From the moment I saw the first teaser of Notebook, I had been eagerly looking forward to the film, because it had a subtle yet beautiful feel to it. Thankfully, the movie didn’t disappoint me either! It’s one of the sweetest films I’ve watched in a long time.
The story is unique and interesting, where two characters fall in love without actually having met each other! Kabir (Zaheer Iqbal), is a former army officer, who gives up his army career to run a small school in a very remote area of Kashmir. The school is on the verge of shutting down as it has only seven students but a determined teacher, Firdaus (Pranutan Bahl), who teaches in the school before Kabir comes in, keeps the school going.
When Kabir comes to teach in the school, he gets his hands on Firdaus’ personal diary, he starts reading it and that’s how the story moves forward with each page, as the audience is told about Firdaus journey as a teacher in the school and in her personal life too. Kabir who has been cheated by his girlfriend, finds a new meaning in his life with every page.
He slowly falls in love with Firdaus through her writings.Even though he’s never seen her photographs, he tries to find her, but he isn’t successful. When he gets to know that Firdaus is getting married, he is heartbroken and leaves the school, when the year ends. That’s when Firdaus comes back to the school, to take his place, and this time it is Firdaus who finds her diary, with added pages written by Kabir! What happens after that? Will the two meet at all? Well, we suggest you go and watch it for yourself!
The story is apparently based on a Thai film called The Teacher’s Diary. However, even if it is an adaptation, I’d say it’s a beautiful one. The screenplay by Darab Farooqi is good and captures the essence of Kashmir.
A huge shout out to cinematographer Manoj Kumar Khatoi, who has made the film look surreal. The film is a visual treat.
There are intricate details that have gone into the making of the film, right from the costumes to the sets and the props. A special mention to a scene where Kabir is celebrating his birthday with the children, he is shown cutting a cake that has been made of layered bread slices and decorated with jam and colourful Cadubury’s Gems! That itself shows the kind of research and careful detailing that has gone into the film.
Newcomer Pranutan Bahl is brilliant as Firdaus. Besides a beautiful face, she has played her part like a pro. She’s maintained the shy, quiet look where she has to at the same time she has this look of determination and strength, when the scene requires it, in a beautiful subtle way. She especially looks gorgeous in the wedding outfit.
Zaheer has a childlike charm but is great when it comes to the action scenes. He looks very convincing as a soldier too. Zaheer, like Pranutan is a promising actor. It really doesn’t seem like the two actors are acting for the first time. Both the actors are well on their way to becoming stars.
The child actors add their innocent charm to the film. Salman Khan was right when he said that these kids are the real heroes of the film. They add a whole lot of warmth and mischief to this mushy love story. While all the kids were good, especially since none of them are professional actors, or have ever acted before, a special mention to the acting skills of Mir Mohammed Mehroos who plays Imran and Mir Mohammed Zayan who plays Tariq.
What is interesting is that unlike most love stories, the two characters hardly have any screen time together, yet manage to bring that chemistry across beautifully. Besides the actors, the credit goes to the director Nitin Kakkar, who’s earlier directed films like Filmistaan and Mitron.
The film neither claims or pretends to be an extraordinary, over the top love story, but it is a beautiful example of how love can be found in the most unexpected places! Go watch Notebook this weekend to experience a clean, pure, subtle and sweet love story.
