bachchan played mentor to the deaf and visually-impaired Michelle McNally’s (Rani Mukerji) teacher Debraj Sahai that won him the most accolades and even the prestigious National and Filmfare Awards.

''Mohabbatein'': Who can forget Shah Rukh Khan's outstanding performance as a teacher in Mohabbatein, in which he taught us the importance of love even as he romanced a ghost in the form of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan?