If
a
piece
of
cinema
ever
had
its
heart
in
the
place,
this
is
it.
Don't
let
the
sluggish
pace,
the
absence
of
stylish
shots
and
flamboyant
frames
fool
you
into
believing
that
this
is
a
film
with
no
style.
The
style
behind
Paathshaala
is
in
its
inner
conviction.
The
obvious
artlessness
of
presentation
with
the
students
and
teachers
of
an
imaginary
school
behaving
with
a
bluntness
that
replicates
the
dialect
of
television
talk-
shows
rather
than
the
realism
of
cinema,
must
not
come
in
the
way
of
our
wholeheartedly
accepting
the
film
for
what
it
is.
An
unconditionally
sincere
effort
to
understand
why
the
country's
educational
system
pressurizes
children
into
performance
anxiety.
While
Basha
Lal's
cinematography
is
free
of
poetic
flourishes
the
Ae
Khuda
track
just
sweeps
you
off
your
feet.
That
is
not
the
effect
this
grounded
and
sensible
film
and
its
unhurried
pace
strive
to
achieve
otherwise.
The
storytelling
is
suffused
with
sensitive
pockets.
To
cite
some
examples...
in
one
sequence
the
veteran
sports
teacher(played
ably
by
Sushant
Singh)
gets
together
students
to
climb
on
one
another
to
make
a
human
pyramid
for
the
sake
of
media
coverage.
The
callousness
of
the
freelance
journalist
as
he
talks
into
the
cellphone
while
the
students
sweat
it
out
in
the
sun,
smothers
your
cynicism
about
such
manipulative
drama
in
the
narrative.
Elsewhere
a
little
boy
(Dwij
Yadav)
is
made
to
stand
in
the
sun
for
not
paying
the
school
fees.
And
then
that
decisive
moment
where
a
crass
ad-maker
reduces
a
little
kid
(Ali
Haji)
to
choked
tears,
just
chokes
you.
The
music
reality-show
agent,
who
auditions
the
school
kids
as
though
they
are
fish
to
be
fried
straight
from
the
market,
is
almost
caricatural
in
his
grotesque
commercialism.
Then
you
realize
that
real
life
has
sold
out
to
a
kind
of
vulgar
self-gratification
that
makes
real
life
look
more
like
a
soap
opera
than
the
soaps
that
we
see
on
television.
There
is
an
inherent
wisdom
in
the
homilies
that
Paathshaala
serves
up
so
sincerely,
The
narration
is
so
laidback
and
de-toxicated
you
often
wonder
if
the
director
believes
that
the
inherent
harmony
of
real
life
can
only
be
captured
in
leisurely
grace.
Comparisons
to
Aamir
Khan's
Taare
Zameen
Par
are
inevitable.
Though
flawed
and
at
times
failed,
the
overview
of
the
educational
system
in
Paathshaala
is
macro-cosmicin
its
own
right.
The
plot
meanders
into
various
issues
that
plague
the
educational
institutions
before
negotiating
itself
into
a
clumsily
'epic'
climax
where
the
whole
country's
media
becomes
interested
in
the
politics
of
the
school
where
the
plot
unfolds.
The
unevenness
of
pace
notwithstanding
there
is
no
mistaking
the
film's
earnestness
of
purpose.
Every
actor
young
and
old
pitches
an
honest
and
transparent
performance.
The
stand-out
(or
considering
the
low-key
pitch,
should
we
say
stand-in?)
actors
are
Saurabh
Shukla
and
Anjan
Shrivastava.
As
for
the
children,
let's
not
discriminate
among
them.
They
are
all
utterly
charming.
The
film's
comment
on
the
corrosion
and
corruption
of
education
makes
space
for
little-little
flirty
romantic
liaisons
among
the
older
students.
Cute!
As
for
Shahid
Kapoor,
the
guy
says
his
Hindi
lines
as
though
he
just
though
of
them
and
expresses
his
connectivity
with
the
kids
with
a
warmth
and
effortlessness
that
makes
the
other
superstars
teachers
on
celluloid
look
rather
put-on
in-comparison.
Story first published: Monday, April 19, 2010, 12:42 [IST]