“This film is real life. A rollercoaster of reality. Certain events and incidents in the movie were of the actor’s real life stories. This movie was shot to save lives and I believe it has”.
The unfortunate reality behind today’s education systems is an issue far more important than we care to admit. Suicide and education are not two concepts that should coincide.
It’s a devastating truth however in India that the number of student suicides are exceeding a number we can’t ignore, and the state of Tamil Nadu holds its highest rank of student suicides.
Through further research I discovered that a township called Vellore tops the statistics in its number of student suicides. Destroying adolescent lives in the name of good education? I was saddened by this thought.
4 years ago a girl name Dhairiyalakshmi committed suicide. Despite scoring a 1040 average she chose to end her life. This incident scarred me deeply. After that, every year when the government board exam results are announced, I fear the sight of the news or the headlines of newspapers. However digging further into this issue, I discovered that India stands as the highest rate of student suicides in the world and this was due to our failing education systems and bad school conditions. As a result I realised that parents are also a major contributing factor, if children nowadays feel the security of having their parents support in all situations they will not decide to end their lives. I started questioning myself, why don’t parents give their children the confidence that they need? Why do parents take a step back when your child needs you the most? The answer to these questions resulted in this movie entitled “APPA” – “FATHER”
This movie from my perspective was shot in efforts to change these statistics and I believe it has started a small ripple effect. Parents have started opting out of sending their kids to boarding schools in the name of disciplining and encouraging their education from home. Schools from all over Tamil Nadu have taken their school students to the theatres to watch this movie. This movie has become a point of reference in a student, teacher and parent’s lives. Changing the society’s methods and practices towards the pressures of a good education. It has also created the start of a revolution towards the concept of exams and education in general.
