Marathi, movie, Mahalaxmi, minister and mirth came together at the launch of the trailer of Marathi film Baalbhaarti on Monday, Children’s Day, at Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi. The movie will release on December 2. Baalbhaarti is a film about a Maharashtrian family especially concerned about their child’s education. Worried that he may be “left behind” in today’s times, they pluck him out of a Marathi school and enrol him in an English school. This is a story about childhood joys and trauma, emotional see-saws and pressures, and it is as much for adults as it is for children.

Robust system

Deepak Kesarkar, state school education and Marathi language minister, said with a laugh as he arrived at Famous Studios, “Do not make the children get up from their seats. Today is Children’s Day, their day.” The minister was pointing to a group of schoolchildren who were present for the event and occupying the front seats. For the minister it was lingo bingo, as he began, “Children must know their mother tongue. We Indians were way ahead of England, when they started schools there. We already had a Gurukul system here. The British abolished the system in order to rule us. Artificial intelligence, robotics and computer science is the future. We must have a robust education system.”