Its 2:34 in the morning. While my grandparents and the younger brother were fast asleep, I was busy watching the Marathi movie ‘Shaala’, and I just cannot hold myself back from penning down (technically keying) my thoughts about this one.
The story is set in a typical village of Maharashtra with the backdrop of The Emergency period - 1975. This was the unforgettable period of Indian history and was one of the most prominent and turbulent era of modern India. While the movie is not about the political scenario of those times, but it paints a vivid ideological picture of the youth back then.
Shaala is about those times of the school life when adolescence just starts to peep into the minds and brains of our gang of friends - Joshi, Mhatre, Pawar and their classmates all studying the the 9th grade. Our protagonist is Joshi - a typical Marathi mulga..good in studies, plays chess well..overall just above the average Joe. His parents aspire to make him an engineer. The movie basically revolves around Joshi and his gang while they try to balance their lives - the newly founded ‘confused’ love and their acads. It also portrays the ideological differences between the old school of thoughts about discipline and morality versus the upcoming wave of ‘revolutionary’ ideas ready to change the world.
This tussle is expertly tackled by director Sujay Dahake by creating characters representing these two different mindsets. The strict English teacher and her selected colleagues along with the Headmaster, portrayed by veteran Dilip Prabhavalkar represent the old school thought of social discipline, morality and academic expertise. And then there are a couple of other characters which actually add color to the film. These characters like Joshi’s maternal uncle - Naru Mama who teaches English in a city college, the professor of Social Sciences, Professor Manjerakar are the harbingers of the new school of thought - free spirited, believers of social change via activism, staunch protestors of the clamping down of human rights and outright supporters of freedom of speech. Their line of thought is nicely underlined with subtle references to John Lennon, Che Guevara - the global revolutionary icons. Naru Mama beautifully explains the meaning of life to young Joshi in the words immortalized by Lennon - "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.."
With so much happening around, the fabric of the society was also undergoing a change. It was getting twisted and turned as the socio-political background posed challenging questions to the already existing dogmas about morality. Joshi and his gang were also experiencing this change in their own ways. Joshi experiences this change at a more personal level, when he starts falling in love with his classmate, Shirodkar. Things start off with mere corner-of-the-eye glances and then move onto small notes which made it easy to communicate about the time and place to meet. The budding relationship and liking for each other’s company is brought out to the audience in the most innocent way and that’s when it touches the heart. The scenes where Joshi secretly watches Shirodkar in the assembly prayer..stealing glances in the class..the dialogue when Joshi confesses to his pal that today he is even ready to go to Kanyakumari for the school camp are the ones which transports you back to your school days. The growing closeness between these two young hearts is brought to the screen in the most poignant manner when Joshi waits for Shirodkar after the classes just to walk a few steps together..the small excuses to strike a conversation with her..etc etc. These scenes along with Joshi’s interaction with his gang - Mhatre, Pawar and others, the cuss words, wayward calling the professors by names of Prem Chopra and the fights among themselves are beautifully picturised and present a superb picture of one’s adolescence in the most credible and realistic manner.
While all these present the viewer a slice of their school lives, the clash between the old and the new school of thoughts reaches the climax when parents are called by the Headmaster of the school over a case of serious misconduct by Mhatre and Joshi of their female classmate. Mhatre has a crush over a girl from the 8th grade and Joshi advises him to confess his feelings to her. Mhatre follows his advice and gets rejected by the girl right there. A dejected Mhatre is consoled by Joshi who is a witness to this episode. The girl complaints to the Headmaster and he summons the parents of both Joshi and Mhatre along with the girl’s father. Joshi has an understanding father and he expertly defends his son’s case in front of the Headmaster. He also falsifies the girl’s claim that Mhatre and Joshi held her hand and misbehaved. Finally, Joshi and Mhatre are not rusticated from the school. An apt message - a balanced treatment should be given to the upbringing of adolescent children. A combination of sternness and understanding nature simplifies their lives which by then have started aggregating questions of higher magnitude.
The mental chaos going inside young minds is the underlying current throughout the movie - love, lust, moral, immoral, studies, exams, marks, teachers, friends, true friends, bad friends, friends with benefits, friends without benefits, society, parents, fun, curiosity, curiosity about everything, curiosity about the opposite gender, curiosity about social dogmas, curiosity about life, curiosity about religion, curiosity about science, curiosity about politics, dreams, the dreams about ambitions, the dreams about new found love, hormonal dreams, dreams about the expensive bicycle, dreams about the uncertainty, dreams of getting lost in a maze, dreams about flying, the dreams about falling off from a cliff..it’s all there..right inside your school of thoughts..and this school is without any walls..without any blackboards..without any benches..This is the school which is there inside everyone of us..and which will be there with us till the very end.
The movie, though set up in a different period, manages to strike a chord with the audience through commonly experienced chaos when traversing from 'Balbhaarti' to 'Yuvakbhaarti'. Watch it for the sheer pleasure of a trip down memory lane!
The story is set in a typical village of Maharashtra with the backdrop of The Emergency period - 1975. This was the unforgettable period of Indian history and was one of the most prominent and turbulent era of modern India. While the movie is not about the political scenario of those times, but it paints a vivid ideological picture of the youth back then.
Shaala is about those times of the school life when adolescence just starts to peep into the minds and brains of our gang of friends - Joshi, Mhatre, Pawar and their classmates all studying the the 9th grade. Our protagonist is Joshi - a typical Marathi mulga..good in studies, plays chess well..overall just above the average Joe. His parents aspire to make him an engineer. The movie basically revolves around Joshi and his gang while they try to balance their lives - the newly founded ‘confused’ love and their acads. It also portrays the ideological differences between the old school of thoughts about discipline and morality versus the upcoming wave of ‘revolutionary’ ideas ready to change the world.
This tussle is expertly tackled by director Sujay Dahake by creating characters representing these two different mindsets. The strict English teacher and her selected colleagues along with the Headmaster, portrayed by veteran Dilip Prabhavalkar represent the old school thought of social discipline, morality and academic expertise. And then there are a couple of other characters which actually add color to the film. These characters like Joshi’s maternal uncle - Naru Mama who teaches English in a city college, the professor of Social Sciences, Professor Manjerakar are the harbingers of the new school of thought - free spirited, believers of social change via activism, staunch protestors of the clamping down of human rights and outright supporters of freedom of speech. Their line of thought is nicely underlined with subtle references to John Lennon, Che Guevara - the global revolutionary icons. Naru Mama beautifully explains the meaning of life to young Joshi in the words immortalized by Lennon - "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.."
With so much happening around, the fabric of the society was also undergoing a change. It was getting twisted and turned as the socio-political background posed challenging questions to the already existing dogmas about morality. Joshi and his gang were also experiencing this change in their own ways. Joshi experiences this change at a more personal level, when he starts falling in love with his classmate, Shirodkar. Things start off with mere corner-of-the-eye glances and then move onto small notes which made it easy to communicate about the time and place to meet. The budding relationship and liking for each other’s company is brought out to the audience in the most innocent way and that’s when it touches the heart. The scenes where Joshi secretly watches Shirodkar in the assembly prayer..stealing glances in the class..the dialogue when Joshi confesses to his pal that today he is even ready to go to Kanyakumari for the school camp are the ones which transports you back to your school days. The growing closeness between these two young hearts is brought to the screen in the most poignant manner when Joshi waits for Shirodkar after the classes just to walk a few steps together..the small excuses to strike a conversation with her..etc etc. These scenes along with Joshi’s interaction with his gang - Mhatre, Pawar and others, the cuss words, wayward calling the professors by names of Prem Chopra and the fights among themselves are beautifully picturised and present a superb picture of one’s adolescence in the most credible and realistic manner.
While all these present the viewer a slice of their school lives, the clash between the old and the new school of thoughts reaches the climax when parents are called by the Headmaster of the school over a case of serious misconduct by Mhatre and Joshi of their female classmate. Mhatre has a crush over a girl from the 8th grade and Joshi advises him to confess his feelings to her. Mhatre follows his advice and gets rejected by the girl right there. A dejected Mhatre is consoled by Joshi who is a witness to this episode. The girl complaints to the Headmaster and he summons the parents of both Joshi and Mhatre along with the girl’s father. Joshi has an understanding father and he expertly defends his son’s case in front of the Headmaster. He also falsifies the girl’s claim that Mhatre and Joshi held her hand and misbehaved. Finally, Joshi and Mhatre are not rusticated from the school. An apt message - a balanced treatment should be given to the upbringing of adolescent children. A combination of sternness and understanding nature simplifies their lives which by then have started aggregating questions of higher magnitude.
The mental chaos going inside young minds is the underlying current throughout the movie - love, lust, moral, immoral, studies, exams, marks, teachers, friends, true friends, bad friends, friends with benefits, friends without benefits, society, parents, fun, curiosity, curiosity about everything, curiosity about the opposite gender, curiosity about social dogmas, curiosity about life, curiosity about religion, curiosity about science, curiosity about politics, dreams, the dreams about ambitions, the dreams about new found love, hormonal dreams, dreams about the expensive bicycle, dreams about the uncertainty, dreams of getting lost in a maze, dreams about flying, the dreams about falling off from a cliff..it’s all there..right inside your school of thoughts..and this school is without any walls..without any blackboards..without any benches..This is the school which is there inside everyone of us..and which will be there with us till the very end.
The movie, though set up in a different period, manages to strike a chord with the audience through commonly experienced chaos when traversing from 'Balbhaarti' to 'Yuvakbhaarti'. Watch it for the sheer pleasure of a trip down memory lane!
You have summarised this movie really well. It has made me actually want to get a copy of this movie and sit through it. Thanks for sharing this Mayur :)
ReplyDelete:-) Do watch it
DeleteFilm is awesome indeed.
ReplyDeletenicely written blog!
:)
Thank you Paresh :-) Appreciate it
DeleteSuperb post...it definitely makes me curious enough go, download the movie and watch it..I guess understanding the picture wont be a prob (being a non-marathi) cz I feel u have more or less summarized the entire movie for me.. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nandita..yes its a movie that transcends language barriers..and u can get a DVD with English subtitles..more than just a movie it conveys a nice message too :)
Delete