Front of the Class (2008) and Hichki (2018): Two Films About a Teacher with Tourette Syndrome
I want to recommend two kind films about the same thing: how a person with Tourette syndrome chases the dream of becoming a teacher. The first is the American Front of the Class (2008), the second is the Indian Hichki (2018).
I had wanted to write about Front of the Class for a long time, and recently we watched the Indian Hichki, so I decided to cover them together: the story of the second film comes from the first.
Front of the Class (2008)
A good, kind film about a boy who has had Tourette syndrome since childhood. His symptoms are frequent motor and vocal tics he cannot hold back. Teachers think he disrupts lessons on purpose, classmates laugh at him, and his father doesn’t understand why his son can’t just stop. Still, Brad takes on every barrier, and even twenty-four rejections in a row don’t stop him on the way to his dream: to become the teacher he never had himself.
This is not made up. The film is based on the book by real-life teacher Brad Cohen, “Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had” (2005), written with Lisa Wysocky. Brad grew up in St. Louis and moved to Atlanta to work. It was his mother who recognized the syndrome when he was 12: before that, doctors had blamed his tics on his parents’ divorce. After 24 rejections he was hired by Mountain View Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia, and in 1997 he was named Georgia’s Sallie Mae First Class Teacher of the Year, an award for first-year teachers. Brad also started a foundation that helps children with Tourette syndrome go to camp and spend time with other kids.
Who made it and who stars in it:
- director: Peter Werner, screenplay: Tom Rickman;
- Brad Cohen: James Wolk, young Brad: Dominic Scott Kay;
- Brad’s mother: Patricia Heaton, his father: Treat Williams;
- Nancy, Brad’s girlfriend: Sarah Drew.
It is an American TV movie: CBS aired it on December 7, 2008, as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series. It runs 95 minutes.
On KinoPoisk, the big Russian movie site, it has an excellent rating of over 8 points. Films rated above 7 there are usually good and worth a look, and this one is 8+!
Hichki (2018)
The Indian film Hichki (“hiccup” in Hindi) is about a young woman with Tourette syndrome who wants to be a teacher. Her name is Naina Mathur, and she is played by Rani Mukerji. Because of her tics, no school will hire Naina until she is finally taken on at the school she went to herself, and given the toughest class, 9F.
The story and many scenes echo Front of the Class, and that’s no accident: the film is officially based on Brad Cohen’s book, so it is essentially an Indian remake with a different heroine, a different school and its own songs. Rani Mukerji even trained with Brad himself so that her tics would look spontaneous rather than rehearsed.
- director: Siddharth P. Malhotra;
- producers: Aditya Chopra and Maneesh Sharma, Yash Raj Films;
- released on March 23, 2018, runs 116 minutes.
Audiences loved it: on a budget of about 200 million rupees (about $3 million) it grossed over 2 billion rupees (over $30 million) worldwide and became Rani Mukerji’s highest-grossing film. Its KinoPoisk rating is about 7.8.
What Tourette syndrome is
It is a neurological disorder that usually starts in childhood. A person has motor tics (blinking, head jerks, grimaces) and vocal tics (sounds, throat clearing, shouts). They can be held back only for a short time, and stress makes them worse. Shouting swear words, which the syndrome is known for from comedies, happens only in a small share of people with it. The syndrome does not affect intelligence or ability, and that is exactly what both films are about.
Which one to watch
If you like true stories without extra songs, start with Front of the Class. If you want more emotion, school drama and Indian color, watch Hichki. We watched both and didn’t regret it.
Both films are good. Above all, they teach that there are good people in the world, and they come in all kinds. Kindness, diligence, a love of learning and of life, and understanding can be taught; the main thing is to do it right.