Cast: Swara Bhaskar, Ratna Pathak Shah, Pankaj Tripathi, Riya Shukla

Director: Ashwini Iyer Tiwari

Produced: JAR Pictures, Colour Yellow

Writer: Alaka Sahani

Genre: Drama

Duration: 96 Mins*

Mathematics - the bane of "the lesser intelligent" as those with better aptitude disdained during the whirlwind school years. What a traumatic subject for the lesser gifted! Did it matter if the bucket with a hole filled at a certain rate or the exact time when two trains crossed each other?

Apeksha aka "Appu" (Riya Shukla) shares the long-standing animosity with the subject like countless, hapless others. Unlike the privileged students of central school, her mother Chanda (Swara Bhaskar) can ill-afford the luxuries of coaching classes. It is a draining enough day to work as a househelp for the supportive Dr. Diwan (Ratna Pathak Shah), wash clothes at the ghat or packages shoes in the shoe factory. Appu also has more than a mental block for a subject. There is a lethal defiance to learning. Appu is also steadfast in her stance that she will follow in her mother's footsteps since they lack the financial wherewithal to improve their prospects. Chanda is determined to change her errant daughter's perspective, even if it means enrolling as a classmate in the same school to motivate her. She does not reveal that she is Appu's mother. It is a radical plan but with potentially virulent consequences.

Nil Battey Sannata is short on plot but rich in detail and pace, without succumbing to the meandering trappings of unconventional cinema. Pankaj Tripathi plays Mr. Srivastav, the principal and the tenth grade Maths teacher, given to either taunting the underperformers or exhorting the class to choose between being "ghodaas ya khachars". Watch out for the scene where he keeps a quiet eye and silent gesticulations to discipline the truant students. The camaraderie between the classmates is real, especially the shift in group dynamics when Chanda is no longer a misfit.

The beautiful small-town milieu remains identifiable and feel-good, much like last year's Dum Laga Ke Haisha. It is a breezy yet heart-warming tribute to a mother's unconditional love (and boy, must it have been tested through the board exam funk!). Nil Battey Sannata is the perfect watch in the post-examination season.