Nil Battey Sannata
Nil Battey Sannata, released internationally as The New Classmate, is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari in her feature debut. Produced by Aanand L. Rai, Ajay Rai, and Alan McAlex under the banners of Colour Yellow Productions and JAR Pictures, the film was co-written by Iyer, Neeraj Singh, Pranjal Choudhary, and Nitesh Tiwari. Swara Bhaskar starred as Chanda Sahay, a high-school drop-out household maid and single mother of a sullen young girl named Apeksha, played by Riya Shukla. The film's theme is a person's right to dream and change their lives, irrespective of social status.
Released in India on 22 April 2016, Nil Battey Sannata was distributed by Eros International and garnered critical and audience acclaim. Reviewers praised most aspects of the production, especially its narrative and realism, and the performances of the cast, Bhaskar's in particular. At the 62nd Filmfare Awards, Iyer won the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director, while Bhaskar and Shukla won the Screen Awards for Best Actress and Best Child Artist respectively. The film did well at the box-office, collecting a total of around during its entire theatrical run. The same year, the film was remade in Tamil as Amma Kanakku, with Iyer returning to direct. The following year, it was remade in Malayalam as Udaharanam Sujatha.
Plot
Apeksha "Apu" Shivlal Sahay is an unmotivated student who has managed to reach her SSC year in school despite her lack of interest in studying further. She struggles in mathematics alongside her friends, Sweety and Pintu. Her single mother Chanda, a high-school drop-out, works four menial jobs, including working as a maid for Dr. Diwan.Troubled by her daughter's indifferent attitude, Chanda narrates her dilemma to Dr. Diwan, who suggests that she hire a math tutor for Apu. Chanda is told that Apu must improve her grades to be eligible for a discount at the tuition. Apu, however, refutes the plan saying that she is destined to work as a maid as her mother cannot afford to pay for higher education anyway. With the encouragement of Dr. Diwan, Chanda enrolls in Apu's school to learn math and tutor Apu herself. This embarrasses Apu, and she continuously ridicules her mother. Chanda befriends her classmates and impresses the teachers with her steady progress. She enlists the help of her shy classmate Amar to understand math and makes use of mind maps on his advice.
Apu struggles to get grades and is further angered by her mother's success. Chanda promises to drop out of school if Apu manages to score a better grade than her on their next math test. With Amar's help and constant studying, Apu manages to get a good score. However, Chanda backs out of her promise after seeing that Apu was not committed to continuing studying. After allotting more time to school, she is fired from one of her jobs and is forced to pick up a night shift at a restaurant. Apu assumes that Chanda has been soliciting; she steals her savings and spends it on food and new clothes. This devastates Chanda, who becomes depressed when Apu tells her that the money was not hard-earned.
Chanda stops attending school and continues to work with the hope that Apu will join the Indian Administrative Service, after she is inspired by a kind District Collector. In the meantime, Amar tells Apu about her mother's new work arrangements at the restaurant which she mistook for soliciting. Remorseful, Apu rekindles her interest in school and begins to treat her mother with respect. She gets Chanda to re-enroll and the two finish their SSC year together.
A few years later, Apu attends her Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination interview, having passed her examinations successfully. After being asked what inspired her to apply for the IAS, she answers that it was her mother, who now tutors struggling math students for free. She also adds that she doesn't want to be a maid.
Cast
The cast is listed below:- Swara Bhaskar as Chanda Sahay
- Riya Shukla as Apeksha "Apu" Shivlal Sahay
- * Aditi Tailang as Grown-up Apeksha
- Ratna Pathak Shah as Dr. Diwan
- Pankaj Tripathi as Principal Srivastava
- Ganesh Kumar as Hindi teacher
- Sanjay Suri as District Collector
- Neha Prajapati as Sweety
- Prashant Tiwari as Pintu
- Vishal Nath as Amar
Production
After going through the script, JAR Pictures' Ajay G. Rai decided to produce the film and insisted on Iyer to direct it as well. Although initially reluctant, Iyer agreed to direct and learnt the major aspects of cinematography as a part of her preparation. Gavemic U Ary worked as the cinematographer for the film, and Kunal Sharma headed the sound department. The visual effects were provided by Prasad Film Labs, a motion picture post-production studio based in Hyderabad, and the costumes were designed by Sachin Lovalekar.
Mukesh Chhabra was the film's casting director. Swara Bhaskar was the first to be cast in the role of Chanda Sahay, a single mother of a 15-year-old girl. Initially skeptical about playing a mother on screen early in her career, she changed her mind after reading the script. To understand the role better, Bhaskar stayed with professional domestic helpers from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, where the film is set. She bought props such as a handbag, a comb, a pocket mirror, and rubber chappals. She also drew guidance from her mother's experiences of handling a teenage daughter. After the film's release, Bhaskar said in an interview with Daily News and Analysis that her friends in the Hindi film industry advised her not to take up the role as they felt it would be "career suicide" for her. She agreed to participate in the project because "the story stayed in mind". The next role to be cast was that of the 15-year-old daughter of the protagonist. Ria Shukla was selected for the role after auditions in Lucknow. Ratna Pathak and Pankaj Tripathi play supporting roles in the film. A group of around 25 local played the students at the school.
Principal photography for Nil Battey Sannata commenced in May 2014 at Agra and was completed by the end of November. At several locations in Agra, the crew found it difficult to manage an "over-enthusiastic crowd". The editing process began immediately after, and was supervised by Chandrashekhar Prajapati of the Pixon Studios. The editor's cut was submitted for the Work-in-Progress Lab at the NFDC Film Bazaar. Distributed by Eros International in India, Nil Battey Sannatas final cut ran for a total of 104 minutes.