Adolescent Raj Batra (Irrfan Khan), an assistant at the local tailoring shop helmed by his father, would admire Mithoo, short and sweet for Mita (Saba Qamar), while she remained oblivious, smitten by her own buoyant youthfulness.

Raj, Mithoo’s silent, distant beholder, treated her like a fabulous creation of god that emitted joy and needed looking after. When Mithoo wanted a kurta stitched with a deep-cut back, he got it done despite masterji’s disapproval. And on rainy days, he left umbrellas on her route — umbrellas with shiny, happy baubles strung to it — and smiled while getting drenched in the rain. Then they grew up — she, a college graduate who knows English a little less than she liked; he, the Hindi-medium owner of designer replicas lehnga-choli store in Chandni Chowk — and eventually married. He treated her like a princess then, and now does her bidding, always — without question or qualms. Mithoo is hyper about pretty much everything, but especially about the physical, mental and emotional well-being of her daughter, little Pia (Dishita Sehgal). She’s given to hallucinations and verbal hyperventilation: From the smallest anomaly, misstep, her train of thought dashes to her worst nightmare — Agar Usne (Pia) Drugs Lena Shuru Kr Diya Toh. This disastrous ending, she is dead sure, will be the fallout if anything, everything is not done right. And by right, she currently means giving her daughter the best schooling and the right friends in the right locality. Chandni Chowk doesn’t make the cut, neither does the Hindi-medium seller of lehnga-cholis as father. She decides to do something about both. Raj is doing well, for sure.

The role and costume of Jatayu are reserved for him in the annual, colony Ram Lila, and he has found a safe parking space for his BMW since the narrow gallis of Old Delhi won’t give way. He sees nothing wrong in Pia going to a local school and playing with Chandni Chowk kids. But in Mithoo’s head this is the route to drug-induced oblivion. So Mithoo, armed with a list of Delhi’s top five schools, sets out with Raj to check out each one. For most Delhi parents and kids this is a fun game — spotting which school they are inspecting. There are several clues: One school has a tie-up with Eton, while golf carts dart about in another. One has AC classrooms and a five-star canteen, while another comes with a temperature-controlled, Olympic-sized swimming pool. And then there is the Delhi Grammar School (DGS), the top dog where the who’s who send their wards. It squats proudly under the stern aegis of Ms Singhania (Amirta Singh).

Here on Hindi Medium’s moral tale uncoils. At one level the film is about the pursuit of school admission by an obsessed mother and a pliant father. At another it’s the story of the Indian education system that’s split into two discordant strands: In one universe are schools that are bending backwards to become the magic capsule from which kids will emerge as accomplished geniuses — focused, determined, dedicated super-achievers who will conquer the world with their brilliance. In a parallel universe are schools without desks, essential books, running water in bathrooms. In these school study kids you and I read about on the front pages of newspapers — kids who beat all the odds. Indians are nothing if not aspirational and generously schizophrenic. Mithoo and Raj leave nothing to chance.

They leave Chandni Chowk and move to posh Vasant Vihar where they try to make friends. But because their daughter dances to Bollywood songs and speaks in Hindi, they are bundled off to a consultant (Tillotama Shome) who fixes her perplexed gaze at Raj and Mithoo. Pia can be made nursery ready for DGS, but her parents need fixing. There are writing, speaking classes, mock interviews, even sartorial lessons. There are also visits to temples, gurudrawas, churches and dargahs. And yet Pia doesn’t get in, but Raj’s minion’s daughter does, under the RTE (Right to Education) quota. So Mithoo and Raj decide to go garib and move to a one-room house in Bharat Nagar. There’s no running water, but there’s a nightly visitor Pia calls Jerry. Here they meet Shyam Prakash (Deepak Dobriyal) and his wife Tulsi, and this is where Hindi Medium acquires a heart. Shyam Prakash and Tulsi train Raj and Mithu and connect with them in a genuine way, helping their Pia to get admission in DGS.

But things change drastically as the movie moves into the phase where Shyam Prakash finds out the truth. A betrayed Shyam Prakash rushes to reveal the truth to the principal but changes his mind when he meets little Pia on the way. This pushes raj to do the right thing, and when the principal does not take action after hearing the truth, he decides to take matters into his own hand. This is followed by a performance by young kids in the school function, which is highly applauded. But the real twist comes when Raj tells all the parents present their that the performers were not students of DGS, rather they were kids from the government school that he had been financially aiding. This is followed by a long earnest speech about the ill effects of our English centric education and thinking. All of this finally moves his wife, who comes forward and admits Pia to the same government school.