Stanley ka Dabba

Stanley's Tiffin Box is an exemplary reflection of a real problem, recalled through a playful film with a bitter ending. Or 4th grade students and their recesses, history, Hindi and science classes vs. the global problem of child labor abuse. Such films should not be a part of colorful festivals focusing on otherness and originality, but of mainstream distribution or festivals with a different concept. Because it is hard to operate on the fact that in Indian narrative cinema it is also possible to draw attention to a pressing reality by quite ordinary Western means and pretend that this is in any way typical of India. There are too many films like Stanley's Tiffin Box, but at the same time, there seem to be few - precisely because of cultural misunderstandings. (08.10.2011)