Super 30 is a biography film about the adventure of raising 30 poor students for IIT (Indian Institut of Technology), one of the country’s best universities, Patna mathematician Anand Kumar from Bihar, India. The movie, which was released in 2019, includes Hrithik Roshan, known as the Greek God of Bollywood, and young star Mrunal Thakur. Hrithik Roshan won the Best Actor award for his performance in Super 30, which won the Best Film award at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival. Although the film Super 30 deals with the story of a successful mathematician who fights against the country’s current education system, it contains very important information about understanding India and the Indian character.
The main issue criticized in the film is the education system problem in India. However, when it comes to India, the problems in the education system and criticisms of the system bring the socio-religious structure of the country to the fore. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to evaluate the subject through the dialogues in the movie. The first remarkable dialogue is the moment when Anand Kumar sends the solution of the mathematics problem that nobody has been able to solve until that time in a foreign academic journal to Cambrigde University. The dialogues in this part of the movie reveal the whole truth about India’s socio-religious order.
If we take the sentences in the mentioned dialogue in order, postal officers express their surprises in this attempt of Anand by saying, “The British couldn’t solve it, did you solve it, a white man couldn’t solve it, did you solve it?” These words reflect a deep sense of psychological superiority left by the British colonial rule. The activities and policies of the British colonial administration in the subcontinent have damaged the confident and proud character of the Indian. India, which is humiliated by the colonial rule, rejects this situation with the sentence “It will prove that Indian is more capable than the British with the publication of Anand’s article” in the continuation of the dialogue. In addition, it is the work of the same insurrection to state that the British stole their information from Hindu religious texts. On the other hand, it is another important data about India that Anand’s father, who is a postal officer, says that “Indians do not understand that spreading the information will increase it and the value of the information is dead because they are trying to control it.” Because knowledge is sacred for Hindus. The information is on the monopoly of the Brahmans at the top of the caste system. Although it is claimed that the information on the monopoly of the Brahman is only religious information, a deep and qualified research shows the opposite[i]. Because while defining the caste system, the fact that the Brahmans are defined only as the clergy group poses this danger, the fact that religion has penetrated every area in India also makes it necessary to look at the situation from a different perspective. If we continue the dialogue, the opposition postal officer tells us that spreading the information does not help anyone, because only the son of the kings is the king. As mentioned just before, every area of life organized by caste system gives rise to this perception. Also, the Hindu Dharma requires this situation. Because every Hindu who wants to reach the moksha has to follow the limits and duties drawn upon him. However, Anand’s father says confidently in response to these words, “the age has changed and the one who deserves management is sitting on the throne.” Even though the existing system provides legal equality in sight, the constitutional equality remains partially on paper, as the values that give the character of society continue to live. These words of his father cause Anand’s eyes to look with hope. However, the hopes of Anand, who confronts the realities of his life shortly after, disappear completely.
While Destiny has pushed Anand to a successful and now rich educational coach who teaches the children of the rich, Anand, who meets a poor and self-taught young boy named Radhe Mohan, wakes from sleep and sees his own past in that child. The dialogue between the boy’s father and Anand is the second most striking dialogue in the movie. Radhe Mohan’s father thinks his son’s efforts are wasted, and Anand asks him why he thinks so. The man tells a story from Mahabharata, one of the most important Hindu religious texts. According to the story, the Brahman teacher Dronacharya asks the tribal boy Eklavya, who has become a better archer even than Prince Arjun, to cut his thumb. Because based on the caste system, Prince Arjun kept his best archery position, while the teacher Dronacharya wanted to be known as the best archer’s teacher. Although the world knows Mahabharata as an Indian epic, this holy book also plays an important role in shaping the Indian social structure. Because the structure and character of the Indian society, which is revealed through the dialogues mentioned above, is emphasized with this story. After this story, the man says that nothing has changed even today, that the son of kings will become kings, and that teachers will teach only princes like Dronacharya, that the system will want the thumb of the Eklavyas, and that the princes will always remain the cleverest, and asks the striking question: who will change this tradition?
Recalling the dialogues mentioned above in the face of the man’s words, Anand leads everyone to change the system and gives education to 30 poor children. While dealing with external barriers during education, on the other hand, he encounters a psychological barrier that children experience because they do not speak English. Because knowledge of English, which is one of the deep traces left by colonial history in Indian society, has become an important tool as a perception of superiority. In addition, the language diversity in India has increased the importance of English for communication among people. The emphasis on English, considered the language of the elite, also makes the film an important material for understanding India. Anand Kumar’s venture and success is more than just a mission to blow training traders who pursue money. Because, Anand has taken a provocative step to “give a new direction to the society” in all impossibilities. After all, Anand’s success is a small cry of a silent revolution in Indian society. It is precisely for this reason that the film, which has received great acclaim in the eyes of people, has been subjected to justified(!) criticism by showing different reasons by experts.
[i] This situation started to change with the penetration of Western values to the subcontinent, and the equality of opportunity offered by the modern world, including religious information, led the information out of the Brahman monopoly. However, these changes in Indian society cause different problems and the tensions created by the change manifest themselves in different ways. This situation, which is also revealed by academic studies, is the subject of a different article, and is not addressed in this article.