Hindi Medium

Raj and Meeta dream Pia will study at Delhi Grammar School, the city’s top institution. They learn the school’s 3-km residency rule makes that dream hard to realize, so they start planning a relocation to improve their chances. The idea begins in Chandni Chowk as they consider reshaping their lives to fit the elite path.

They move to the posh Vasant Vihar to appear refined and move closer to Delhi Grammar School. A consultant, Saumya, tutors them for the interview, coaching Pia on how to present answers. Despite the coaching, their limited English remains a hurdle during the admissions process.

Pia attends the admission interview with Saumya’s guidance, but the family’s weak English leads to a poor showing. The school rejects Pia’s application, ending their immediate plan. The setback drives them to rethink the path to Delhi Grammar School.

They learn that a wealthy family has used the RTE quota to admit their child, sparking a larger scandal about how the system is being exploited. The revelation fuels their resolve to fake poverty to win a seat for Pia. The impulse to game the system grows urgent.

For a month they relocate to the Bharat Nagar slum to convincingly imitate poverty. They take up menial work and learn to survive with minimal resources while Pia’s fate becomes the family’s central focus. The move also introduces them to Shyam Prakash and Tulsi Prakash, hopeful for their son Mohan’s admission.

Raj and Meeta befriend Shyam and Tulsi, and Raj joins Shyam at his work as part of their act. The family gradually mirrors the daily life and struggles of the poor, blurring lines between performance and reality. Pia and Mohan begin to see education as a shared dream.

After the month in the slum, Pia secures admission through the RTE quota, while Mohan’s application is rejected. The unequal outcomes test the characters and foreshadow consequences of deceit. The family returns to a more comfortable life, but the secret remains unresolved.

The Batras donate to renovate Bharat Nagar Government School, providing new books and better facilities. Shyam and Tulsi praise the generosity, and the donor is sought to be thanked by the community. Their actions raise questions about motive and true poverty.

Shyam and Tulsi search for the anonymous donor’s identity to thank them and visit an address in Vasant Vihar. There, Shyam discovers Raj’s deceit—that he pretended to be poor to secure Pia’s admission. He resolves to tell the principal, setting the stage for confrontation.

Shyam weighs whether to reveal Raj’s deceit to the Delhi Grammar School principal. He struggles with the moral consequences of exposing the truth and hurting Pia, even as the secret weighs on him. The tension builds toward a face-to-face confrontation.

Raj and Meeta rush to Delhi Grammar School, but Shyam arrives first and meets Pia. He shares an emotional moment with her and chooses not to tell the principal, while Raj’s guilt grows in the background. The encounter seals Pia’s uncertain future at the school.

Raj reaches the principal to confess his deceit and asks for Pia’s admission to be revoked. The principal Lodha Singhania rejects the request, reinforcing the consequences of deception. Raj faces the harsh reality of his actions.

During the Annual Day function, Raj gatecrashes and delivers a speech about English in India and education rights. The audience is largely unmoved, with only Meeta clapping, highlighting the social distance and the hollow nature of his rhetoric. The moment marks a turning point in their public accountability.

As they leave, Raj and Meeta tell the principal of Bharat Nagar Government School that they plan to admit Pia to his school to study with Mohan. The conversation hints at a possible new arrangement that could reintegrate Pia into the path they sought. The family’s alliance with Shyam’s world remains unresolved.