Youth icon Anto Philip tells Sakshi Sharma that his documentary, Batch of 2020, is a tribute to not only the current graduating batch but also to students, educators, parents or anyone across the world who have, through the years, succumbed to the pressure and anxiety of being defined by certificates and degrees

A farewell party, that last canteen selfie, scribbling each other’s backs with goodbye notes, group hugs, tossing the robes and caps, gifts from juniors, that nervous walk out of the campus and so much more — the last days of college always remain etched in our hearts. No matter how far we’ve come, most of us would always go back to the time to remember what made us. Yes, getting a degree and getting an education are two different things. You live through the experiences, explore a new world and go through a gamut of emotions during your college life. However, these are memories which the batch of 2020 will never be able to relate to or call their own. They will never have their one-of-its-kind, proud convocation.

Echoing students’ sentiments that something fundamental must change, Anto Philip, co-founder of Under 25, ensured that India’s batch of 2020 stands united against the odds.

Philip brought together artistes, journalists, comedians and leaders such as Armaan Malik, Anupama Chopra, Debosmita Majumder, Deepika Padukone, Faye D’Souza, Hrithik Roshan, Roshan Abbas, Tanmay Bhat and others to create a graduation ceremony documentary — Batch of 2020.

Written and narrated by Philip, this docu-film addresses topics that the batch of 2020 will find worthy. These include chats around ‘Everything you need to know about graduating in 2020,’ ‘Lessons from other batches,’ ‘First-Year after graduation,’ ‘Dropping out,’ ‘Qualities a graduating student must have in 2020’ and others. The film is a tribute to not only the current graduating batch but also to students, educators, parents or anyone across the world, who have, through the years, succumbed to the pressure and anxiety of being defined by certificates and degrees. Here are the excerpts of our conversation with him:

How did you conceptualise the documentary, Batch of 2020?

COVID-19 stole the batch of 2020 of their graduation. Students across the world have looked forward to their convocation ceremonies, especially after hustling for 21 years. It’s an event that gives them some clarity on what awaits them in the real world. Having said that, we felt it’s time to look beyond just an ordinary graduation. This presented an opportunity for us to curate something extraordinary, something unseen, an experience for students to take in and make use of in the new world.

What has been your inspiration behind the project?

Over the last seven years, all the work we’ve been doing across our verticals is directed towards building a better environment for youngsters. The students of 2020 find themselves in a position that no generation has faced since our last pandemic almost a century ago. Now, more than ever, we realised it was time to step in and drive towards a change.

What was the idea behind bringing together so many artistes, journalists, comedians, actors and leaders?

We put ourselves in the position of a student to understand what we’d like to take away from this film. What followed was a series of questions which we wanted answers for from people with real life stories and credibility. We broke down these questions and paired them with real life stories from people we thought would be relevant to that story line. For instance, dropping out is taboo, the emotional pressure a student goes through to first take a decision to drop out is strenuous and then justifying that to the rest of the world is even harder, hoping that the choice made turns out in his/her favour. To share a perspective on this question, we spoke to Raghava KK, Anand Gandhi and Deepika Padukone, all of whom are college drop-outs and have succeeded in their pursuits and craft later.

How challenging was the process?

As we were heading into the project, we understood the limitations that we were working with. We took those into consideration and built the film around that. However, factors like the launch date for a documentary like this always has a hard stop to it. The relatability of this content lies in that particular time period for a student. So time was definitely our biggest challenge.

How important is the college experience for the youth and how has it suffered due to the pandemic?

It is the most critical part. The learning truly happens in conversations with your friends, some inspiring teachers and experiences outside the classroom. This life possibly teaches you more than any other phase of your journey. It’s definitely hard for students not to be around each other but that also leaves us with an opportunity to invent and adopt newer ways and means of learning. We must treat 2020 as a year of unknown opportunities that requires us to break the shackles of our traditional formal education system and on its debris, build a new India that measures success on its own terms.

What does the film aim to achieve?

This documentary is the first step we’re taking to build a movement and drive conversations on what more our education system can offer to accommodate students’ needs. Our education system is built on fear and grades. It’s essentially someone else’s journey mapped out for us to get from one point to another. While this method works and is efficient for most, it also exposes the lack of attention to human emotion and the world’s dynamic environment. A good start would be the introduction of mental wellness hours in our early years of schooling. 

What message would you like to give to this batch?

You’ve graduated in the toughest of times, you’ve graduated in the midst of a pandemic and that’s why no one else but you will know the struggles of it. It’s unfortunate that you didn’t get to celebrate your graduation but know that it is because of you that we can now have fruitful conversations around building a more dynamic education system. I believe that you can be the changemakers we need, let’s collectively build a more responsible environment to live in.