Review : Guthlee Ladoo : Hope and reality of right to education!

As per the constitution of India, all children in the age bracket of six to fourteen have a right to free and compulsory education. But, alas, this is not being implemented by the Governments for many years thus resulting in, India still being an underdeveloped or a developing nation. The importance of education has not been taken seriously mainly because of most of the earlier era politicians being meagrely educated. Also India is still engulfed in casteism and there still is a divide between upper and lower castes. This issue has been touched upon by filmmakers in movies but there hasn’t been improvement in the societal thinking. #GuthleeLadoo tries to shed light on this apathy towards primary education through a little boy’s eyes. It focuses on the deprivation of education rights to lower castes.

Guthlee (Dhanay Seth) is a son of a sweeper who is yearning to go to school. He stealthily attends school standing outside the window and learns quite a few things. He is denied admission in school because he is told that he belongs to a lower caste. Contrary to him his best friend Ladoo (Heet Sharma) is not interested in studies and joins his father in cleaning gutters. The school headmaster (Sanjay Mishra) initially is against Guthlee joining school because of the society’s and other higher caste parent’s pressure. A politician cum trustee of that school plays two faced games regarding Guthlee’s admission. Later, realising Guthlee’s passion, determination and dedication, the headmaster decides to bring justice to Guthlee’s case. How it happens forms the crux of the story.

The writer and director raises the issue of right to education but ineffectively. A lot of time and scenes try to show how the upper caste people oppress downtrodden people. It becomes repetitive and the plot loses the impact. They should have encashed the subject at hand by involving a bit more dramatic situations. The cinematography is excellent and rawness yet beautiful visuals of a village are captivating. The director uses a straight forward method in narration which looks predictive. The second half should have been tighter. Sanjay Mishra is very good as usual and his ease in front of the camera is worth watching. The real hero of the film is the child artist Dhanay Seth. His smile is right from the heart which lit up his eyes. His eyes do a lot of talking and his innocence comes forth nicely. Others including, Kalyani Muley, Subrat Dutta, Kanchan Pagare, Heet Sharma, too are good.

Guthlee Ladoo showcases the hope and reality of right to education.

Rating : ***