Saee Tembhekar

Marathi is my mother tongue and my life is drenched in everything ‘Marathi’. But my education was in an English medium school (zero regrets about that but the more I grow up, the more I genuinely feel that my friends who studied in a Marathi Medium School have an edge over people like me) Watching Krantijyoti Vidyalay made me understand the ‘Why’ of it.

This film is a beautifully made masterpiece on the love and respect of our mother-tongue without disrespecting other languages. Hemant, Kshitee and team have done a herculean task of portraying such a deep and sensitive topic with such finesse In today’s over-stimulated and perpetually-confused society. I genuinely feel that every person who has had even a 1% touch of Marathi in their life should watch this film. It is an exemplary work of cinema with the perfect blend of writing, direction, cinematography and acting. There are so many things in the film which moved me. I have tried to jot them below.

1. The film opens with the gorgeous visuals of the small beach town of Nagaon. The visual beauty of konkan holds your attention from the first scene itself. The locations and cinematography in the film makes you want to leave the city-life and move to a village immediately and the whole film is a soothing visual experience
2. While travelling extensively around Konkan for the past decade I have always looked at schools in every little village that we crossed. The school in Krantiyoti is a representation of every gorgeous village-school in Maharashtra. The premises, the stories of how kids used to walk long distances to reach the school, the school ground, the stage, the library, the chemistry lab, the classrooms, the सुविचार on the blackboard, every single element made me teary eyed.
3. I loved the realistic element in the story of how the past-students came in for their beloved teacher but did not understand his intention in the first place. They took the event as a ‘farewell party’ and were rejoicing and reminiscing in the process.
4. The humour in the story is top-notch and I enjoyed the intelligent script so much. The writing is exceptional but so is the acting of the commendable actors.
5. The reference of having Sant Gagade Baba, if not Santa Claus was so to the point. I have always felt and spoken about how we need to speak French when in France and German when in Germany and also the regional south Indian languages in our southern states. How as a society, we take pride in learning a foreign language but look down upon someone speaking Marathi in Maharashtra. This has to be a movement and the love and respect for our own language has to be spoken and shared loudly. But doing all of this without disrespecting any other language is the key : which is shown beautifully in this film.
6. I admired how the film throws light on different dialects of Marathi and how it varies across different regions of Maharashtra. The key is to understand the concept and beauty of ‘mother tongue’ rather than stressing on the superiority of ‘शुद्ध मराठी ‘.
7. The monologue of Shirke Sir at the end which pinpoints so many intense topics is like a keepsake. I want to watch the film again just for that scene. When he puts down a list of legends asks the question, how will today’s kids know Kusumagraj, Shanta Shelke, PL Deshpande etc, the responsibility of every generation to carry the legacy forward was highlighted.
8. Knowing the nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ verses knowing the names of rivers in Maharashtra was such a beautiful scene. I loved how they stressed on the fact that more than the medium of schools, the fact that we are blindly accepting and following the international boards without understanding the impact and connections to our local languages and culture is a a big problem. The movement of education form a ‘right’ to a ‘burden’ is the problem.
9. I absolutely loved how the political angle was so intricately handled in the film. One more thing which stuck with me was the end credits, showing the versatility of renowned personalities who have studied in a marathi medium school.
10. For me personally, I understand that if you are staying in a big city, the idea of sending your kid to a marathi medium school can be a questionable decision. But I genuinely feel, this film has a larger message that we need to understand. More than fighting over how to use मराठी language in our lives, we should be focusing on the foundation of creating LOVE and RESPECT for it. I studied in an English Medium school but my parents imbibed the love and understanding that I have for मराठी since childhood. For me, it came from multiple small aspects like reading books, listening to songs, having a Marathi-Daily newspaper in the house or sharing stories with each other.

Krantijyoti Vidyalay is an eye opener in many ways and one of the most beautifully made in the recent years. I really wish every Marathi speaking person watches it at least once. Have you seen the film?