Malayalam Filem ‘Stthanarthi Sreekuttan’ Inspires a New Seating Arrrrroment In Kerala

Vinesh Viswanath did not expect his directorial debut, Silthi sreekuttanto initiate a revolution. The climax of the heart-warming, coming-of-age Malayalam film about an upper primary school in Thiruvananthapuram, shows how a class does away with the conventional row-based seating arrangement in favour of a semi-circle arrangement with the teacher in the centre. And this has been adopted by several schools in Kerala, after the film released on the OTT platform, Saina Play, last month.

“At least six schools have already introduced it and we came to know of it when they tagged our Instagram handle,” says Vinesh.

The idea is mooted by film’s titular character, an unassuming backbencher who is perpetually late for class. The concept underlines the need to do away with the practice where the studious children are the frontbenchers and the often disruptive rebels, the backbenchers.

The concept is not new since the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) launched by the Central Government in 1994 in six states, including Kerala, had suggested flexible seating arrangements that some schools had tried. However, most educational institutions have been inclined towards the traditional row system.

Vinesh, who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Anand Manmadhan, Murali Krishnan and Kailash S Bhavan, says that he used to sit like that in his primary classes at Government LPS, Pedikulam, in Thiruvananathapuram. “But when we placed that as the climax, we never expected it to reach so many schools,” he says.

A still from Silthi sreekuttan
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The film, starring Aju Varghese, Johny Antony, and a bunch of child actors had several factors stacked against it from the start. It was released after a delay of almost a year and, despite the glowing reviews, it had a rather short theatre run. The OTT release came after seven months, considered a long gap in the business.

The first school that introduced the new seating arrangement was RVV HSS, Valakom, in Kollam district, managed by KB Ganesh Kumar, Minister of Transport, Government of Kerala, who is also an established actor in Malayalam cinema. “We had shown it to him several months before the film reached theatres and he liked it a lot. We were unaware that he had introduced the system in his school until one of his relatives told us. However, we could not publicise it when the film released because that was the climax of the movie. We made the reveal only after it started streaming on OTT,” says Vinesh.

According to Sunil P Sekhar, headmaster of RVV HSS, the new arrangement was introduced last year in classes one to four. “We are continuing with it. It is not possible to have the semi-circular layout in all classes because the dimensions of the classrooms and number of students in each division varies. We have classes where there are 35 to 40 students. In such cases, we have changed the shape a bit without compromising on the idea of the teacher giving equal attention to all,” Sunil says.

Students of RCC LPS, East Mangad,  Wadakkanchery, Thrissur
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Other schools that have adopted this so far include Pappinisseri West LP School in Kannur, Andoor ALP School in Kannur, RCC LPS East Mangad in Thrissur, GHSS at Tholanur in Palakkad, and NSV VHSS, Valacode in Kollam. In most of these schools the class strength is under 20.

Bindu MV, head of Pappinisseri West LP School, says that the school was happy to try the layout, which was suggested by one of their teachers, Amal C. “We have implemented it in classes one and three. Since we have only a few students, we found it feasible,” she says. Amal adds, “The children and teachers have liked it. The classroom looks more spacious now.”

A classroom at Pappinissery West LP School, Pappinissery, Kannur
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Sajesh PC, headmaster of Andoor ALPS, says that he was receptive to the suggestion put forward by one of the teachers, Athul MT. “We have different clubs in school, and he was the one who started the film club. We were open to breaking conventions when he put forward this idea,” says Sajesh. Athul says that all classes except the kindergarten have this new seating system. “We also screened the film for the students since all of them had not watched it,” he adds.

Class V students of Andoor ALP School, Thaliyil, Kannur
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

According to Aalbert Christin, a teacher at RCC LPS, East Mangad, the same idea had been discussed earlier at various training programs organised by the Department of Education. “Our teachers have done it before. It is the best way to communicate with students. The movie has inspired us to make it permanent and now it is in place in all primary classes, except in those classrooms that are not big enough. This arrangement does away with disparity between the academically good and weak students,” he adds.

Filmmaker Vinesh Viswanath | Photo Credit: Ashik Babu

The blackboard is arranged in such a way that all students can see it properly, Sunil adds.

However, it must be added that not everyone is happy with the new arrangement. Aalbert says, “The ones who enjoyed being the backbenchers now cannot escape the eyes of their teachers!”

The film is streaming on Saina Play

Published – July 08, 2025 01:12 PM is