Notebook Movie Review: Pure And Passionate

Though the trailer of Salman Khan’s latest production venture, Notebook was beautiful, I didn’t have high hopes from the movie, as such films don’t work these days but this love story left me pleasantly surprised.

Notebook is an adaptation of Thai film, Teacher’s Diary and it revolves around ex-army man Kabir, who left Kashmir as a child along with his family after the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits by Islamic extremists. Kabir returns to Srinagar to look after the floating school started by his dad as they don't have any teacher there.

There are seven students in that school and Kabir discovers their previous teacher, Firdaus’ notebook inside a drawer. Kabir starts falling for Firdaus as he gets to know her better by reading her diary. What happens then forms the rest of the plot.

Salman had launched two new actors, Athiya Shetty and Sooraj Pancholi with Hero, and while that movie and its lead pair were a major disappointment, this film is a gem.

Notebook has its flaws but there is an innocent charm and sincerity to it. Mohnish Bahl’s daughter Pranutan Bahl and Salman’s best friend’s son, Zaheer Iqbal have marked their debut with this movie and both the actors were able to impress me with their performances.

Pranutan and Zaheer may not be your conventional looking stars, but they have a very strong screen presence. They don’t have many scenes together but all through the film you feel that Kabir and Firdaus belong together. Both, Kabir and Firdaus are very likeable characters and these two newbies have a bright future ahead.

The seven child actors are the highlight of this film, especially Mir Mohammed Mehroos, who has played Imran. Though this is Mir’s first film, he has acted like a seasoned artist. All the kids are very cute and their bonding with Firdaus and Kabir is much stronger than the protagonists love story. The supporting cast too has performed extremely well.

Nitin Kakkar has made an enchanting movie and has extracted great performances from his actors. He has adapted the original beautifully and has seamlessly set it in Kashmir Valley. He was also able to make a few statements with this film. When a shikara driver tells, Kabir that they get phone network only when ‘mausam and mauhaul’ are good and that rarely is the case, you get are reminded of the sad reality of Kashmir.

He has spoken about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and though the protagonists belong to different communities, there’s no Hindu-Muslim angle here and that’s quite refreshing. Manoj Kumar Khatoi, the cinematographer of this film deserves a pat on the back along with Kakkar and the film's camera crew as they have captured Kashmir so beautifully that each frame looks like a painting.

A lot things happen very conveniently in the movie but the fact that it talks about the importance of education for kids is something that stays with you. The movie has not been rushed, it lets you absorb all the emotions and yet, it’s not slow. It’s an easy-breezy film and the narrative is sprinkled with a lot of funny moments.

The songs and background score are melodious and they don’t seem forced. Bumro and Salman’s Main Taare stay with you as you walk out of the theatre. Screenplay is flawless, editing is strong and dialogues are good.

Notebook is a feel good film about passionate and pure love, which will transport you back to the early 2000s, when love didn’t happen on Tinder and Facebook but with ‘Flames’ written on the last pages of your Notebook.