Nil Battey Sannata Movie Review: A Luminous Tale that makes you Believe in Dreams

Nil Battey Sannata is a delightful story about human relationships. It is a heart-touching portrait of how far a mother can go to realize her dream of seeing her daughter make it big in life. Told with Aanand L Rai's classic simplicity, it strikes a chord with all. The success of any film is defined by how much you either adore its characters or are in awe of them. The former works in this case. Be it Swara Bhaskar, as a housemaid with dreamy eyes or her daughter, the maths-phobic teenager, are both immensely relatable. You fall for them the minute you set your eyes on them. Ria Shukla as Apeksha (fondly called Apu) is a familiar character. She is caring but a rebellious teenager, who fancies Ranbir Kapoor and Salman Khan more than her books. She loves her mother to death but is so consumed by living life carelessly that she is ready to settle for her mom's profession, because of sheer laziness. And yet, you only want to chide the child. Swara as Chanda, the sacrificing epitome of love and care, is fabulous. She is everything a perfect mother should be. Pampering Apu is her sole motive in life, even when she knows the daughter is at fault.  It is this perfect characterisation that gives the film its edge.

The film's story subtly touches upon an array of topics in the garb of humour. The social divide, the caste system of education and why it is a privilege reserved solely for the rich. Chanda is a single mother who does a bunch of odd jobs to send her daughter to school. But her ambitionless daughter has no regard for her mother's hardwork as she busies herself in killing time with her friends and dancing to Bollywood  songs.

It appears to most that female directors bring in more soul to their movies.  Ashwini Iyer is a perfect example of that. From the first scene, you are sucked into her world of innocence. She crafts every detail with care -  the nooks and corners of Agra, sweet shops, the jalebis, dusty roads, tuition classes, the winter fog...You buy into her world unquestioningly. She has immense faith in her material and her conviction gives the story an edge.  The filmmaker, for most part, is sure what she wants to do with the story.  She makes it emotional but never melodramatic.  There is a strange charm and unique balance in the film. When Chanda pushes her daughter to work harder at school,  you know she is right. But the sight of Apu laughing with her friends after school, strolling by the river bring a smile to your face. Even you want to buy the kid some more time to live innocently.

Alas,  the brutal education system doesn't spare anyone. She is soon pulled into the web of algebra and trigonometry. Her mother to get her to study diligently enrolls herself in the same class.  Apu is embarrassed and she would do anything to get her out of her class. Chanda throws up a challenge her daughter's way. If she scores better in maths than her mother, the latter will quit school.  Apu slogged, burned the midnight oil and succeeded in scoring better than her mother in Maths. Once her mission was accomplished, she returned to her lazy ways. It is at this point, the film loses its grip on the story. What follows seems too stretched. It gets loopy and makes it noticeable that the writers didn't know how to finish it off. 

For the last half an hour,  the film drags. There is melodrama, which was carefully avoided all through and it gets too preachy. Also, the excessive emphasis on mathematics is an inherent  problem  of the Indian education system. The film pushes forward the same idea unthinkingly. It is like no other subject exists in the curriculum. Why does the Indian education system play down on arts and literature? Iyer's tale is definitely realistic. The issue is pertinent to the Hindi heartland, where Maths rule the notebooks and civil services is what they collectively aspire to crack. At one point,  we wished this thought process changes. Why do children from small towns, not have the privilege to choose out-of-the-box careers? Have they been conditioned to believe in the power of government jobs? Most sell their hobbies, which could've landed them lucrative careers as well, simply for the respect of a  white-collar job. The film never debates it but as urban audience, you will be compelled to question. 

Saving the minor glitches, it is a well-performed, well-written, moving film. The cast deserves a big applause for getting the nuances so well. Riya Shukla and Swara Bhaskar are fascinating. Pankaj Tripathy is endearing. Ratna Pathak is lovable.  But it is after all Swara's film.  It is a big risk for any actress to play a mother to a teenager. In archaic times, it was considered the demise of an actress' career. In this day and age, it is a bold move that calls for cheering. 

As you exit the theatre misty-eyed, you are overwhelmed by the story. You come out believing that dreams do come true. And hardwork assures you a better chance at it than luck.

We rate the film a 65% on the Pinkvilla movie meter.