Bunk this class.

Grade: D

Paathshaala

Indian Release Date: 16/04/10
CBFC Classification:  U
Running Length: 2 Hours 03 Minutes

Cast: Nana Patekar, Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Sushant Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Nassar Abdulla, Anjan Srivastava
Director: Milind Ukey
Screenplay: Ahmed Khan
Cinematography: Basha Lal
Music: Hanif Sheikh

Many movies have their heart in the right place but fail miserably at their execution & all that’s left is a hollow shell of an idea. ‘Paathshaala’ is one of those movies that fit this description perfectly. Somewhere hidden in it’s potpourri of a plot is a message about the current sorry state of academics of India but an unclear direction & a poorly written narrative scuttle any chance that message has of reaching the audience.

The school ‘Saraswati Vidya Mandir’ has been a beacon of quality education for nearly seventy years. It’s run by a highly dedicated group of teachers lead ably by their principal Aditya Sahay (Nana Patekar). However things aren’t all hunky dory between Sahay & the chairman of the school board Mr. Dholakia (Nassar Abdulla). Dholakia is more interested in turning the school into a profit making venture than running it like a temple of knowledge the way Sahay has been doing so. He tells Sahay to either shape up or pack up. Out of his concern for the future of his students Sahay starts to think up of various schemes to make a quick buck. In the meantime the school receives a new English language teacher, Rahul (Shahid Kapoor), who also doubles up as the music teacher & quickly wins the hearts of the staff & students alike (one pointless sub-plot has a female student totally besotted with him). Soon enough Sahay & the school board lackey, Sharma (Saurabh Shukla), start unbelievably bizarre & cruel media exercises in excess to grab attention for the school & to earn the required money. Kids of all ages & sizes are subjected to such exploitative regimes which would have had ‘Child Labor’ lawyers crawling all over the school management’s butt. Rahul & the other teachers can not remain mute spectators for long & start to weigh their options. So will this situation ever get resolved? Will the kids be able to attend school again properly? Will Aanandi get married? Oops sorry she did already while she was studying at this school (she really is in this movie! Goddamn those Colors channel guys!)

I’m sorry if I made the plot sound like a mess, but that’s what it is. There are atleast half a dozen sub-plots that lead to nowhere & remain unresolved. The message is clear in broader strokes but the amateurish screenplay just doesn’t know how to put it across in a cohesive manner. The commercialization of our education system could have made for a compelling story but the script is more than content to wallow in outrageous scenes of cruelty being inflicted on kids by buffoon like adults with an emotional quotient of a potato.

Scenes with the abrasive media & P.R. people just highlight the regressive & limited vision of the makers. The bad guys are portrayed as being so over the top that all that was left to do was to have them frothing from their mouths & put on a super villain costume. Even the management stooge Sharma displays such glee at being a jerk that you’d start to wonder if this is a serious movie or a cartoon. You have to see the delicious irony in the movie showing the kids being unwillingly exploited by “heartless” photographers, directors & producers; all the while they are acting in a movie that very well might have done the same to a fairly large group of kids (most of them are career actors of course, but still).

The thing, on which I’d really like to drop the hammer, is the portrayal of the working of the school in itself. Other than the perfunctory scenes of teachers in class rooms & students in uniforms, barely anything seems realistic about this school. The depiction is so unrealistic that it makes ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (2007) look like a thoroughly researched documentary.

The movie does have a few songs that are fairly easy-on-the-ears. One song in particular is the ‘Aye Khuda’ track that even the makers must have realized as the only ace they posses hence the over-usage as an instrumental piece at every juncture.

Nana Patekar is the only one who displays any sort of acting talent & he too seems to be running on auto mode. Shahid Kapoor & Ayesha Takia are the teacher ‘Barbie & Ken’ couple who keep on flashing their pearly whites at every opportunity. Anjan Srivastava as the peon is perhaps the only person in the lot who manages to generate some sympathy. Sushant Singh is wasted in an inconsequential role well below his worth. Nassar Abdulla, huffs & puffs his way through the movie reinforcing my low opinion about his acting abilities. The kids are a mixed bunch with a handful chosen actors who get maximum screen time & make nothing of it, while the extras seem utterly bored & clueless.

A topic like this needed much more attention to detail & some right questions to be asked even if solutions can’t be offered; none of which the movie manages to do. The movie is a muddled & exploitative waste of two hours that could have been better spent volunteering at a school in need of your assistance.

Final Verdict: Do not get yourself admitted into this ‘Paathshaala’.

Grade: D       

 

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