Nil Battey Sannata humbly gives the message that ‘3 idiots’ shouted from the roof; but from a different perspective. Directed by debutant Ashwiny Iyer, the movie raises an important conversation on how social divisions have been made so concrete that even aspiring to achieve something bigger seems unreal to most. Stuck in an endless cycle of illiteracy and poverty, the way you make sure your children get a shot at a better life is what follows the movie! All the actors, Swara Bhaskar, Ria Shukla, Ratna Pathak Shah and Pankaj Tripathi have put their best feet forward in terms of acting.The movie will make you feel nostalgic at many situations. With a strong message at the core, the movie is a full paisa wasool!!
Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s debut feature, Nil Battey is a powerful and honest work, completely shorn of the kind of pretension one sees in a large number of Bollywood movies. Swara Bhaskar plays the illiterate maid, Chanda who nurses a dream to educate her 15-year-old daughter, Apeksha (Ria Shukla). Chanda is often frustrated at the girl’s attitude who says “A maid’s daughter can only hope to be a maid, like a driver’s son can only become a driver himself”. It is not just a touching story of a mother and her daughter but also a great chapter on the importance of education. It tells us that a parent’s limitations need not stop his/her child too. Bhaskar affirms this with a rare power and simplicity -- a yawning difference from the parts she played as a modern woman in the Tanu Weds Manu series. As is often believed in Bollywood, an actor must be able to let go his/her own self and sink into a character and she does.
Maths is that five-letter word that evokes as much fear in some as the word devil. Against the background of complex equations, Ashwini Iyer Tiwari has set a sweet, straightforward tale of a stubborn teenager and her equally stubborn mother. Tiwari's film is as much about the mother-daughter bond as it is about the significance of aspirations and hard work. For all its plusses, Nil Battey Sannata has a few minuses in the unwarranted and mushy Sanjay Suri cameo, tendency to protract the gimmicky battle between Chanda and Appu and the preachy happy ending. Further, the implication that Appu's desire to be a maid or her friend's to be a driver makes them less driven human beings could have been addressed with some subtlety. But Tiwary does nail her two female leads, offering viewers a nuanced portrait of a temperamental teenager and a spirited woman. The brightest stars of the film are its actors and Tiwari and her team of writers who celebrate the mother-daughter bond. Mother's Day is on May 8 and Nil Battey Sannata is a timely, fitting tribute to the paramount figure in all our lives without whom we are all lesser beings.
A disarmingly simple and heart-warming film that articulates its message without making a song and dance about it, Nil Battey Sannata is a fine achievement. It shines a light on a segment of society where life is a daily grind and where the smallest dreams face the most daunting obstacles. It does not resort to scenes of high drama nor does it get its characters to deliver any stately soliloquies of intent. Yet it builds up the mother-daughter relationship gently and sensitively to a finely-tuned, emotionally affecting crescendo. Nil Battey Sannata has some moments that are achingly sweet, and others that are genuinely moving. They make for an engaging drama. The acting is first-rate and perfectly in sync with the demands of the script. Nil Battey Sannata is easy to recommend. It is light-hearted, easy on the eyes and mind, and full of heart. This film says a great deal about a girl-child's struggles, a mother's hopes and the ways of the education system. But, in the end, Nil Battey Sannata is also a good old story about life and its vicissitudes.
The title is a fallen-into-disuse Hindi phrase. Nil means zero. Bata/ Battey is a word for division. And `sannata’ is, of course, silence. Or ‘shoonya’. Zero divided by zero is equal to? Yep. Zero. Chanda (Swara Bhaskar) works her fingers to the bone, in multiple menial-mechanical jobs, to put Apu through school. She wants big things for her only child, and said child is quite happy to occupy the back bench and get bad marks. Any parent can recognize this mix of feelings—loving their child to distraction, and climbing walls due to frustration, caused by the self-same child—both at the same time. Bhaskar does a good job of the bewilderment, annoyance and plain wordless affection that comes from a deep maternal place. The little girl is appropriately scrappy and needy. These two are the mainstay of the film. But the one who helps add a well-judged layer is the school principal, played by the reliably excellent Pankaj Tripathy. ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ has a strong message about how education can change your life. It does underline the message, but stays just short of being preachy or message-y. And leaves you with a warm glow.
Nil Battey Sannata is a rare film, the kind that will bring tears to your eyes but leave a smile on your face. It is gratifying to watch something unpretentious in times when masala films are stooping to entertain. Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari makes you buy into Chanda's innocent world, where happiness is found over relishing a plate of Chow Mein while watching a horror film. Chanda (Swara Bhaskar) dreams big for Apu (Ria Shukla) but her world comes crashing down when her daughter declares "Doctor ka beta doctor, engineer ka beta engineer, toh bai ki beti bai hi banegi na..." The rebellious teenager hides her laziness behind poverty. Even when her mother works four jobs to ensure that she doesn't have to settle for fate, Apu remains irreverent. Swara Bhaskar, Ria Shukla and Pankaj Tripathi enthrall with their riveting performances. Though the tempo drops considerably in the second half, Ashwiny ensures that the film never loses its charm. It does get preachy and you find yourself shifting in your seats a lot towards the final scene, but the movie wins you over with its innocence and simplicity.