Saturday, April 17, 2010

Paathshaala Movie Review




However, performances remain the only merit of “Paathshala”, with Nana Patekar very calmly playing the willing principal and Shahid Kapoor enacting the revolutionary teacher with elegance. Nana could have left an even better impact on the viewers only if his last speech had been given much importance by the writers. Shahid’s otherwise brilliant performance also fails to shine brightly in absence of a well defined character in the script. His teacher act also reminds you of the one recently seen in his last dud “Chance Pe Dance”. Still he looks very good and likable in his role of a Music cum English teacher. Ayesha glows on the screen with her cute smile. Sushant Singh, Sushmita Mukherjee and Anjana Srivastave are just fine but Saurabh Shukla plays it loud as the manager. The movie also has some actors in the supporting cast who can now be spotted in some famous tele-serials. For instance, just look out for the talented “Anandi” from the serial “Balika Vadhu” standing among the school kids.

Paathshaala brings back those dark memories because the film encapsulates these two incidents on celluloid. The problem with the film is, it gets very real at times, but gets farcical as well. The participation of kids in media activities doesn't have a hammer-strong impact. The chilly portion and the director capturing it on camera, or the press photographer munching samosa as the kids get ready with a pyramid, looks unreal, despite being identifiable incidents. Even the climax is confusing. What is Nana saying in the concluding reels lacks precision.

Director Milind Ukey has filmed some scenes expertly, but, as mentioned above, the film lacks the power to make you do a serious introspection.

Nana is very much in sync with his character. Ayesha is a complete natural, as always. Amongst the plethora of teachers and students, Sushant Singh does well, Sushmita Mukherjee is serviceable and Saurabh Shukla is so effective, you start hating him for his repulsive attitude. 

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