"Notebook" Review: Zaheer Iqbal And Pranutan Bahl Bring In A Unique Love Story You’ve Never Seen In Bollywood

Notebook

Director: Nitin Kakkar

Star Cast: Zaheer Iqbal, Pranutan Bahl, Mir Mohammed Mehroos

Producer: Salman Khan, Ashwin Varde, Murad Khetani

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Inspired by Thai film A Teacher’s Diary, Notebook will lead you through an adventure of love that you haven’t seen in any other Bollywood romantic films before. This movie is a unique love story of a man who falls for a woman without ever having met her. He finds sympathy and understanding through the emotional stories in her diary and gradually realises the true meaning of his life.

Let’s make it clear that Nitin Kakkar’s Notebook has nothing to do with the epic Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams starrer. If the two movies have anything in common, it’s the romantic genre.

The film starts with Kabeer (played by Zaheer Iqbal), a former army officer who takes up the teaching job at a remote school in Kashmir. Without professional training in teaching, he finds it hard to deal with the kids. He then discovers a diary full of sketches and messages, which is left behind by the previous teacher Firdaus (played by Pranutan Bahl). While he has never met her, he is immediately attracted to her personal stories and cryptic lines. Her words and experiences in the school help him overcome the obstacles he faces every day. With every page, Kabeer slowly realises the true meaning of his life and falls in love with her.

Notebook gives an introduction of debutants Pranutan Bahl and Zaheer Iqbal. Pranutan is under the pressure of being a descendant of a well-known acting family - she is the granddaughter of legendary actor Nutan and daughter of Mohnish Bahl. Meanwhile, Zaheer Iqbal is an outsider with no acting experiences. However, the two manage to impress the audiences with their stunning performances.

Pranutan is convincing with her acting and enjoys a flourishing debut. Her scenes with the kids are one of the most impressive scenes in the film. Zaheer delivers a fantastic performance as a young man who tries to deal with the school kids. His transformation from struggling to win the kids’ heart to growing bonds with them is noteworthy. Interestingly, they spend most of their time on-screen away from each other but still have a good chemistry

The story of falling in love with someone you have never met makes the film outshine compared to other similar movies. The scene capturing the hearts of most audiences is when Firdaus finds her diary and realises that Kabeer has already filled out the remaining pages with his feelings for her.

One of the film’s biggest strengths lies in the brilliant cinematography by Manoj Kumar Khatoi. He successfully encapsulates the breathtaking landscape of Kashmir in every scene from the colours of Chinar to the calmness of the lake.

We also need to give a compliment to the seven children, who are an integral part of the film’s aspiration. Their innocence and cuteness will surely melt your heart.

The music by Vishal Mishra is also a highlight for the film. All the songs are good especially Main Taare, which is sung by Salman Khan.

However, it seems that director Nitin Kakkar takes too much time to set up the story of Kabeer and Firdaus. He adds some subplots involving a Kashmiri man and his son, which is unnecessary to the storyline

Notebook delivers a meaningful message that you can find love in the most unexpected situations and places. If you're a sucker for romantic films, you cannot miss this film.

>>> Another remake from Bollywood: Dil Bechara Movie Download Full HD Version | Bid A Bittersweet Goodbye To Our Sushant Singh Rajput