Latest news with #Jyotirao
Hindustan Times
19-06-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
School ready to admit students in Phule's ancestral village of Khanavdi
The school named after Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule in Khanavdi village of Purandar tehsil, where the social reformer couple hailed from, is ready to admit students. Jyoti Savitri International School (JSIS), set to commence classes from April 2026, marks a turning point for educational access in a region where lack of infrastructure had long forced children, especially girls, to abandon studies after primary school. The school, first proposed in 2020, will begin with kindergarten to Class 2 and aims to serve around 1,840 underprivileged students up to Class 12 in the coming years. It will follow Christel House model of holistic education that integrates academics with nutrition, health care, transportation, school supplies, and career support. Christel House India will run the school as a secular, CBSE-affiliated institution in partnership with the Pune Zilla Parishad and the Maharashtra government. The initiative was conceived by Rishikesh Huli, principal architect at Pensive Architecture, who was asked by Khanavdi villagers to renovate a memorial for the Phule couple. Moved by the community's reverence for the visionaries, he proposed a more enduring tribute—quality education that addresses the very barriers the Phules fought to dismantle. The gram panchayat responded by donating 12 acres, and Huli's team designed the campus pro bono. The vision was soon expanded into a residential school for destitute girls and underserved communities with the support of then-zilla parishad CEO Ayush Prasad. According to Huli, the construction of phase 1 is nearing completion with CSR funding from Fiat India Automobiles Private Limited (FIAPL). The campus will feature 24 classrooms, science and computer labs, administrative offices, modern sanitation, activity areas, and dedicated language labs. A residential facility for destitute girls from Class 5 onward is also planned. A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this year in the presence of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and school education minister Dada Bhuse, marking a public-private partnership between the Pune Zilla Parishad, Christel House India, and corporate and community stakeholders. 'The partnership is a major step towards equitable education in rural Pune,' said Pune Zilla Parishad CEO Gajanan Patil. 'Built as a tribute to Savitribai and Mahatma Phule, the school will offer high-quality education at no cost to children, especially girls from deprived communities.' Jaison C Mathew, CEO, Christel House India, called it a 'landmark partnership' that aligned closely with Maharashtra's vision for its children. 'We are committed to empowering every child with not just academic excellence but life opportunities—moving them from classrooms to life.' The need for such a facility is pressing. Research shows that while the region is home to over 13,000 school-aged children, English-medium CBSE-aligned institutions remain scarce. David Harris, CEO, Christel House International, said, 'With this school, we are planting seeds for generational change—exactly the kind of vision Mahatma and Savitribai Phule had when they first challenged the barriers to education in this country.' More than 150 years after the Phules opened their first school for girls in Pune, their legacy comes full circle in Khanavdi—this time, with a school that promises not just access, but empowerment.
India Today
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Death by a thousand cuts
When Ananth Mahadevan set out to make a straightforward biopic on the 19th century social reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, the first time it would be told in Hindi, little did he know he'd find himself in hot waters with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The board's examining committee came up with a series of amendments, which included changing mentions of Mang, Mahar, Shudra and Kunbi to lower caste and tweaking a line from 'teen hazaar saal puraani' (3,000 years old) to 'kai saal puraani' (going back several years). Mahadevan was taken aback. 'Just today I saw a headline in the Times of India which mentions Kunbis in big bold letters,' he said. 'If you can allow that in other forms of communication, why not cinema?'
Mint
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
‘Phule' review: Too much like textbook history
Writer-director Ananth Narayan Mahadevan bookends his 129-minute biopic on social reformers and educationists Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule with the events of 1897. Poona is devastated by the plague. Savitribai runs across parched land to bring an ailing child to a makeshift medical camp. Before the doctors can pronounce a prognosis, events move back in time to 1848. Savitri was a child bride then, married to the slightly older Jyotirao Phule who, even as a teenager, was progressive enough to want his wife to be educated. This did not sit well with his conservative father (Vinay Pathak). Undeterred, Jyotirao continued to encourage not just his wife, but also the younger village girls, to learn. Now older and more committed, the Phules' egalitarian practices and focus on social reform conflicted with the caste hierarchy of the time. The ire of higher-caste men, enraged that the 'untouchables' were stepping out of their lane, compelled the couple to move away from their family home. Joy Sengupta plays the upper-caste Vinayak, Darsheel Safary is the adopted son Yashwant Phule, and Amit Behl plays the head priest. Sharad Kelkar serves as narrator, giving the staccato screenplay some cohesion. The landed Phule was both businessman and social reformer. The film progresses through key life moments, almost as if visually and dutifully depicting Wikipedia entries for the Phules. From Jyotirao teaching his wife, to setting up schools for girls, taking a stand against widow discrimination, forming the Satyashodhak Samaj, encouraging Savitri and Fatima to become the first female teachers in India, and challenging the caste system—every landmark moment and action is perfunctorily depicted. Add to this a leaden cinematic language and basic storytelling (co-written by Muazzam Beg), which makes Phule feel like a rendition from a history textbook. Phule reads and rereads Thomas Paine's 1791 book Rights of Man. Inspired by the writings, he stokes his own little revolution that includes enrolling Savitri (Patralekhaa) and his friend's sister, Fatima Shaikh (Akshaya Gurav), in a teacher training programme and galvanising barbers to reject age-old oppressive practices. While Fatima is barely given any speaking scenes, we do see Savitri's empowerment and confidence increase. Jyotirao encourages and supports her, and Savitri bravely leans into her agency, even when upper-caste Brahmins humiliate her. Patralekhaa Paul is forceful and spirited in those latter scenes—an energy that is missing from Jyotirao—yet Gandhi interprets this historical character with reverence and solemnity. Mahadevan respectfully enforces Savitri and Jyotirao's rock-solid partnership, their mutual respect, and unfaltering commitment to a greater cause—one that still feels pertinent. First Published: 26 Apr 2025, 04:54 PM IST
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
‘Phule' movie review: Pratik Gandhi brings home the Mahatma
Bollywood seldom tells stories of Dalit assertion. It mostly sees the marginalised as victims who need the compassion and cover of an upper caste saviour. Perhaps, that's why the inspirational story of Jyotirao (Pratik Gandhi) and Savitribai Phule (Patralekhaa) remained off the radar of commercial filmmakers. Known to pick up challenging subjects, this week, writer-director Ananth Mahadevan turns his lens on the intrepid Maharashtrian couple that challenged the prevailing social order and the upper caste hegemony in the 19th century through education and progressive values, and started a mission against caste and gender discrimination. Unlike last week, when Kesari fictionalised the story of C. Sankaran Nair beyond recognition to cash on some chest-thumping moments, Mahadevan is sedate, largely sticks to the recorded history, and doesn't lend his work an overtly agitative tone. The film opens with a wide-angle shot of the fields of Marigold. Gradually, we discover that Phule gets his surname from the flowers his family grows in the fields granted by the last Peshwa ruler for their floristry services. Flowers are offered to the deities, but the gardener is kept out of the temple. Even his shadow is proscribed. His family and immediate society have accepted it as an order dictated by the scriptures, but Phule stands against the 'middlemen' between the Almighty and man. Inspired by the French Revolution, he quotes from Thomas Paine's 'Rights of Man.' Mahadevan brings to light the hypocrisy, the unspoken vice in religion. The Brahmins want the numerically superior Shudras to take up arms to take on the Colonial power, but don't want them to read, write, or have a voice. Through Savitribai's trusted ally, Fatima, the film also opens a window to the orthodoxy among Muslim men towards girls' education, which is not different from that of Hindu society. The Lords open the education path for them, but to lead them to the Church. A strategist, Phule can see through the divide-and-rule tactics of the British and implores the high priests to set the house in order before taking on the foreign power. Phule (Hindi) Director: Ananth Mahadevan Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Patralekhaa, Vinay Pathak, Joy Sengupta, Amit Behl Runtime: 129 minutes Storyline: The life and times of social reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, who fought against caste and gender discrimination to create a more equal society Some moments make you chuckle at the conceit of a section of the upper caste. When a group of Brahmins sends men to eliminate Phule, he, laughingly, says that was the first time that Brahmins had spent money on him. When Phule conducts marriage rituals, Brahmins object and seek compensation. Phule asks if they would pay the barber when they shave themselves. The CBFC has muted the tone, but those who could read between the lines will find answers to the Battle of Bhima Koregaon before Phule and B.R Ambedkar's renunciation of the Hindu faith after him. Popular culture has focused so much on Mahatma Gandhi that we have forgotten that the non-violent struggle of the original Mahatma of modern Indian history continues unabated. However, in terms of storytelling and craft, Mahadevan again disappoints. For a large part, the film reads like a visual essay, where each paragraph captures the highlight of their journey. Perhaps, to sidestep the opposition before the release, in a foreword kind of sequence, the film underlines that Phule had some Brahmin supporters and friends before moving to the opposition from the family and society; the Brahmin backlash, Phule's critique of the caste system; dung and stones hurled at Savitribai; providing shelter to pregnant Brahmin widow and so on in a textbook style. You can appreciate the sincerity in Mahadevan and writer Muazzam Beg's storytelling, but it is more educational than immersive. The internal struggle and self-doubt of the protagonists hardly come to the surface, and the ideas of Phule sound more like teachings than lived experiences. One can see the battle to get a well of their own is hard-fought, but you don't feel their thirst for change. Like most historicals, the film makes the mistake of seeing Phule through the prism of today by putting the halo behind him. Despite solid actors like Joy Sengupta and Amit Behl, it appears the Brahmin characters are there to be ridiculed. It means no suspense or surprise awaits us in their journey. However, Pratik finds depth even in this creative flatness to portray the gravity of the struggle. The confident gait, the furrow on the forehead, and the transition to a man who realises that his mission will not be complete in his lifetime, Pratik coalesces different timelines and situations in his malleable frame. The understated ebullience of Patralekhaa feels more like 2025 than 1885, but together, they generate the vibe of a couple that grows from sharing a teacher-student bond to becoming soulmates. Phule is currently running in theatres
Scroll.in
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘Phule' review: A dull biopic of fiery revolutionaries
Ananth Mahadevan's Phule goes down the list of Key Milestones Associated with the Great Reformer. The Hindi-language Phule, co-written by Mahadevan and Muazzam Beg, dutifully dramatises the inciting events and turning points in the lives of the nineteenth-century activist Jyotirao Phule and his supportive wife, Savitribai. You have Jyotirao (Pratik Gandhi) teaching Savitribai (Patralekhaa) to read and write; the opposition Jyotirao faces from his family for his views; the vicious backlash from Brahmins to Phule's critique of the caste system. The dung and stones hurled on Savitribai; the pregnant Brahmin widow sheltered by the couple; Phule's campaign to persuade barbers to stop tonsuring Brahmin widows; Dalits prevented from drawing water from a well – it's all there in a studious, cursory fashion. A muted colour palette and flute-heavy background score accompany Jyotirao and Savitribai as they move seemingly inexorably from one hard-earned triumph to the next. Against the odds, they educate girls from all castes. Their bond is tested, but also strengthened, by sustained and frequently violent attacks. The parade of events leaves barely any room for an exploration of ideas. Phule's revolutionary critique of Brahmanical values, his analysis of the actual meaning of ossified traditions, his understanding of the caste system – these aspects are largely missing in a 127-minute drama that is as dull as it is dutiful, sincere but stilted too. Phule was better served by Nilesh Jalamkar's Marathi-language biopic Satyashodhak (available on Prime Video) or even the short episode on him in the Bharat Ek Khoj series on Doordarshan. Satyashodhak included Phule's trenchant views on why caste injustice lingers, and who is responsible. Satyashodhak also provided a fuller portrait of Phule's life beyond his activism, such as his work as a contractor. Mahadevan's biopic has a dual focus, revealed in its title. The film is equally about Savitribai, portrayed here as a co-author of Phule's vision. Fatima Sheikh (Akshaya Gurav), who teaches students alongside Savitribai, is a key secondary character. Patralekhaa is more committed to her role than Pratik Gandhi, whose Jyotirao is unusually subdued and flat. The fire is missing from Gandhi's portrayal – an off day for an otherwise gifted actor. The film itself douses the more radical aspects of Phule's singular achievements. Pratik Gandhi is barely present, Patralekhaa marks her attendance more strongly. And so the film trundles on, from one familiar history lesson to the next. Play
