STANLEY KA DABBA - Movie Review : Irrespective of the Box Office result, this should be ideally considered a more important movie than TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, targeting the dark side of our Society. (Review by Bobby Sing)

Amol Gupte, the real man behind the highly acclaimed Taare Zameen Par (as the writer and creative director of the film), strikes back with his own film, once again revolving around children and their emotional school journey seen through the eyes of an innocent, helpless yet courageous child named Stanley.

For the readers who wish to compare it with TZP, Yes, visibly SKD does have a similar look to that of TZP since it has been conceptualized by the same creative person and director. But content wise it simply deals with another more important and universal problem of child education, which unarguably takes STANLEY KA DABBA to much greater heights as compared to TZP. Hence with that point of view SKD can easily be stated as a few steps ahead of TZP.

However, instead of going into any comparison I would like to talk about STANLEY KA DIBBA alone and the cinematic excellence achieved by its director Amol Gupte through his honest and sincere efforts. In few words, SKD is a very simple, sober and free of any gimmick kind of movie made on a sensitive subject related with child education. It is a soulful journey into the small world of the little masters, their truthful friendships, their innocent planning and their lovable concern for each other.

It reminds you of those carefree years spent in the early school days, when there was no tension, greed or cunningness in our hearts for each other. When we used to demand very funny things from the GOD with our eyes closed and hands folded.

It reminds you of the time when we used to sing the latest Filmy Songs loudly in absence of any teacher in the class, playing the dholak on our desks.
-The time when we used to wait for the recess period just to check each other’s tiffin boxes to see that what they have brought today from their homes and there always used to be one or two friends whose tiffins were pretty famous in the whole class for their quality of food.
-The time when we used to eat in the class under the table and if not allowed then asked for ‘a water break’ to drink some water till the recess bell rings.
-The time when we all had crush on the same teacher, in most of the cases our English Teacher, who looked beautiful with her fabulous dress sense and had a magical fragrance.
-The time when a few continuous absents of a class-mate used to make us worried as hell (and in our days we even didn’t have any phones from which we could make a few calls to his home.)
-The time when the same project of ours was appreciated by one teacher and disapproved by the other.
-The time when we used to give our own funny names to each and every teacher of ours, including the ones we loved dearly.
- And the time when one boy or girl of our group suddenly became the Hero of the School after participating in a reputed competition and we all cheered for him shouting as loud as we could running all over the school premises.

All these cherished moments of our loving school days are as it is there in STANLEY KA DABBA as if they have been shot with a hidden camera without being in the knowledge of all the children. And that’s precisely how it was done by Amol Gupte, reportedly with a minimum technical crew barely visible and using the natural lights available to make every child feel comfortable in his own self. Indeed a highly appreciable task achieved by the Cinematographer Amol Gole and his director Amol Gupte which is clearly visible on the screen in its fabulous frames and striking close ups.

Without going into the details of its story plot which should not be revealed here, I would like to say that STANLEY KA DABBA needs to be treated a little more than a normal movie, since it brings forward an important issue of child education in our country. In fact there have been numerous documentaries made on this burning topic but for a complete commercial movie the plot has been used for the first time by an intelligent director, backed by a foreign production house.

The film starts off straight from the school premises and also ends right there. So in clear terms it deals more with the School, Classmates and the Teachers and has nothing to do with Parents and Home. Where the first half is very evenly paced taking you into the psyche of a struggling child, the second one goes a little slow but leads to a more solid thought provoking climax, which strikes you real hard.

Apart from its remarkable direction the second ace in STANLEY KA DABBA is the performance of all the kids in the movie. Lead by Partho as Stanley, who is also the son of director Amol Gupte, each and every child in the film is simply adorable. May be they are so natural in their act (without anything artificial) because their shooting was done in a very relaxed ambience and that too only on Saturdays and Sundays in the form of a creative workshop. Partho is purely the soul of the film particularly in its final sequence which forces you to think about what you are doing for the cause personally.

Along with the kids, the teachers are equally worth watching lead by the director Amol Gupte himself in the role of Hindi teacher Verma Sir. Amol is just superb as the teacher obsessed with food and so is Divya Dutta as the English Teacher. Especially watch for them together in the scene where Divya makes Amol feel his mistake and repent. The other teachers in the staff played by Divya Jagdale, Raj Zuthsi and Rahul Singh also come up with their genuine efforts. In the soundtrack I really liked the Lyrics and Composition of “Tere Ander Bhi Kahin”, “Life Bahot Simple Hai” and “Dekho Ik Nanhi Si Jaan Nikal Parhi”. No doubt, a job well done by the Hitesh Sonik with the inspiring words of Amole Gupte himself. (However I really thought it was done by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy as the sound was quite similar to TZP.)

Now after appreciating the film in details, I would also like to mention its few weak points which many may try to avoid for their own various reasons.

The film drags a little after a while because there is no story progression in its initial hours and post intermission the proceedings move at a slower pace. The director very intelligently uses only suggestive scenes for the Big Competition sequence but still the stage performance could have been more colourful and energetic.

As the film progresses, you can sense that something is being hided from you and that makes the viewer jump on to his own assumptions leading to a predictable kind of climax which somewhat reduces the impact. Further I couldn’t believe that in a Big Private reputed School, both the teachers and the Principal (after so many regular Parent Teacher Meetings) are not aware of the family status of a famous boy of their school and he continues to hide the facts from them for so long. Post interval the film may not be an entertaining fair for everyone particularly the children and you may find them acting a little restless in its final moments. Further the climax in which Stanley continues entertaining all his teachers with his delicious food and stories about its making wasn’t convincing enough for me from the writing point of view.

But more importantly, in reality this is not a children movie at all. In fact it’s strictly for the grown-ups who actually are responsible for the current position of child education in our country. And in disguise it’s also a tight slap for all of us who very well know the truth but still don’t like to discuss or do something about the issue at our personal levels.

As a concerned person wishing to have a better society around me with more happy, cheerful and educated children in the future, I would like to say that just forget about the weak points mentioned by myself in the above lines. As an unbiased reviewer I had to do that but as an aware movie lover I would like to recommend this movie to every citizen of this country, of any age, caster or region. And would like to humbly request everyone to must watch STANLEY KA DABBA if you seriously want all the children in your family to have a better world to live in after we are all gone.

And for me Who was the real Hero of the film?....No it was not Stanley, not any one of his friends…neither his English Teacher nor his understanding Principal.

For me the real HERO of the FILM was the person who helped STANLEY continue his studies, the person who used to pack his Dabba with all that delicious variety of food each day. For me he was the real hero of the film STANLEY KA DABBA. I salute him for his noble act which may influence many good hearts to follow and I salute the man “Amol Gupte” for slapping us all with such noble intensions and concern.

After the movie was over, I was standing alone in the theater, feeling ashamed of the truth shown on the screen and felt a strong urge to do something for this cause and I hope every single viewer may feel the same after the end credits roll. Cause that only can bring some change around us - a positive much needed change.

Ratings - As a movie : 4 / 5 but as a social venture : 5 / 5

(Right away added to my "Movies To See Before You Die" List)