Nil Battey Sannata which means good for nothing and thats how the movie describes about one of main characters Apeksha played wonderfully by debutant Riya Shukla.
Apeksha which means expectation but unfortunately the girl has no dreams or expectations with life. Her belief is that her mother Chanda is a servant and she will also become a servant like her mother as her mother has no money to educate her for higher studies. And when she ends up getting poor grades in maths, Chanda joins her class as a student and challenge her to study.
What i really loved about this movie is the director and writer show reality in the film. It not hard hitting but a fact of life. Chanda does multiple jobs to sustain her family. We don't know much about her husband and yet inspite of all troubles, she wants to educate her daughter and make her a doctor or engineer. I liked the scene where she gets noodles to celebrate her daughter's success.
Yet when her daughter is doing badly in Maths, she re-joins school and becomes a competitor to her daughter. When he daughter breaks the bet, she decides to teach her daughter a lesson.
As for her daughter, Apeksha, she is the least bothered kid who just wants to waste time and has no dream and ambition. She is selfish and fails to see her mother's sacrifices.
There is also a nice part in the movie where Chanda accidentally meets the District Collector and stalks him wanting to know how he became one.
Also, the chats between Chanda and one of her employers, a doctor are nicely written.
Swara Bhaskar dons the role of Chanda with ease and confidence. Even with the age against here..she is pulls of a brilliant performance. Its high time that the Chopras and Johars give her a chance in big commercial projects.
New comer Riya is another star in the making and we should watch out for her.
Ratna Pathak Shah who plays the doctor and Vishal Nath who plays Chanda and Apeksha's geeky classmate do commendable jobs.
And finally there is Pankaj Tripathi who plays the school principal. He is one hell of an actor who makes the character look serious and well as funny. He doesn't make it a caricature. The one scene he stands out is in the beginning of the film where the new academic year has started and the assembly is going on.
The movie teaches a few lessons about life and yet it never becomes preachy or emotional. And thats its strength. This movie should be watched by parents and children together.
