Chalk n Duster; Indian drama film

Chalk n Duster is a 2016 Indian drama film about commercialization of Indian private education system, directed by Jayant Gilatar, starring Juhi Chawla, Shabana Azmi, Zarina Wahab, Girish Karnad and Divya Dutta. The film talks about teacher and student's communication, and highlights the problem of teachers and students where teaching way in the education system is changing day by day. It is Directed by Jayant Gilatar, Written by Ranjeev Verma, Neetu Verma and Produced by Amin Surani. Upon release, the film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Hindustan Times cited the films as "It’s a well told ethics versus greed story". The film was made tax free in the North Indian belt.

The film is an emotional journey of two teachers Vidya (Shabana Azmi) and Jyoti (Juhi Chawla), serving at a Mumbai–based high school. Their passion and love for teaching, bonds them in a special relationship with their students. Their gratification is good grades, moral values they strive to impart to students. However, in an evil turn of events, a wicked lady, Kamini Gupta (Divya Dutta) gets appointed as the principal, thus changing the fate of the administration. Vidya is one of the senior staff members at this fair to middling educational institution, which has thus far functioned smoothly. Everything changes with the appointment of a new principal. The teachers face unpleasant surprises when the popular and considerate Indu (Zarina Wahab) is replaced by the ambitious and cut-throat Kamini (Divya Dutta), who aspires to upscale her middle-class school. Teacher’s chairs are removed from the classrooms, the tea is no longer free and subjects are juggled so that, for example, the overweight Hindi teacher is now assigned physical training.

All this gets too much for the good-hearted Vidya, who suffers a heart attack after a sudden and unfair dismissal. In solidarity, her friend and colleague Jyoti (Juhi Chawla) decides to take on Kamini and the misdirected board of trustees, led by Anmol (Arya Babbar). This entails using a TV channel as a platform for reminding viewers that teachers need support, recognition and more pay. The drama ends with a recovered Vidya and Jyoti taking on a Who Wants to Be A Millionaire styled quiz to win Rs.5 crore. The trade-off is that if they lose, they will have to accept their termination.

Casting for Chalk n Duster

• Shabana Azmi
• Juhi Chawla
• Divya Dutta
• Upasna Singh
• Girish Karnad
• Zarina Wahab
• Sameer Soni
• Aarya Babbar