Stanley's Lunchbox

Instead of going into any comparison of this film with TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, 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. All those 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.

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 ambiance 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.)

The film drags a little after a while because there is no story progression in its initial hours. 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. 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.

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.

Stanley ka Dabba is a Sweet time machine which will take you back to your golden days,every character of the film will remind you of someone,your friend,your teachers,your principal,your school uniform,your school bag, your books,& off course your Dabba :). Dabba filled with not just food but with lots & lots of mother's love. Amol Gupte succeeds in getting the same taste in the movie.A movie with a very BIG heart & a heartwarming message.

Performances of all are just great,the teachers remind you your teachers,but the show stealer r the children,specially Partho as Stanley,he will stay in your heart n mind for a long long time.

Watch it & enjoy the ride to your sweetest days,u would feel great,i recommend it to all. Simplicity at it's best,one of best movies you'll be watching for long time.

Hats Off Amol Gupte sir,please keep making more movies.

Way back while watching François Truffaut's "400 blows" a desire to watch a matured Indian film on a child protagonist cropped in my mind. Thanks to the changing wave of Indian cinema Aamir Khan gave us the brilliant Taare Zameen Par in 2007 which was the creation of Amol Gupte (He was the creative director of the film). In 2011 Amol Gupte came up with heart warming Stanley Ka Dabba which reflected the potential he had showed with the screenplay of TZP. Stanley Ka Dabba starts with a highly zoomed shot of a warm day with a school kid (that's Stanley superbly played by Partho) with bruised face, little shabby yet jubilant walking towards the camera. As he enters the school and changes the calendar followed by a sleepy moment of ecstasy within himself reflects the monotonous schedule of a lonely child who is happy with his own supposed peaceful existence. He is the star kid who is good at everything from books to ball without any air of arrogance. His friends and teachers all love him except Khadoos , an appropriate title given by the 4th standard student to their Hindi teacher Verma Sir (played by Amol Gupte). Verma sir is an unapologetic glutton who pounces on others tiffin (dabba) be it the teachers or students. The cold war between Verma and Stanley starts with later not bringing much awaited Dabba for Verma sir to pounce upon. With a beautiful cat-and-mouse game the student gang of Stanley makes Verma run all around the campus everyday till the group is caught red handed. Without revealing the climax it is the emotional journey without getting too filmy that touches the right chord. With Verma realizing his mistake to the oxymoron brutally sweet climax it keeps the viewer engaged and at the end one leaves the hall pondering on certain aspect of Indian society that needs to be taken care for freedom of more Stanleys in real life.

Amol Gupte made a path breaking debut with Stanley Ka Dabba which tells simple uncomplicated story even though it reflects a complicated story about some harsh Indian reality. To tell his story the writer (again Gupte himself) did a commendable job in creating few characters around which the story revolves and took his sweet time in creating each characters. The teachers are sketched out of reality. Rosi Miss (played beautifully by Divya Dutta) is the loving English teacher who is a lady with gentle heart is someone everyone of us again identify. Similarly there is a strict science teacher Mrs Iyer (played by Divya Jagdale) who is not among favorites. Each teacher has been given adequate screen time as needed in the screenplay. Verma Sir (aka Khadoos) is a well edged character and when one expect a filmy flashback on Verma sir's life the writer keeps it subtle making Verma a symbolic extension of Stanley (and different Stanleys in the society). But then to keep Stanley and Verma in the same plane would be blasphemous. While Stanley is symbolizes Friendship and humanity Verma reflects selfishness within.

The technical department played a crucial role in defining the mood of the theme with fabulous use of camera(DOP by Amol Gole) that zooms in amateurishly to speak about the restlessness with Stanley's character or in the scene where Verma Sir looks at the dabba. The scene reflects Dabba being an important character in the narrative. Deepa Bhatia does a commendable job in the editing department and same goes to the sound designer who specially during the rehearsal sequences uses right beats of guitar telling us about the joy inside Stanley. The music is effective by Hitesh Sonik who uses the right instruments for respective moods added to it awesome lyrics by Amol Gupte again to add on to the cream. Specially "apne andar kahin chupa hai ek Stanley" the lyrics speaks some thousand sentences. And the poems in the film are intelligently human that reminded me of the marvelous poem in another masterpiece film Udaan. (like Udaan I sincerely hope Stanley too wins lots of awards in film festivals and awards)

Amol Gupte avoided filmy clichés and forced emotions while writing the story. He didn't go overboard and in his own lethargic space creates a beautiful world of Stanley and provides a cushion of happiness for the audience. But then suddenly in the flight of happiness he punches hard with a thudding twist that breaks the cushion. Yet the end is optimistic and about hope. The movie didn't come with a sledgehammer and all to tell audience about some problem instead it just tells a story about a sweet child n his problem n how he moulded his life to live in an innocent and optimistic way. A heart warming tale of friendship and belonging that makes "Stanley Ka Dabba" a must watch.

I can clap for the whole day for those school children who did a remarkable job and hard work, not even missing the Saturday-Sundays and other holidays of school and instead participating in this theatrical drama. Hats off children. Secondly, great acting by Stanley Amole Gupte and Divya Dutta and other staff too. The best part of the movie is that there is no flaw in it except the duration of the movie. I think they could have added much more to it. But i suppose the director wanted to keep it short and simple.Movies like these makes me proud that yes we( Bollywood) also have something to present, something original.I wont be surprised if it will be given the National Award for best film. The TZP team have did it again. Great work. We need more of such kinds.This movie will fetch your heart in the beginning only and you will crave for more. Don't miss it

There is a scene in the movie when the teacher gives Stanley a chocolate as a mark of her appreciation towards his beautifully written essay. With a sheepish smile, Stanley takes it amidst generous applause from his friends. He then tries to put that chocolate into his shirt pocket only to find to his dismay that the pocket is torn and is no good to hold his chocolate. This is one amongst the many bits in the movie that fall into place at the end.

Stanley ka dabba is a story of a kid who is special in his own ways. On the exterior he comes across like any other kid who narrates stories to his friends, sings songs during class breaks, and doesn't miss a chance to have fun. But, the only shortcoming here is that Stanley doesn't get a lunch box to school. It's a problem only according to his Hindi teacher Khadoos Verma but Stanley's friends like all kids have no qualms about sharing their dabbas with him. But, Verma who himself doesn't get a dabba is always preying on others' dabbas gives Stanley a piece of his mind and asks him to get lost till he doesn't get a dabba of his own to school everyday. This point in story leads to the big climax of the movie which I must confess is one of the most overwhelming and extremely touching ending to have seen in recent past.

This movie is all about the magical moments held together by threads of simplicity and honesty. Amole doesn't employ any overtly comical, emotional scene to score brownie points. The movie just floats in a good pace giving enough depth for the characters to evolve and get identified by the audience. He sets up the proceedings so brilliantly that the viewer can't really help but feel like he is in the same class as Stanley's and is actually looking at everything happening right there. And of course, all this culminates into one fantastic climax that'll remain etched in the viewers' memories for long time.

Amole Gupte was last seen in 'Phas Gaya Re Obama' and 'Kaminey' donning the actor's hat. Before that, he was credited as writer and creative director for the beautiful 'Taare Zameen Par'. He comes back with this movie, now managing all the major departments and delivering a movie that's just sheer genius of art.

Amol Gole, the cinematographer of this movie shot it in a hand-held Canon 7D camera because they didn't want to scare the kids away or make them nervous as the kids didn't know at that point in time that they were shooting for a movie !! Yes, the kids were told that these were regular acting workshops and only in the end were they informed about it. These are the things that make this movie look life like and come across as a simple story with an honest intention.

Hitesh Sonik's music and Amole Gupte's lyrics gel so well with the scenes that they seem like dialogues between characters but with a difference.

The kids Abhishek Reddy, Saisharan Shetty, Aman Mehra, Walter D'souza and others have all done a brilliant job considering that they are the real supporting cast of the movie. Divya Dutta as the charming English teacher who Stanley admires a lot is brilliantly casted. Divya Jagdale and Raj Zutshi are good as well. Amole Gupte as the khadoos teacher just carries on the great work he has been doing lately. But, if this movie has to be remembered for one person then it has to be Partho Gupte(Amole gupte's son) who plays the central character of Stanley and seems so natural in every dialogue and action of his as the lovable kid.

What stands out in the movie is the amazing control that Amole Gupte has on the narration of the story. Never does he let the rhythm drop and displays great control on his direction. For me, the dabba was a metaphor for what Amole wanted to convey through this story. It was a medium for him to give out the message in the end.

Its not everyday that I quote Karan Johar but here I go. On the day of the music release, he said, 'There is no mainstream or alternative cinema. There is good cinema and bad cinema, Stanley Ka Dabba is very good cinema'.

Yeah, Stanley Ka Dabba is one of those movies that'll try to give out a message without trying to be preachy or dumping that thought heavily on the viewers' minds.

As an avid movie-watcher , I get disappointed when I watch tons of mindless and stupid movies churned out by the movie industry but still hope that every now and then on a Friday there is a movie like Stanley releasing!