A film about the Indian education system, it looks at the stress that children in a particular school are under. Reason: the management wants the best results possible, for which they overburden the kids. Not to mention the fact that this is all done for money.
One of the teachers feels this is wrong, and wants the other teachers of the school to stand against the system. Will he get the support he needs? Will the kids get any respite? Is there hope for change in the education system?
Shahid Kapoor is playing a young teacher in PAATHSHAALA while Nana Patekar is enacting the role of a principal. While a conflict is pretty much on the cards due to perceived difference in thought process of the two men, one wonders if Shahid is also looking at delivering a message with PAATHSHAALA.
"No, the purpose of the film is not centred on highlighting any differences or delivering a message", comes an outright rejection from Shahid, "It is also not that essential to the story. Instead, the story is about this school that has Nana along with other teachers played by Ayesha Takia, Sushant Singh and myself. All of these are important characters in the film. The school faces some challenges around pressure that education puts on children. Still, the story told is personal rather belonging to the kind that goes on to make a universal statement. The idea is to make people think hard on how we can ease pressure off our children by doing the right kind of things at school."However, Shahid maintains that in spite of the dramatic elements, there are enough sweet moments in the film to keep audience smiling. "There is a little bit of drama and a lot of emotions. But then there are quite a few nice-n-warm moments as well, especially the ones that involve interaction between children and me. Also, the music is such which not just goes perfectly well with the film but even otherwise carries popular appeal. Everyone will surely appreciate the effort that has gone in here."
Directed by Milind Ukey, PAATHSHAALA releases all over today.
