Emraan Hashmi says our education system is defunct, fractured and corrupt

Emraan Hashmi is of the opinion that the Indian education system needs a complete overhaul. The actor is playing a cheating mafia in his latest release Why Cheat India. What exactly is he doing in the film? 

Emraan told My Nation, “I am playing Rakesh Singh who is heading the cheating mafia in UP. He was a twice medical failed student. He wanted to be successful, so learnt how to hack the system. He is helping undeserving students to get seats in universities, and to get high grades. There are a bunch of students who go and give examinations for these undeserving students, who sit at home. That’s the nexus that runs.”

The actor feels that our education system is presently “defunct, fractured and corrupt” and needs a change. Talking about the film he said, “It’s about the education system. A very defunct, fractured, corrupt education system that we have all been part of, that our kids, later on, will be part of or are part of. It needs a complete revolution. It (The film) fundamentally is about the loopholes that are there in it and people are unaware of it. Students don’t know what is going on. The faculty is probably slightly aware but the government is turning away and giving it a blind eye.”

 He adds, “The cheating mafias are making money in every state and making the system corrupt. With their help, undeserving students are getting jobs and becoming doctors, engineers, pilots, which is pretty scary because they aren’t qualified.”

However, the actor admits that he didn’t know much about this nexus before coming on board the film. He shared, “I didn’t know about the cheating mafias, the way they function. I didn’t even know they exist. I knew of things like paper leak, basic cheating that goes on in classrooms, I didn’t know that there is a big nexus in every state and they propel this kind of stuff.”

The film, which hit theatres on January 18, has been directed by Soumik Sen and marks the Bollywood debut of actress Shreya Dhanwanthary in the female lead. What attracted Emraan towards the script? 

The 39-year-old actor replied, “For me, it is very important to choose the right film. It’s not that just because you have dates, you shoot for a film and release it. It is important to be very convinced that this is what you want to do as an actor and that sometimes, takes time. I believe scripts choose you rather than you choosing the scripts. Why Cheat India is a script that came to me. Just the sheer relevance and relatability of it attracted me. The subject is equally relevant for parents also. A lot of people don’t know about it. That, for me, was the biggest strength of the subject.”

Whether his film will perform well at the box office or not or leave an impact on our society or not, is yet unknown, but in his personal life, Emraan has a reason to celebrate. The actor recently took to Instagram to announce that his eight-year-old son has been declared cancer-free after battling it for five years. He feels cancer is a battle which can be won. 

Talking about winning the battle, Emraan opined, “See, mainly it is an environmental disease. Yes, it is genetic in some cases but environmental factors play a huge role also. It’s basically a lifestyle disease. Lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, what you eat, alcohol, smoking-- all these things affect the system. Then the system kind of rebels and wages a war on itself. That’s what cancer is. It’s not actually a disease. It is your system rebelling against itself because you have been abusing it. In the case of kids, it is mainly genetic. Even though it is a big problem, it’s not that you can't fight it, you can.”

Emraan Hashmi has plans to make a documentary to help kids with cancer.