Malayalam Film ‘Sthanarthi Sreekuttan’ Inspires Change In Classroom Seating Arrangements

According to a report in The Hindu, the success of the children’s film Sthanarthi Sreekuttan has urged school authorities to rework the seating patterns in schools. Instead of being seated in rows, the climax of the film suggested a more inclusive seating pattern in which there are no “back benchers”. According to this report, several schools in the State have adopted a new seating arrangement after the film was released on OTT last month. The film is available on Saina Play.

In the film, which is about a group of students in a primary school set in Thiruvananthapuram, a classroom abandons the conventional seating patterns and adopts a semi-circular arrangement with the teacher at the centre, the report adds. Speaking to the newspaper, the film’s director Vinesh Viswanathan said that as many as six schools from across Kerala, adopted this practice and that he learnt of this new arrangement after he was tagged in Instagram posts showcasing this change. 

Sthanarthi Sreekuttan also deals with several other topics plaguing the education system in general, including a teacher who segregates between students based on caste and class.

The film, starring Aju Varghese, Johny Antony, and a group of first-time actors playing the students, had suffered through many delays during its first release. The film would then find a limited second theatrical release. The film finally gets its due after it aired on OTT. In another interview, the film’s director joked about how a certain section of the audience had been messaging him directly, asking for the pirated Telegram link of his film. Saiju Kurup, Anand Manmadhan and Sruthi Suresh form the rest of the film’s cast. The plot of the Malayalam film follows a “backbencher’s” efforts to stand in elections to be voted the class monitor. With a story by Vinesh, the film has been co-written by Kailash S Bhavan, Murali Krishnan, and Anand Manmadhan.