[7][8][9] The Thai film is based on a real life teacher of a houseboat school, Ban Ko Allocated School (Ruen Phae Branch), on the Ping River at the Bhumibol Dam in Mae Ping National Park in Li district, Lamphun province.

At the end, it is shown that Firdaus sent the children back home so that she can talk and spend time with Kabir with whom she has fallen in love.

[9] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in writes, "Notebook has an unremarkable lead pair, an underwhelming dull love story in which the actors don't share the screen for nearly the entire duration of the narrative, some of the most ravishing views of Kashmir yet, a bunch of adorable children and a soundtrack with a few good tunes.

"[18] Rachit Gupta of The Times of India rated the film with three stars out of five and says, "Notebook is an easy watch where you can appreciate the humour, drama and romance.

"[7] Writing for Daily News and Analysis Meena Iyer finds nothing wrong with the film but wished, "it hadn't been so antiseptic."

[8] Jyoti Sharma Bawa of Hindustan Times rates the film with two and half stars out of five and praises the cinematographer Manoj Kumar Khatoi.

She opines that the cinematographer has ensured that every frame is bursting with beauty and The visual portrayal would stay with the viewers long after they forget the sub-par love story.

[19] Charu Thakur of India Today gives two and half stars out of five and concludes the review as, "If you are looking for some old-world romance this weekend, Notebook is definitely a recommended watch for you.

They sum up review by saying, "On the whole, NOTEBOOK boasts of exemplary performances by the debutants and is beautifully shot while stressing on the importance of education.