The paradise on earth in the background and the beautiful Dal lake around, the scenery looks majestic but marred with silence, the silence of a valley living under the shadow of guns and militancy. It is the beginning of the plot of movie Notebook. The film touches important subjects but then deviates to a romantic story in which the two lovers hardly ever meet. Notebook is a story of a young man Kabir Kaul played by Zaheer Iqbal, who comes back to his father`s school to teach some cute red cheeked kids who doesn`t warm up to him. His only guide is a notebook which a teacher, Firdaus left behind. The book leads the narrative and life of the leads together and Kabir falls in love with the girl without ever meeting her. Though the use of the gorgeous Kashmir Valley and gaggle of the school children is done intelligently by director Nitin Kakkar. The frames will stay in mind for a long time even though the story won`t. Salman Khan`s experiment with introducing Zaheer Iqbal might have been good if the story was better. Actress Nutan`s granddaughter Pranutan Behl as Firdaus offers a restrained performance but rough edges do creep in.