Interview: Milind Ukey

By: Jai Rajendrakumar

It is already hard enough to find large blocks of people who find any entertainment value in going to school. Indeed, many kids the world over will argue that school is actually the opposite of entertaining and, at least in a youthful state of mind, is among the most boring and mundane activities to participate in – let alone watch a movie about.

Then again, film director Milind Ukey thinks he is on to something special with Paathshaala, a film about the many pitfalls and shortcomings of India’s educational system. In making a bold and rare move by featuring education as the centerpiece subject of a Bollywood feature film, Ukey believes Paathshaala will be the opposite of boring and mundane. Specifically, he told the press that the film will open the eyes of audiences throughout India about just how much of a shambles the education in the country really is – all while positively shedding light on the children who suffer as a result of academia’s many failures.

“I hope Paathshala will be a wake-up call for all of us. It has a strong message,” the director candidly informed the press as he promoted the film. “Paathshaala is a movie centering around the children, the Indian education system and its shortcomings.”

In sharing with the press, and eventually moviegoers, what he feels the shortcomings are of Indian education, Ukey said the way he presented the relevant issues in Paathshaala should be impacting enough to not only open eyes but also to change attitudes and perhaps inspire positive and progressive action.

“We feel that the perception of parents, school authorities and government may change toward children after watching this movie,” he emphatically told reporters. “The movie deals with contemporary and socially relevant issues regarding children, their academic pressures, their problems, and their fears, among other things.”

In sharing his perspectives on India’s educational system, Ukey candidly said the main message of his film is as much at odds of why a filmmaker would make a movie as the irony of relying upon academia as the primary subject matter of an entertaining Bollywood flick.

With Ukey stating he directed this movie not for financial gain but for educating the masses of a very real but overlooked problem, the filmmaker said India’s education system has the exact opposite goal – sacrificing the dissemination of knowledge in the name of commercialization and profit-making.

“While we were carrying out our research, we found that, on one side, the government talks about Right To Education, but on the other side, children are being removed from school for not paying the fees, and are ill-treated and abused by teachers,” he candidly shared with the press. “The education system has become more money-minded.”

Thankfully, Ukey is not being money-minded with his little baby in Paathshaala. As the film — which stars Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia and Nana Patekar — opens worldwide on April 16th, hopefully enough people will fill the seats to not only give Ukey his karmic due but also be informed of a very real and important issue affecting millions of people.