The story begins with a new English teacher Rahul Udyavar (Shahid Kapoor) joining Saraswati Vidya Mandir school, in the Mirpurkhas suburbs. He strikes instant rapport with students and teachers alike.

When Rahul Udyavar unifies the teachers (Ayesha Takia and Sushant Singh) against the atrocities of the school's management, Principal Aditya Sahay (Nana Patekar) defends the management's decision. This comes as a shocker to the teachers as Sahay is known for his dedication as an educator for the last 32 years who has built the school's high reputation.

The situation becomes graver as school management becomes overambitious with its growth and involves media planners in the extracurricular activities. This demands the involvement of students in TV reality shows and other media PR activities used for building the school's image in public which starts reflecting on the students' stress levels. The pressure on young minds increases incredibly, leading to unexpected and grim consequences.

Caught in the web of commercialization, the students go on strike unable to take the pressure, and it becomes a hectic situation. When the media comes to the school, asking questions about strike, Principle Sahay explains the whole situation and resigns. All the students request him not to leave and he shows some signs indicating that he would return.

• Shahid Kapoor as Rahul Prakash Udyavar
• Nana Patekar as Aditya Sahay
• Ayesha Takia as Anjali Mathur
• Swini Khara as Swini
• Dwij Yadav as Vijay Damodhar
• Master Ali Haji as Rohan
• Avika Gor as Avika
• Sushant Singh as Vijendra Chauhan
• Saurabh Shukla as school manager Lallan Sharma
• Nassar Abdulla as trustee Dholakia
• Shraddha Arya as Natasha
• Sanatan Modi as Farooque Sir
• Anjan Srivastav as Waghmare
• Vicky Ahuja as Rajveer
• Preeti Kopikar as Mrs. Shinde
• Sunny Singh as Vicky
• Sushmita Mukherjee as Mrs. Bose
• Kainaz Motivala as Shailey
• Denzil Frank Appearance in Aye Khuda Song
• Manas Adhiya as Nutty
• Kurush Deboo as Cyrus Hansotia (Teacher)

Most of Paathshaala was shot at Film City in Mumbai where the set of the Saraswati Vidya Mandir school was constructed.

The audio CD was released in March 2010. It contains 10 songs, including five original songs, four remixes, and one theme song. The song "Mujhe Teri" is based on the Nepali song "Timro Tyo" which was sung by Akanshya Lama. She got to sing the Hindi version.

Critical reception

Paathshaala received mixed reviews from top critics in India. It received 3 out of 5 from Indiatimes. The Times of India also gave the film 3 out of 5 saying, "Go for some serious viewing." AOL India's Noyon Jyoti Parasara gave the film a mere 1.5 out of 5 and said, "Paathshaala does not have a screenplay. And it has bad dialogues made only worse by loud acting by most of the cast." Indiafm's Taran Adarsh gave 2 out of 5 saying, "On the whole, Paathshaala is a well-intentioned film, but lacks clarity thanks to an uninspiring screenplay." Paathshaala was given 1.5 out of 5 by Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN. According to him, "the script includes sheer melodrama and over-exaggeration in its effort to shamelessly manipulate you into caring for its characters."

Box office

The movie received a grand opening all over India. Ajmer,Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur started with 40–50 percent which went higher in subsequent shows. In Hyderabad, Punjab and Indore it opened to 50–60 percent and was expected to go up. In Mumbai Cinemax, Fun Republic and Fame Adlabs also received a good turnover on the opening day.^[6] Paathshaala grossed around ? 10 crore net over its first week. The film started slow but managed to pick at places on Saturday and remained steady on the lower side over the weekdays. Although the second week was initially projected to earn more at the box office,^[7] earnings dropped 50% and the film was declared a "Below Average".^[8][9]