French film to document Anand Kumar's Super 30 coaching centre for underprivileged students

Patna: Bihar’s Super 30 - a free coaching centre for underprivileged students who have cracked the tough IIT-JEE, is all set to feature in a film made by French director Pascal Plisson. The 90-minute movie “The Big Day” is ready and its clips are already being shown to TV and YouTube. The movie is set to be released next month. The movie comprises four special stories from across the globe. One of them is on a girl named Nidhi Jha, a student of Super 30 and now studying at Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. She cracked JEE (advance) in 2014. [caption id=“attachment_2357094” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Anand Kumar teaching students in a Super 30 classroom. Super 30 website[/caption] Along with Nidhi, Super 30 founder-director Anand Kumar and his family members have been invited to attend the film release function in France. “It is a nice feeling to know. I remember the days when Plisson and his team shot the film in Patna. It is getting released now. I feel happy for Nidhi. She worked really hard and she deserves all the accolades,” said Kumar, adding that the film revolves around the story of four disadvantaged children who achieved success due to their hard work. Nidhi was the third daughter to be born to a poor auto-richskaw driver named Sunil Kumar Jha from Varanasi. He was upset after the birth of a third daughter as poverty scared him about their future. He could not even imagine providing them good education. However, after her Class 12, Nidhi reached Super 30, and that changed everything. “She lived at my home, she was like a family member. She was very religious and hard working,” said Kumar, adding that the film has shown how students from underprivileged sections overcome stiff odds at Super 30 under his guidance to make it to IIT. In the past, many filmmakers from different countries have made films on Super 30. Like in previous years, as many as 25 of the 30 students of Bihar’s Super 30 have cracked IIT-JEE. Children of a taxi driver, mason, farmer, daily wager/farm labourer, helper in photo lab and migrant workers are among the successful candidates. Super 30 was started by Kumar along with former Bihar Police director general Abhyanand over a decade ago. Later, Abhyanand dissociated himself from the institute. Super 30, which helps economically backward students crack the IIT-JEE, was selected by Time magazine for the list of ‘The Best of Asia 2010’. Students from poor families have to pass a competitive test to get into Super 30 and then commit themselves to a year of 16-hour daily study routine. Coaching, food and accommodation are free for the students. IANS