The name can be misleading. Shala is not about kids going to school nor is it a children's film, even remotely. All that it has in common with Stanley ka Dabba begins and ends at the animated sequence that plays with the opening credits. Shala takes you to the next level: while you are still at school and your friends are important, you step onto the threshold of the adult world and start making sense of it.
Most actors in the film have delivered a restrained performance. Anshuman Joshi emotes wonderfully as the protagonist Mukund Joshi. Ketaki Mategonkar who plays Shirodkar does a contrived act initially but entices with her charm in no time. Joshi and the other boys, particularly Mhatre (Ketan Pawar) are required to dabble in a range of emotions as they come-of-age: love, fear, rage and rejection. They do it naturally and convincingly.
Do not give Shala a miss. It is a self-assured and grounded debut by a filmmaker which offers a lesson or two in simple storytelling straight from the heart, complete with soulful music. It is one of those gems that Marathi cinema throws up once in a while; totally localized in flavor yet universal in appeal.
Most actors in the film have delivered a restrained performance. Anshuman Joshi emotes wonderfully as the protagonist Mukund Joshi. Ketaki Mategonkar who plays Shirodkar does a contrived act initially but entices with her charm in no time. Joshi and the other boys, particularly Mhatre (Ketan Pawar) are required to dabble in a range of emotions as they come-of-age: love, fear, rage and rejection. They do it naturally and convincingly.
Do not give Shala a miss. It is a self-assured and grounded debut by a filmmaker which offers a lesson or two in simple storytelling straight from the heart, complete with soulful music. It is one of those gems that Marathi cinema throws up once in a while; totally localized in flavor yet universal in appeal.