Madhuri Dixit, Ayushmann Khurrana, Anupam Kher thank their gurus, mentors on Teacher’s Day

On Teacher’s Day, members of the Hindi film industry took to social media to thank those who influenced and shaped them when they were starting out in their fields.

 Actor Anupam Kher had a double reason to be grateful, both as a student and as a teacher. Kher thanked his drama teachers Balwant Gargi, Amal Allana, and Ebrahim Alkazi for giving him a solid acting foundation. He also thanked his acting institute, An Actor Prepares, and its students for giving him an ultimate sense of belonging.

A modest Madhuri Dixit Nene named her dancing gurus, Birju Maharaj and Saroj Khan in her tweet. "It has been an incredible journey of making mistakes, learning and growing. And I'm so grateful to have had amazing teachers in schools, gurus like Birju Maharaj ji and fabulous mentors like Saroj ji, to guide me through it all. Wishing you and all the teachers, #HappyTeachersDay,” she wrote.

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana got emotional and thanked his father and the filmmakers he has worked with in his career; from Shoojit Sircar to Aditya Chopra. He also singled out Ashish Patil, the business and creative head at Y-Films, Raghu Ram, Gaurav Kapur, Siddharth Basu, and Nikhil Chinapa.

Newcomer Sara Ali Khan showed her gratitude towards her Simmba (2018) director, Rohit Shetty, with a post on Instagram. "Thank you for being the kindest, warmest and most giving person I know. And thank you for trying to teach me not just my job, but how to be a better person each time I meet you," she wrote.

Singer-composer Vishal Dadlani got emotional and named the four teachers who "saved" his life in 10th grade when he was about to have a breakdown. "Mr. Abraham, Mrs. Jacob, Mrs. Saldanha & Mrs. Mathur showed me kindness, compassion, understanding & provided inspiration above & beyond the call of duty. I can never thank them enough," Dadlani noted.

Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi (2018) director Mudassar Aziz thanked filmmakers Sudhir Mishra, Aanand L Rai and Mahesh Bhatt for being the teachers he learnt from.

Actress Swara Bhasker championed her mother, Ira Bhaskar, a cinema studies professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi and others like her in a touching tweet.

Finally, actor Emraan Hashmi whose next film, Cheat India (2019), will expose the illegal methods in the Indian education system, shared the following advice: "The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don't tell you what to see."