# Notebook (2019 film)
**Notebook** is a 2019 Hindi-language romantic drama directed by Nitin Kakkar, in which a former army officer teaching at a remote houseboat school in Kashmir falls in love with the school's previous teacher through the notebook she left behind. It is an official remake of the Thai film *The Teacher's Diary* (2014) and served as the debut film of both of its leads, Zaheer Iqbal and Pranutan Bahl.[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook) • [2](https://scroll.in/reel/917863/notebook-movie-review-forget-the-romance-and-look-out-the-window%26quot)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 29 March 2019 (theatrical), distributed by Yash Raj Films; streaming release 31 May 2019[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) |
| Director and writer | Nitin Kakkar; screenplay by Darab Farooqui, dialogues by Sharib Hashmi and Payal Ashar[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook) |
| Source | Official remake of the Thai film *The Teacher's Diary* (2014)[2](https://scroll.in/reel/917863/notebook-movie-review-forget-the-romance-and-look-out-the-window%26quot) |
| Leads | Zaheer Iqbal as Kabir and Pranutan Bahl as Firdaus, both in debut roles[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) • [4](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/a-lethargic-romance-1489889-2019-03-30) |
| Production | Salman Khan Films and Cine1 Studios; producers Salma Khan, Murad Khetani, and Ashwin Varde[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) |
| Music | Vishal Mishra; lyrics by Manoj Muntashir, Vishal Mishra, Akshay Tripathi, Abhendra Upadhyay, and Kaushal Kishore[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook) |
| Box office | $618,324 worldwide, including $562,158 from India[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt9105014/) |
| Critical response | 22% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 9 reviews; 92% audience Popcornmeter[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and setting
Kabir, a former [Indian Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-army) officer, takes a job as the teacher at Wular Public School, a remote school housed in a dilapidated houseboat in the middle of [Wular Lake](https://www.edgepedia.org/wular-lake) in Kashmir, attended by only a handful of students.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) • [6](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/mar/29/notebook-movie-review-bad-writing-sinks-this-passable-romance-1957599.html) On his first day he finds a notebook left behind by the previous teacher, Firdaus, who had spent a year at the school. Reading her entries and drawings, he falls in love with a woman he has never met.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) • [4](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/a-lethargic-romance-1489889-2019-03-30)
The two characters occupy separate timelines. Firdaus, a Kashmiri Muslim with a tattoo, had been devoted to teaching the children in the isolated setting; Kabir, a Kashmiri Pandit who left the army after a traumatic encounter, becomes attracted to her through her writing and adds his own entries to the notebook. When he leaves and she returns, she reads his entries and a mutual attraction develops; the leads do not meet until near the end of the film.[4](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/a-lethargic-romance-1489889-2019-03-30) • [7](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/26184/Notebook-Review-Newbies-Zaheer-Iqbal-and-Pranutan-Bahl-shine-in-Salman-Khans-soft-romance.html)
The film engages lightly with the politics of Kashmir. Scenes include a young Kabir being bullied off a cricket pitch and a boatman attributing poor network connectivity to bad "mausam" (weather) and bad "maahaul" (atmosphere). Reviewers noted that the conflict and the presence of the armed forces are kept to a minimum, shown in brief, sanitized glimpses.[6](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/mar/29/notebook-movie-review-bad-writing-sinks-this-passable-romance-1957599.html) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019/cast-and-crew)
## Production and crew
The film was produced under Salman Khan Films and Cine1 Studios, with [Yash Raj Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/yash-raj-films) handling distribution. Nitin Kakkar, a National Award-winning director whose debut *Filmistaan* (2012) had been warmly received, directed it as his third feature.[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook) • [2](https://scroll.in/reel/917863/notebook-movie-review-forget-the-romance-and-look-out-the-window%26quot) Manoj Kumar Khatoi was the director of photography, Shachindra Vats the editor, and [Vishal Mishra](https://www.edgepedia.org/vishal-mishra-composer) the music director.[1](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook)
[Salman Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/salman-khan), whose banner produced the film, made no on-screen appearance but sang the track "Main Taare" himself.[7](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/26184/Notebook-Review-Newbies-Zaheer-Iqbal-and-Pranutan-Bahl-shine-in-Salman-Khans-soft-romance.html) The supporting cast consists largely of young Kashmiri children with no established film credits, including Mir Mohammed Mehroos, Soliha Maqbool, Mir Mohammed Zayan, Adiba Bhat, and Hafsa Ashraf.[7](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/26184/Notebook-Review-Newbies-Zaheer-Iqbal-and-Pranutan-Bahl-shine-in-Salman-Khans-soft-romance.html) • [4](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/a-lethargic-romance-1489889-2019-03-30)
## Adaptation
*Notebook* is an official remake of the Thai film *The Teacher's Diary* (2014), directed by Nithiwat Tharatorn; the original screenplay is credited to Nithiwat Tharatorn, Sopana Chaowwiwatkul, Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn, and Supalerk Ningsanond alongside the Hindi adaptation credits.[2](https://scroll.in/reel/917863/notebook-movie-review-forget-the-romance-and-look-out-the-window%26quot) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9105014/fullcredits/) Reviewers described the Hindi version as remaining largely faithful to the original while transposing the story to Kashmir, which added a socio-political backdrop for its two debutants.[10](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/notebook-impresses-more-as-a-travelogue-than-a-love-story/cid/1687765)
## Reception
Critical response was negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 22% Tomatometer from 9 reviews, against a 92% Popcornmeter from fewer than 50 audience ratings.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) Reviewers consistently praised the cinematography and the child actors while criticizing the writing and the central romance. Namrata Joshi of *The Hindu* wrote that the setting and children "can't rescue the flavourless romance"; Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it 1/5, saying Khatoi's camerawork captures "lush, stunning Kashmiri vistas" but cannot pull the film out of its "senseless narrative swamp"; Shubhra Gupta of *The Indian Express* and Rahul Desai of Film Companion each gave 1.5/5.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019) India Today called it "a lethargic romance" in which the love is largely one-sided and the adult leads hardly engage, leaving the children as the bright spots.[4](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/a-lethargic-romance-1489889-2019-03-30)
At the box office the film earned $618,324 worldwide, including $562,158 from India, $30,317 from the [United Arab Emirates](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-arab-emirates), and $11,928 from the United Kingdom.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt9105014/) Audience ratings have been more favorable than the critics': IMDb users gave it 7.1 out of 10 from about 3,800 votes, and Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews from later years describe it as an underrated film with beautiful cinematography.[11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/notebook) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019)
The film is available for streaming on Netflix in several markets, including the United States and India.[11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/notebook)
## References
1. [Notebook, Yash Raj Films official page](https://www.yashrajfilms.com/movies/notebook)
2. ["'Notebook' movie review: Forget the romance and look out the window", Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath, 29 March 2019](https://scroll.in/reel/917863/notebook-movie-review-forget-the-romance-and-look-out-the-window%26quot)
3. [Notebook (2019), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019)
4. ["A lethargic romance", India Today, Suhani Singh, 30 March 2019](https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/a-lethargic-romance-1489889-2019-03-30)
5. [Notebook (2019), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt9105014/)
6. ["'Notebook' movie review: Bad writing sinks this passable romance", The New Indian Express, Shilajit Mitra, 29 March 2019](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/mar/29/notebook-movie-review-bad-writing-sinks-this-passable-romance-1957599.html)
7. ["Notebook Review: Newbies Zaheer Iqbal and Pranutan Bahl shine in Salman Khan's soft romance", PeepingMoon, Mark Manuel, 26 March 2019](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/26184/Notebook-Review-Newbies-Zaheer-Iqbal-and-Pranutan-Bahl-shine-in-Salman-Khans-soft-romance.html)
8. [Notebook: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook_2019/cast-and-crew)
9. [Notebook (2019) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9105014/fullcredits/)
10. ["Notebook impresses more as a travelogue than a love story", The Telegraph India, Priyanka Roy, 29 March 2019](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/notebook-impresses-more-as-a-travelogue-than-a-love-story/cid/1687765)
11. [Notebook (2019) streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/notebook)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2010s › Hindi films of 2019*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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