Just perfect...

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

This is an astonishing documentary that will wring your heart while it bends your mind

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

A lovely slice of life, you'll be crying when the end credits roll and you'll be smiling while you are doing so... 10 Stars to this instant classic! There are enough reviews to give you an idea of the story, but no review can do justice to the wonderful performances by all actors involved. My favourite character is of Akram who has a screentime of no more than a minute, won't tell you anymore, watch it for yourself ;)

Stanley ka Dabba is a film written and directed by Amole Gupte. I never felt the need actually to see this film as I didn't feel much attracted to the subject before. But after seeing the film, I can say that I was overjoyed. These films go out to prove that stories with good content still do exist in Bollywood.Plot: The story of a Hindi Teacher who scolds a child for not bringing his own tiffin.Story and direction: The film doesn't start out with that much interesting scene. It paces very slowly to introduce us to the world of Stanley, our protagonist. But as it catches up I remember being hooked to this film. I myself have studied in a Christian school in Mumbai for 8 years of my life. So I could very easily relate to the school environment portrayed in the movie. The Christian schools have mostly English speaking teachers. I laud Amole for bringing that fact in the teachers of this film. Also, each time a tiffin used to open in any scene, my mouth watered. The climactic revelation also shocked me for almost 5 minutes. That was just like someone punched me in the face. But still there are some flaws in this film. The film's camera work wasn't that great. It sometimes looked that a documentary was being shot and there are so many shots where the focus is on someone's face i.e. no wide angle shots. Also, it looked like in some scenes that Amole Gupte was trying to replicate Taare Zameen Par. If he had treated this film different than that film, I would have been more happier.Performances: Partho Gupte stole the whole movie. The innocence that his character portrayed was perfect. No wonder he got a special mention in the National Awards that year. Amole Gupte was also good as the Hindi teacher (He is just named 'Khadoos'). He can safely be called the villain of the film. Divya Dutta was also good as Rosy. Rahul Singh was perfect as the Christian principal of the school. All the kids in supporting cast were also just right.Music: The songs for this film are mostly situation related. 'Dabba' by Sukhwinder Singh was my track of the film. The rest were just OK.Favorite Scene: The scene where Stanley brings up a science project to the teacher and she immediately rejects it stating it's not related to the course and a bit expensive. This scene highlighted to me the problem of our education system right away. We don't want children to think out of the box.Verdict: This film affected me a lot in a whole other dimension. Watch this film for Partho Gupte. He is one hell of a child artist.I am going to go with an 8.5/10

The film as its subtitle says is a small film with a big heart.It is the true family entertainer. A kind of film that school kids should see to find themselves on the screen and grown ups should see for nostalgic feeling of school days.The film, according to me is a gem because it doesn't try to be extra - ordinary or path breaking. The film remains simple, realistic and naive. The film is just like a new born baby.No lime lights or publicity stunts were done to promote the film and thats why I love it even more.The director "Amole Gupte" (deserves the respect I have for him) has his own good story to tell which is funny (or witty) but really impulses you in the end when a simple message is conveyed in the most beautiful way!Beautiful is the word to describe the performances.The kiddo is already a star.Amole Gupte has proved it once again that he is in the same league of Naseeruddin Shah or Irfan Khan, and he has his own place in the heart of Bollywood.Story is simple yet touchy.Looks as if all the emotions of a school kid are portrayed beautifully on a celluloid.Screenplay is strong and never distracts us from the main track despite of many strong sub plots.Music is very good and suits the movie. Background score thumps the movie and helps in making it a heartthrob movie.The film deserves a 5* but it would be a quite heavy tag to carry for a simple and innocent movie.A gracious 4.5* will be suitable.But above all, this film should not be missed at any condition! I am glad that the movie is not Taare Zameen Par kind of film.Here is no dirty game of snatching credits and above all, no stars try to super- impose over each other ( yes main stream actors like Amole Gupte and Divya Datta are present).The film will be cherished in my mind for a long time, Thanks Stanley!

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.