Unique initiative by Sony Yay! honours the 'real teachers' on Teacher’s Day

EE News Desk Sep 05, 2017

A mentor, guide, confidant, friend - a teacher plays multiple roles in shaping a child's identity and helping them realize their dreams. This Teacher’s Day, Sony Pictures Networks India’’s (SPN) kid’s entertainment channel - Sony YAY! took upon itself the task of commemorating the energy and efforts of teachers as they shape the biggest role models of this country.

One of the people acknowledged by Sony YAY! was Mahavir Singh Phogat, the man behind the heroic success of his daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat who have become India’s most renowned female wrestlers.

Ace choreographer, Shiamak Davar, who trained over a million of students since he started his journey over two decades back has given the country dancing stars like Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Sushant Singh Rajput and many more. Shiamak has led his students to represent India at prestigious platforms like the Commonwealth Games amongst others making him the finest dance guru the country has seen till date.

Amongst these heroes, Shaheen Mistri was recognized as well. An Indian social activist and educator, she is the founder of the Akanksha Foundation, an Indian educational initiative in Mumbai and Pune, and is also the CEO of Teach For India, helping children of the country grow and helping them follow their dreams.

Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awardee Anupam Kher, credited with leading one of India's biggest acting schools, was commemorated for mentoring and honing the talent of some of India's biggest superstars including Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan to name a few.

One of the most revered Indian classical dancer and teacher, Pandit Birju Maharaj was also felicitated as the part of the campaign for his unfaltering efforts for over six decades in teaching the classical dance form of Kathak to students in the country and across the world including celebrities like Madhuri Dixit, Deepika Padukone and others.

Shiamak Davar, choreographer and teacher, commented, saying "I thank Sony YAY! for this lovely award that’s been given to me and I’m very happy to be honoured with this because as a teacher, I’m so happy that Shahid, Sushant, Boman, Aishwarya and everybody who has been with me for so many years has really gone forward in their careers. So for me, it’s a very big honour and I’m very grateful. Thank you, Sony!"

Anupam Kher, actor, founder of acting school - Actor Prepares, said “I’m very honoured to be presented this award, “Heroes Behind The Heroes” by Sony YAY!. It’s on a teacher’s day, I felt happy when Jai and Viru decided to give me this award. Teachers in any form are actual heroes because they produce so many heroes and it’s a thankless job because they need to create more and more stars or heroes and they remain there. This is a very fine award that Sony YAY! has given me”