Plenty of superlatives have been laced around this gift of cinema by the common man and the critics alike. Having stated my grievance over the local (read Malaysia) Hindi film distributors, it's been no surprise that "Stanley Ka Dabba" never saw the light of day in a market that I see as a melting pot of cultures and has a tremendous future in its entirety. But business aside, I consider myself lucky to have laid my hands on this gem of a movie after some trials since its release. Considering the pragmatic message of the enterprise and the manner its told, I'd do my best to spread the fire (if it can be called that) amongst masses where pre conceived notion of a Bollywood potboiler has run riots, more so lately. Emergence of absolute trash in the past few months and its glorified success stories augurs bad for the industry as it is. But what that trend has done is make SKD stand out and brought along a bag of possibilities.The tribulations of Amole Gupte and the crew while making this project a reality, is just a click away on plenty of websites. However let that not influence Your reasons to fall for this charmer. My bet is, a few seconds into the screenplay and You will forget much of it anyway. That's for me, is what a movie's sole purpose if. Make You leave Your world behind and get You connected with the protagonist immediately. The introduction, the conflict and climax are woven seamlessly giving the viewer the pleasure of time, money and energy well spent. With that said; a very very special mention to all the kids involved in the movie, led by a nonchalant powerhouse performance by Partho (incidentally the son of Amole Gupte) and the man himself, playing the protagonist and antagonist respectively. If You have never felt a lump in Your throat or may have forgotten how it felt like (since it's been that long), watch out for Stanley. Most likely he will get You and get You bad. By no stretch of imagination is this a saccharine coated or a painstakingly sad tale. If anything at all, this will be long remembered for its well sketched climax, that could potentially knock You off; numb. Special note to my Indian friends who haven't had the pleasure of watching this yet, a word of caution. We in our lives, even if it's for once have come across one "Stanley" and that will be with Us long after the credits have rolled.Technically it's a lesson in film making for aspiring story tellers of all forms and sizes. I remember what an interviewer once asked a celebrated movie director of Malaysia during her interview "When You're thinking about a film, does it start with an idea and how does it come to life?". To which one of my favourite film makers, Yasmin Ahmed replied "It never starts with an idea, it starts with a feeling". Well although I haven't read / seen any interview of Mr Gupte around his solo directorial venture yet, I am almost certain that it must have been a feeling that stuck to him in good stead and made him gift us "Stanley Ka Dabba". How else would You explain a 90 minutes screenplay based on a subject matter that may come across as trivial at start but gradually builds up to make a special space in Your heart and mind culminating to a very very special message.Only recommended for ages 3 to >100.

A heartwarming tale of a school boy as seen from the school boys eyes. this is a complete child film made for children and goes much deeper than other films in exploring the psychology of children. It does not contain dramatic moments, but there are multiple layers in the film which unravel as film progresses. each shot is measured, controlled and devoid of any dramatics. life as seen from children's eyes is very simple and innocent and the viewer can experience that simplicity and innocence through the film.TZP was more oriented towards parents but this movie is for children. every child should see this. there are so many harm warming moments which the viewer can relate to their school days that after some time you stop counting and flow with the narrative. there is no one dimensional character or filmy stuff.all actors have done very good work and the music does not intrude with the narrative. editing is crisp, dialogues are non filmy and camera work is excellent. Wish we have more such films made for children.

Stanley ka Dabba Movie OK, so enough of praises and subtle style of direction. This isn't a Documentary neither a Main stream cinema . Indeed it's a Debut. Debutant Director Amol Gupte has tried his skills best using a SLR (Canon 7D - impressive). The closeup shots are good, but camera shakes a lot depicting a weak hand held streaks. Although the shots are always cut short. First half is wasted totally showing different tiffin boxes with unusual stuffs. Yes, the Dabbas are loaded with Jalebis, biscuits or chakris. Ironically, there is a rich fat kid who brings a Dabba which can satisfy appetites of many.Altogether the second half looks incomplete and fails flat on the promises or the surprise. The child labor story lacks the punch and the thrill. The whole gag is circumcised around who eats whose dabba. There are several better narration with respect to a child labour. The Protagonist is a lovely child of Gupte -Promising Partho. His eloquence are best in the movie and he delivers with the cute little face of his. His expressions are hard but can come easy with time. The end morals and the statistics cannot save this movie. There was not a single stealer when you talk about emotions. The obnoxious crave for children's Dabba was never explained and so was the Vanishing act of "Khadoos" the Hindi teacher played by Gupte. The screenplay was superb in patches and songs were good with the timing. However they could not strike the right chord. Other casts like Divya Dutta, Divya Jagdale, Raj Zutshi and Shiv Subramaniam were not given any screen space. The story completely lacked the head and tail and therefore the roles were left unfinished. There was "India Dance" sequence, completely out of the way leading to a road side Dhaba. The last 5 minutes were touching and tried to leave a message. This movie could be avoided on a trade-off with DD-1 at prime time. Half star for Stanley and Rest was packed in Staley's Dabba - Undelivered.

I like films which are very subtle, like Charulata by Satyajit Ray, like "The Tenant" by Roman Polanski. But, I certainly didn't like this movie. In the first half of the movie, nothing happens. The whole point of the movie is that this kid is good at heart, but can't afford to get his lunch-box because he is poor. This point has been stretched to 2 hours. There are a lot of holes in the movie as well. How can a kid who is poor afford to get admitted into such a school in Mumbai?, that too a school with a big playground. Too many stereotypes abound in the movie, like Science teachers being against innovation etc, peons being extremely rude in the movie. The climax is too predictable.