American author William Arthur Ward couldn't have put it better when he said: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
While in real life, we've all at some point in time had at least one such “great teacher”, the kind whose lectures we'd never want to miss; there are some on-screen teachers who have left an indelible mark in our hearts and minds. Yesterday was Teacher's Day so we'd like to give some of them a gold star for portraying their role ever so immaculately.
Hillary Swank as Erin Gruwell in 2007 drama film “Freedom Writers” did reduce many to tears with her stellar performance as the white woman who does her best and succeeds in bringing change in the educational system and the inner city youth.
“I would cast my vote in favour of Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) from “To Sir with Love”. He is the epitome of perseverance. His dedication to his profession and his tireless effort to help his kids become better students and better people are things that I admire about him,” says Anuj Bansal, a freelance writer.
Music teachers are either loved or hated. There's hardly a grey area! And Dewey Finn of “School of Rock” is loved for the way in which he took his kids seriously and became one among them. A teacher who can identify with his students and draws inspiration from them surely deserves adulation.
As much as we warm up to teachers who are softies, there's no denying that Detective John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in “Kindergarten Cop” is loved for being someone who under any circumstance protects his children.
For those fascinated by the world of magic, it would be a treat to study at Hogwarts under headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He is clearly one of the most influential educators and is revered by his students.
Closer home, teachers in Bollywood have also found fans not just among their students but among the audience. Whether it was Amitabh Bachchan as Rani Mukherji's teacher in “Black” or Naseruddin Shah, who goes out of his way to help his student who struggles with a stammer, in 1993 film “Sir”, teachers in filmdom have inspired thousands.
Even Shah Rukh Khan as the optimistic, yet excruciatingly stringent coach of the Indian Women's Hockey team in “Chak de India” stole the hearts of many. Aamir Khan of course, through “Taare Zameen Par”, gave heads of institutions enough food for thought with his innovative teaching ideas and methods.
One of the inevitable highlights of middle and high school life are crushes on teachers. And honestly, which testosterone charged teenager wouldn't fall for an uber sexy teacher like Chandini Chopra played Sushmita Sen, who wore figure-hugging clothes in Farah Khan's “Main Hoon Na”?
“I would kill to be Simi Garewal's student in ‘Mera Naam Joker'. She actually left us fans palpitating after that film, laughs Anirudh Mishra, a businessman.
Teachers on the small screen are just as brilliant as their counterparts on the silver screen. Mr. Schuester (Mathew Morrison) of “Glee” is the perfect balance of friend and teacher especially to Finn Hudson. And given that he's quite delectable for a teacher, it is not surprising that he's quite the heartthrob.
“Lily Aldrin (Allyson Hannigan) from ‘How I met your Mother' is my favourite on-screen nursery teacher. I love how she deals with her kids and how she implements the same classroom rules in the lives of her friends when they're facing certain problems to which she thinks she could have a solution,” opines Aditi Raju, a collegian.
Hats off to Mr. Jeremy Brown (Barry Evans) of “Mind your Language”, who didn't just deal with a motley crew of foreign students but entertained us to bits in the process!
Our list of favourite on-screen teachers are certainly incomplete due to the paucity of space. But it is the off-screen ones we're grateful to not just for trying to drill Algebra and Organic Chemistry into our brains, but also for providing us comic relief and most importantly for teaching us some of life's greatest lessons!
