Bollywood and Hollywood: 9 movies to watch on Indian Teacher's Day

Just as education is not just about book-smarts, the best teachers are not those who only stick to a syllabus; they improvise and go beyond their call of duty. In India, these teachers are celebrated on September 5. Here’s a look at 10 movies that will have you recalling your own favourites

Super 30. In this true-to-life story Genius mathematician Anand Kumar (Hrithik Roshan) is on a mission, to get 30 bright but underprivileged students get into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology.

Taare Zameen Par. This powerful movie explores the impact a teacher can make on a young mind. A student with dyslexia – a learning disorder that affects reading – is emotionally torn in a school where he can’t seem to get anything right. Until his new, unconventional art teacher (Aamir Khan) shows up.

‘Black’. It is the instinctive behavior of most parents to protect their children from everything and everyone. But this shielding may do more harm than good. In ‘Black’ a young woman (Rani Mukherji) with a hearing and sight impairment, who has been isolated from society, learns about the world and what it means to be part of it when an eccentric teacher with a questionable past (Amitabh Bachchan) shows up at her home.

Redemption film ‘Chak De! India’ pairs disgraced hockey coach Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) with a team of underdogs and watches them go all the way to the top. There’s humour, there’s rivalry, there's angst, but most of all there’s a lesson in here for everyone – Don’t give up, you can make your dreams come true.

Hitchki. Teachers are humans too – with their own problems and conditions. In this movie, a woman with Tourette's syndrome, which affects the nervous system, overcomes her condition and the perception of her peers and students alike by keeping her end goal in mind – the success of her pupils.

Sister Act 2.Whoopi Goldberg plays Las Vegas performer Deloris Van Cartier, who is doing her nun friends a favour by pretending to be one of them. These nuns, to whom she owes her life (see Sister Act 1 to know more) run a school with musically talented but troubled teens which is on the verge of closure. Their only hope – winning a choir competition, which requires more than just getting the singers into tune.

‘Dangerous Minds’. Former Marine Louanne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer) ditches the conventional approach when dealing with her new pupils. She uses a reward system – think chocolates, lots and lots of chocolates - to get kids from underprivileged backgrounds on the path to graduation and away from the violence on the streets.

‘To Sir With Love’. While it wasn’t Mark Thackeray’s first choice of career, he taken on teaching to make ends meet in a rough London East End school full of the ‘rejects of other schools’. It takes time, but this is the story of how he overthrows their perception about him and themselves.

‘Karate kid’. When sensei Miyagi is enlisted by Daniel help him fight bullies, he puts him to work doing menial chores such as car cleaning (“wax on, wax off) which don’t really make sense at the time. However, as the movie progresses, Daniel realizes that not only is Mr. Miyagi helping him get stronger physically but his way of teaching is also instilling in him compassion and kindness. Of course there’s also a big battle between dojos at the end.