Stanley Ka Dabba Youtube
Kody Chavva
Stanley (Partho Gupte) is a fourth grader at Holy Family school in Mumbai and is very popular among his friends. He is talented and well liked by his peers. The English teacher, Ms. Rosy, (Divya Dutta) is particularly impressed with his creativity, wit, and humour. Stanley is shown with a bruised face in the opening scene of the movie. On being questioned about it by Ms. Rosy, he concocts an elaborate story, much to her amusement. His humorous essays and offhand poem recitations make him her favourite in class. However his imagination is not always rewarded; his science teacher (Divya Jagdale) rebukes his attempt at constructing a light house as part of the class project since it does not adhere to the topics covered in class.
It is shown early on that he doesn't bring his lunch box or 'dabba' to school, unlike all his other classmates. Verma (Amole Gupte) is a ravenous Hindi teacher; a phagomaniac who does not bring his own dabba either but lusts after everyone else's, also stealing food on occasion. The kids at school nicknamed him as 'Khadoos' (cantankerous person). He has a poor reputation among his peers for his mindless and inconsiderate gluttony. He particularly eyes the dabba of one of Stanley's friends and shamelessly joins the group in class as soon as the lunch bell goes off to gorge on their food. A lot of his class time is spent discussing what his students brought for lunch.
One day, he ends up coming late during lunch-break and misses out on eating what he had earlier hoped to eat from the children's dabbas. Upon realising that the food in question was shared with Stanley, Khadoos berates him for not getting his own dabba. Stanley senses Khadoos' hostility towards him and avoids eating from his friends' dabbas thereafter, telling them every day during lunch break that he is going home to enjoy a hot meal prepared by his mother. His friends catch his bluff soon after when they find him loitering around the school during lunch break. When confronted, Stanley tells them that there is no one to cook for him until his parents get back from Delhi. Eager to help their hungry friend out, Stanley's friends start hiding from Khadoos during lunch break while sharing their dabbas with Stanley. Chagrined, Khadoos starts hunting for them arduously during lunch break every day. He catches hold of them eventually on the terrace, empty dabbas in tow. Upon realising that the group shared their lunches with Stanley again, he menacingly threatens Stanley to either bring his own dabba or stop coming to school. Stanley obliges and stops coming to school.
In this time, Stanley's friends come to know of an inter-school concert that they think he would be a perfect fit for. However, since he is debarred from school by Khadoos, Stanley remains sceptical about his chances. He secretly starts attending practice sessions for the concert and begins learning the dance steps and song lyrics by himself. Soon after, he is spotted practising by one of the organizers of the concert. His talent is recognised and he is immediately included in the troupe. In the meantime, Stanley's absence is felt by his teachers and friends, who finally spill the beans to Ms. Rosy about the reason behind his nonattendance. Aghast and disgusted, Ms. Rosy confronts Khadoos in front of other staff members asking him to "have some shame" since Stanley "is just a child". Khadoos begins realising his folly.
One fine day, Stanley brings his own dabba to school. He offers it to Khadoos on a platter and asks him for permission to come back to school. Guilt-ridden and shame-faced, Khadoos resigns from his post. He apologises to Stanley in a handwritten letter and promises to never return.
After the success of Taare Zameen Par Amole Gupte wanted to make a small, non-mainstream film. He borrowed money from friends and began shooting with a five-man crew in a Mumbai school. The crew shot during four-hour workshops every Saturday for a year and a half to capture all the scenes they needed.[2] Shot using a Canon EOS 7D,[3] the film used 170 child actors in total. After the film was completed, Gupte showed it to Karan Johar and he helped him to sign a distribution deal with Fox Star Studios.[2]
This movie will help you realize and reemphasize your belief in the goodness of humanity and the existence of pure and selfless love and kindness. It will help you better appreciate the help other have given you, kindness that you received, and the caring and sharing that you enjoyed. It will make you want to become a better person.
This move is a result of theater and cinema sessions conducted on Saturdays and vacation days, each session not exceeding five hours including 2 recesses and without a single day of school missed by the children. More information about the movie at www.stanleykadabba.com.
Paresh: Paresh, you are a professional reviewer, so you have to consider a lot of other factors into consideration like logic, technical perfection and so on. Since I am an ordinary viewer, I can ignore all the other stuff and write from the heart. But the fact that the entire movie was shot using a Canon 7D, with no script is simply amazing. The kids and all the actors improved on the spot and that creativity of the kids and the way adults reacted to it is quite outstanding. For me it is a special movies, just like Taare Zameen Par:-)
Roji: Hi Roji, good to hear from you. Do get it, the DVD if you can as it has the deleted scenes and also how the movie was made as bonus features. It should be available there or else you can ask someone coming from India to get it for you. I am sure the kids would love it.
Dear Mr Amol Gupte
We all know you were the one who directed the brilliantly conceived Taare Zameen Par but why did you let someone else to grab the limelight still beats me. Having said that i would like to apologize to you for overlooking Stanley ka dabba for so long. What a beautiful film it is and kudos to you for writing and directing such a real story. I loved every bit of it, such an emotional story sans melodrama ..incredible Mr Gupte. Stanley ka dabba brought back sweet memories from my school days. Thanks Mr Amol Gupte for gifting us 90 minutes of pure brilliant cinema. Who said bollywood can not make good films.....
a childhood classic, still remember seeing it on the class projector with friends. we cheered for Stanley, laughed with him, got angry at that rude Hindi teacher, but in the end cried when he finally brings his dabba to school. all time favorite film.
Director Amole Gupte (writer of Taare Zameen Par) leads you once again into the classroom. But while you knew from the outset exactly what point 'Taare Zameen Par' was making, the lesson in 'Stanley Ka Dabba' is woven in seamlessly. So engrossed are you in the story of how Stanley must tackle his dabba problem that the climax creeps upon you and catches you unaware.
Stanley (played by Partho) is the most popular boy in Class 5. His friends want him around all the time, whether it is to play football after school, to bellow out the Kaminey song, Dhan tan tan at the top of his lungs, or to listen to those wild stories that he spins without a blink of an eye. We learn early on that Stanley does not bring his own tiffin lunch. The director doesn't spoon-feed us with the reason, only giving us a shadow of pathos in the scene where we see the boy secretly quenching hunger pangs by drinking straight out of a tap in the school toilet.
Amole Gupte himself steps in as Stanley's bte noir, playing the character of Hindi teacher 'Verma Sir', who picks on Stanley for sharing his friends' dabbas at lunchtime everyday. Ironically, Verma himself is obsessed with food, and so overpowering is his gluttony to dig into their tiffin boxes that he scurries off in search of the students each time the lunch bell goes off. When he discovers they've been hiding from him, he vents his anger at Stanley who unlike him, is always welcome to their food.
The spirited boy does retrieve his dignity by the time the film reaches its bittersweet finale, and you're left with a lump in your throat. There is a touching message in 'Stanley Ka Dabba', but Gupte tells it with the love of a true storyteller, never bludgeoning the audience on the head with it.
There are moments when his screenplay lags -- like that extended interschool concert scene -- but it's saved by strong performances. Stanley is played astoundingly well by Partho, as an endearing, bright boy who creates a wonderfully imaginative lighthouse as a science project, only to be chided by his disapproving teacher for not sticking to his notebook.
Partho makes you believe that Stanley is both resilient and vulnerable; you're spontaneously drawn to his side. Divya Dutta is the teacher we all know, the one who believed in your talent and who egged you on gently despite everything. As 'Rosy Miss', she lightens up Stanley's life and the screen each time she walks into class. Gupte too is brilliant as 'Khadoos', the teacher who lashes out at his students to feed his own ego and avarice.
But one of the most vivid characters in 'Stanley Ka Dabba' is the food itself. I was reminded of Ang Lee's early Taiwanese film 'Eat Drink Man Woman', where food forges relationships. Here too, we see it in the love with which each mother prepares her child's lunchbox, or how it binds together Stanley and his friends.
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