<p>Shahid Kapur is an English teacher who also teaches music with a glee and a guitar. Ayesha Takia is the school nutritionist who screams no-cola-no-chips by day and turns a kerchief for crying children by night. Principal Nana Patekar competes for the stiffest upper lip while his students pee in pants at his sight. <br /><br />Welcome to “Paathshaala” where director Milind Ukey unlearns the basics of filmmaking and the viewers learn a painful lesson. Just like the average Indian schoolbag, the director stuffs too many things into his little movie — commercialisation of education, student stress, discrimination, fee hike (hero Shahid even offers to pay for a child from his salary), reality shows, media frenzy... <br /><br />And even after showing all these sob sides, the movie doesn’t evoke a sigh. Because the girls are always playing cheerleaders and the boys are, well, watching them. And the smaller ones are either jiving with Shahid or eating with Ayesha. <br /><br />Nana Patekar tries hard to evoke some emotion as he plays an idealist who eventually bows to management pressure to convert Saraswati Vidya Mandir into a five-star paathshaala. His climax speech doubles up as tear gas, and everyone — from teachers to LP school kids to the peon — irrigates their eyes. This paathshaala teaches nothing.<br /></p>
<p>Shahid Kapur is an English teacher who also teaches music with a glee and a guitar. Ayesha Takia is the school nutritionist who screams no-cola-no-chips by day and turns a kerchief for crying children by night. Principal Nana Patekar competes for the stiffest upper lip while his students pee in pants at his sight. <br /><br />Welcome to “Paathshaala” where director Milind Ukey unlearns the basics of filmmaking and the viewers learn a painful lesson. Just like the average Indian schoolbag, the director stuffs too many things into his little movie — commercialisation of education, student stress, discrimination, fee hike (hero Shahid even offers to pay for a child from his salary), reality shows, media frenzy... <br /><br />And even after showing all these sob sides, the movie doesn’t evoke a sigh. Because the girls are always playing cheerleaders and the boys are, well, watching them. And the smaller ones are either jiving with Shahid or eating with Ayesha. <br /><br />Nana Patekar tries hard to evoke some emotion as he plays an idealist who eventually bows to management pressure to convert Saraswati Vidya Mandir into a five-star paathshaala. His climax speech doubles up as tear gas, and everyone — from teachers to LP school kids to the peon — irrigates their eyes. This paathshaala teaches nothing.<br /></p>
