The movie chronicles the arrival of a (Hindu) student to a strict all-boys Christian boarding school in India and his assimilation into the school. The change is quite dramatic to the protagonist and there are a lot of events that would look extremely abusive to the viewer.—Neel V Kumar <[email protected]>
Mr. and Mrs. Naidu admit their son, Rajesh Naidu (Rohan Dey) at the Catholic School called Rockford School. There Rajesh is meant to spend his time to learn and play, make enemies and friends. And he does so. He also becomes romantically involved with Malati (Usha Krishnamurthy) from a nearby girls Catholic school. He also gets indirectly involved with Malati's friend, Shariyar (Shilpa Pai), and a School-teacher, who is accused of demanding sexual favors from Shariyar. Apart from coming to the aid of this school-teacher, Rajesh must also endure bullying and ragging by senior boys from this school, and his crush on another school-teacher, Ms. Lily Vegas (Nandita Das).—rAjOo ([email protected])
13-year-old Rajesh Naidu (Rohan Dey) arrives at Rockford Boy's High School. Brother Lawrence allows Rajesh to be admitted even though he studied in a Protestant school in Hyderabad previously. His kit include 9 Khakhi shirt and pants, 6 white shirts, 2 casual check shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 6 t-shirts, 3 night-suits, 2 towels and so on. Rajesh is happy to away from home and the micro-managing nature of her mother.
Having left home for the first time he is a bit sad. Rajesh's best friends are Selva (Kailash Athmanathan), a good, spirited boy, and David (Imran Mirza), an arrogant sports hero (who also loves to shag) but with a good heart. Soon Rajesh settles into the routine at school. Rajesh claims that he shags everyday and is hailed as a hero by his friends.Lily Vegas (Nandita Das) is the only lady teacher at the school and all the boys' lust after her. Rajesh does well at studies and quickly makes a name for himself.
Official punishments for misdemeanors (like making fun of teachers or passing lewd remarks) include picture cut for a month and no indoor music. Seniors rag juniors by making them smoke or raiding their home provisions. Brother Francis is the hostel warden and has latent homosexual tendencies. He sexually harasses students at night, if they are found outside their dorm.
The captain of the school - Raja (Suhail Bajaj), hates Rajesh. They get off the wrong foot when Rajesh is caught talking during assembly, but he tells Raja, it was David and not him. Raja warns Rajesh never to squeal on friends or enemies alike.At school, Rajesh experiences the joy and agony of living in an all-male boarding school, learning to fend for himself without the safety net of his parents. He steals guavas from the nearby orchard under the leadership of David. Selva gets scared by a single wasp and creates panic, which makes the entire group exit the orchard in haste.
After watching a vampire movie, he has a nightmare about a boy kissing him and cannot sleep. The next day, he falls asleep in class and is caned by the teacher. This becomes a regular theme in Rajesh's dreams, although it is interspersed with dreams about Lily which make him happy.
Rajesh is very good at studies but is bad at sports as he tires easily.He befriends PT Instructor Johnny Matthew (Nagesh Kukunoor), who teaches Rajesh a lot of lessons of life. Rajesh is the worst at PT and can't do 3 chin-ups. Selva tells Rajesh not to worry as he also fails PT each year and begs the teacher Velu (Maj Vijayakumar R) to pass him. Velu insults Selva and Rajesh (calling them weaklings and pathetic), and it hurts Rajesh's ego. He decides to pass on his own merit and is given 1 month to prepare by Velu. Johnny is the new assistant gym teacher and sees Rajesh putting in the extra effort.
Johnny and Rajesh spend a lot of time together as Johnny helps him build his muscles. Johnny gives Rajesh a set of simple exercises that he can do anywhere, which will help him build muscle mass.Rajesh passes his PT exam.
Raja buys exam papers from the school janitor to pass. He shares it with his friends. Rajesh still displaces Tony (The current academic champion) as the top performer of the class. Tony is disappointed but is determined to dethrone Rajesh in the half-yearly exams. He congratulates Rajesh on his stunning victory.Rajesh asks Johnny what shagging means, and he gives him a book that explains everything.David receives the award for the most innovative prank of the year from Raja.
Rajesh has a crush on Lily Vegas and writes a Valentine's card for her. He imagines himself as the Bollywood hero Dev Anand serenading Lily in a farm. Rajesh is devastated to see Johnny having tea with Lily and thinks Johnny has betrayed him. Rajesh starts avoiding Johnny actively and he makes Rajesh spell out what is wrong.Johnny clears the air by saying that he likes Lily but doesn't love her. He also explains that Lily is too old for Rajesh, and he doesn't stand a chance.
Rajesh beats Raja at chess and angers him even more. Rajesh was in the bathroom and sees David light a cracker to scare Brother Francis. Francis catches Rajesh and starts caning him. Rajesh wont squeal and ultimately David has to surrender to save Rajesh. David considers Rajesh his "pal forever".Raja tries to sodomize Rajesh, but Johnny saves him. Johnny doesn't report Raja, as he doesn't want to see him suspended.
One day the school arranges a fete in which the girls also participate every year, and all the boys are to propose at least one girl. Rajesh is least interested but goes anyway on Selva's insistence. Unfortunately, David gets hurt (plus he is barred from Francis from going) and cannot go to the fete. Hence, he tells Rajesh to give a card to Malathi (Ulrika Krishnamurti), a student from the girl's school. But Malathi becomes attracted to Rajesh which David takes in his stride easily.Selva tells Johnny about Rajesh's crush on Malathi.
On Rajesh's birthday, Mr. Matthew pretending to be Malathi's uncle, brings her out of the school to meet Rajesh. This information is then passed on to the headmaster, Brother Lawrence (Jayant Kripalani). Shravya (Shilpa Pai), Malati's friend also accompanies them. Malathi and Rajesh spends some time together, sharing their first kiss.Shravya and Mr. Matthew go together for an Ice-Cream. She then accuses Johnny of having assaulted her when they were alone, which is in fact a lie fabricated by Raja.
Brother Lawrence, believing the lie to be true asks Mr. Matthew to resign from the school. Rajesh gets bewildered by this (he gets a letter from Malathi saying Shravya confessed to the truth) and fights Raja with the help of David and makes him confess the truth in front of Brother Lawrence. Johnny Matthew then gets reinstated, and everything ends well.
