Stanley Ka Dabba

The film as its subtitle says is a small film with a big heart.It is the true family entertainer. A kind of film that school kids should see to find themselves on the screen and grown ups should see for nostalgic feeling of school days.

The film, according to me is a gem because it doesn't try to be extra - ordinary or path breaking. The film remains simple, realistic and naive. The film is just like a new born baby.No lime lights or publicity stunts were done to promote the film and thats why I love it even more.

The director "Amole Gupte" (deserves the respect I have for him) has his own good story to tell which is funny (or witty) but really impulses you in the end when a simple message is conveyed in the most beautiful way!

Beautiful is the word to describe the performances.The kiddo is already a star.Amole Gupte has proved it once again that he is in the same league of Naseeruddin Shah or Irfan Khan, and he has his own place in the heart of Bollywood.

Story is simple yet touchy.Looks as if all the emotions of a school kid are portrayed beautifully on a celluloid.Screenplay is strong and never distracts us from the main track despite of many strong sub plots.

Music is very good and suits the movie. Background score thumps the movie and helps in making it a heartthrob movie.

The film deserves a 5* but it would be a quite heavy tag to carry for a simple and innocent movie.A gracious 4.5* will be suitable.But above all, this film should not be missed at any condition!

I am glad that the movie is not Taare Zameen Par kind of film.Here is no dirty game of snatching credits and above all, no stars try to super- impose over each other ( yes main stream actors like Amole Gupte and Divya Datta are present).

The film will be cherished in my mind for a long time, Thanks Stanley!

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!

What worked:

• amazing screenplay; sweet and simple yet powerful
• awesome performances by the lead especially two

Gupte What did not work:

• although it's a hard reality, but we as a viewers wanted to end the movie with better optimistic conclusions. However, the ending in itself, is powerful and appreciated.

Final verdict: Recommended

'Stanley Ka Dabba' is a GEM of a film. Writer-Producer-Director-Actor-Cinematographer, Amole Gupte, makes a film, that is soft, simple & seamless. It doesn't have superstars, it doesn't have chart-buster songs, it doesn't have stunning locales to boast....but what it has...is a Big Heart!

'Stanley Ka Dabba' is a nearly flawless film about a child, who comes to school without a Dabba. And as he can't get a Dabba, a greedy school teacher, who hogs from every Dabba in the school, kicks him out of the school. It's then Stanley's journey to get to back to school, with a Dabba!

'Stanley Ka Dabba' is one of the most moving, well-written & well-executed films in the past 5 years. It has a story to tell, it has it's heart at the very right place. Amole Gupte is truly a supremely talented personality. 'TZP', was a fabulous film, but 'Stanley Ka Dabba' is a nearly flawless cinema. Apart from it's slow-pace in the beginning, I found everything, in terms of writing, direction, acting, cinematography as well as the editing, to be super.

The Soundtrack is decent. Performance-Wise: Gupte, steals the show with a fascinating performance. He plays the greedy teacher, with perfect understanding and rare ease. Partho, who plays Stanley, is very sincere. Divvya Dutta is good. Raj Zutshi & all the other actors who portray the roles of the teachers, are first-rate.

On the whole, 'Stanley Ka Dabba' is amongst the best films in the past 5 years, as it has story to tell, which is simple, seamless & very interesting too. Don't Miss This One!

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.