Teachers’ Day: Bollywood’s songs dedicated to teachers

Marking the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the entire nation will be celebrating Teachers’ Day on September 5. While educational institutions have time and again celebrated and appreciated the contributions of the teachers, Bollywood has also not been far behind. Bollywood has till date come up with a number of Hindi songs on teachers, reflecting their importance in the society and in the lives of students. From old classics to the recent additions, we give you a rundown of Bollywood songs that serves as the right tribute to our beloved teachers...

Written and directed by Gulzar, 'Kitaab' is a film about a little0020boy understanding the importance of education in life. The song ‘Master Ji Ki Aa Gayi Chitthi’ features child artist Master Raju singing the song in the classroom along with the entire class.
Sung by Shivangi Kolhapure, the song is bound to make you run down the memory lane and remember schooling days.

'Imtihaan' is a 1974 film, directed by Madan Sinha. The film stars Vinod Khanna, tanuja and Bindu in lead roles. The film is about an idealistic professor who decides to reform a group of rowdy students at a college. Vinod Khanna plays the teacher in the film.
The song ‘Ruk Jana Nahi’ has a very soulful music and lyrics. Penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri, the song is composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and sung by Kishore Kumar. The song is so motivational that it pulls our heartstrings whenever it is played even today.

The song ‘Sir Sir O Sir’ from the 1993 cult classic movie 'Sir' features Atul Agnihotri and Pooja Bhatt. The film is directed by Mahesh Bhatt.
Naseeruddin Shah is seen playing the friendly teacher in the movie and the duo pays tribute to him through this melodious track.

A Milind Ukey directorial, 'Paathshaala' stars Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Shraddha Arya, Ali Haji, Sushant Singh and Nana Patekar. The film is about the commercialisation of modern education system and several ideologies.
The song is based on the life of a teacher which is played by Shahid Kapoor in the movie. Salim merchant has given his voice to the soulful song.

'Rang De Basanti' is a 2006 movie is about a British documentary filmmaker who is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters based on diary entries by her grandfather, a former officer of the Indian Imperial Police.
The film is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Although the film has nothing related to teachers, the song is played on the occasion of Teachers’ Day due to its quirky and fun-filled lyrics.

Aamir Khan’s 'Taare Zameen Par' was undoubtedly the movie of the decade. The 2007 film, explored the relationship between an art teacher and a dyslexic student. Aamir Khan in a role of an art teacher shows the real talent of a gifted boy played by child actor Darsheel Safary.
While the film had many songs that stroked chord with the audience, the song ‘Kholo Kholo Darwaze’, is a song that motivates the students to follow their dreams and identify their skills.
The lyrics of the song is by Prasoon Joshi, music has been composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonca and has been sung in the voice of Raman Mahadevan.

Directed by Jayant Gilater, 'Chalk N Duster' released in 2016. The film is about eachers' and students' communication, and highlights the problem of teachers and students in an educational system which is changing day by day. It features Juhi Chawla, Shabana Azmi, Zarina Wahab, Girish Karnad and Divya Dutta in pivotal roles.
While most of the songs from the movie centre around its theme of educational system, teachers and students, the song ‘Aye Zindagi’ is a portrayal of strong teacher-student relationship as well as family bonds.
The song is rendered by Sonu Nigam, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar and composed by Sandesh Shandilya.