22 Years Of Hip Hip Hurray, Was It A Show That Was Ahead Of Its Time?

Twenty-two years ago, a coming-of-age story about a bunch of teenagers in a Mumbai highschool captured the attention of the nation and became something of an obsession for youngsters. Hip Hip Hurray was a trendsetter for many reasons, including the various themes it dealt with throughout its run of 80 episodes. From teenage drug addiction problem to student mental health issues, the show hardly shied away from anything. It followed the journey of a bunch of class 12th students from DeNobili High and focused on their hopes, dreams, adventures, fears and relationships.

Here is a list of five crucial issues the show dealt with which would make you want to binge-watch this 90s cult show right away.

Student Mental Health Issues

The way the show dealt with mental health issues was commendable. A student dealing with depression due to problems at her home was counselled by her teachers to go see a therapist. There’s a reluctance on part of this student, and we get to see the immense pressure a person with mental health problems goes through, the biggest being psychological issues associated with the idea of madness in the Indian society. It also showed how the most cheerful person can be depressed and that mental health issues don’t occur seeing one’s age or the correct time. We are also given a glimpse of the therapy sessions to show how normal and healing they can be.

Portrayal of the link between Social Class And Education

While watching a show about a bunch of highschoolers, one tends to easily forget that we live in a country where thousands of children are still denied good education simply because their family cannot afford it. But the show kept reminding its audience of that. There was a side-story of the school peon unable to send his child to the school as his daily wages were not able to cover the school’s monthly fees. In a similar tone, later the show also introduced a student whose dream to pursue college education became a faraway reality because of his impoverished background. The other students were amazed at all such revelations, for according to what they had studied, education was a right of every child in the country. But the reality is far from what’s taught in books, and the audience along with the students are put face-to-face with this truth.

Also Read: Why Should My School Uniform Leave Me Feeling Self Conscious?

A Real Portrayal Of The Parent-Child Relationship

The show did not merely revolve around the students’ campus life, but also attempted to show their backgrounds. We see an array of domestic situations, ranging from ailing parents, single parents, too-busy-to-care parents, to students having lost both their parents. Each home is given the time and space to be portrayed realistically. We also get to see how the environment created at home affects a student’s wellbeing. There are episodes where we see how fights breaking out between parents and children disturb the latter’s performance in school and other activities. On the other hand, we are also given a glimpse at how supportive parenting works.

Normalised Live-In Relationships And Children Outside Marriage

One of the teachers was in a live-in relationship for the most part of the show. Yet without showing it under a different lens, the show instead tried to normalise it. Both the students and the other teachers talked about it like any other ordinary domestic arrangement. In the later episodes, this live-in relationship broke off, with the teacher finding out that she’s pregnant. Once again there was an attempt to normalise the situation, and while there were parents who objected to having such a teacher in the school, it was the students themselves who made an active effort to talk the situation through with their parents. The result? We actually got a chance to see how beautifully a community can come together to protect and cheer a single to-be-mother.

Portrayal Of Various Issues Like Catfishing and Peer-Pressure

There was a character in the show who was lured into a relationship by means of an online persona. Yes, you heard it right- Hip Hip Hurray exposed the problems that the virtual world presented and showed a student being catfished even before catfishing was a rampant thing. Similarly, peer pressure was portrayed in an amply realistic manner. In fact, the show also demonstrated the range of negative effects peer pressure can have: from being pressured to try drugs to seem cool to hiding monetary problems from friends in order to stay in the circle.

Also Read: Binge Watching? Did This Cross Your Mind?

The actors, most of whose careers started with the show, are all big names in the television and film industry today. Hip Hip Hurray truly defined an entire generation, and even after all these years, the show still enjoys a cult following. In fact, the show is still so popular that a few years back, Zee TV (on which the show first aired) made it available for free on its YouTube channel. So what are you waiting for? Grab your popcorns, and shower yourself with the wonderful energy of this 90s show!

Picture Credit: Hindustan Times

Dyuti Gupta is an intern with SheThePeople.TV. The views expressed are the author’s own.