Stanley Ka Dabba

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!

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.

'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!

Amole Gupte's directorial debut Stanley Ka Dabba pictures a kid who never brings his dabba (tiffin box) to school, gets attracted to his classmates' tiffins, gets scolded by his "khadoos" Hindi teacher and sometimes just manage to satiate his hunger with tap water. The kid is Stanley. From bruises on face to his incapability of bringing tiffin, he finesses with false reasons for all, cutely wrapped in his juvenile voice. Dressed with unwashed clothes, torn pocket and bag, one really expect a reason for it and a story beyond it. Though somewhere on a predictable note, the story telling promises it in a refreshing way. "Khadoos", the Hindi teacher, played by Amole Gupte himself, has a lust for food which becomes his weakness that deviates him from teaching Hindi in class to discussing the size of tiffin boxes of children.

Stanley's dabba gang has varied characters who marks their presence with genuineness and innocence, from the tiffin rich kid to the true friend. But Stanley is the star in his own way. With his gifted talent, he never fails to cherish his sweet Rosy Miss (Divya Dutta) and also the audience!

In such a simple-straight story telling which is yet beautiful, how does it matter much even if the back cast performances are felt amateurish? Not much, really. With Partho - the star kid, Amole Gupte, Divya Dutt making their presence very real, the film flows gracefully. Also, the art-direction right from the kitchen to the classroom makes the movie look more real. Background score sounds well and also the song picturisation adds flavor to it. Jhoola Jhool in the voice of Hamsika Iyer being my personal favorite.

With not much packed in it's first half, Stanley Ka Dabba offers you a light hearted, not-at-all spicy, healthy treat in its course of less than 2 hours. It brings smiles, tears and not only serves you a delicious entertainment but also a cause to realize! Watch for it!

Stanley Ka Dabba! Have it!

Ratings: 6.5/10

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