One of the imutable laws of recent hindi cinema is that if Aamir Khan is acting in a film that really is not about his character, he will be all over the second half. His presence somewhat hijacked the narrative, and I braced myself for same happening in Secret Superstar.
Advait Chandan’s first film as a writer-director, does have a lot more post interval Aamir Khan in the first half, but this time it was not unwelcome. It’s not that Khan’s performance is particularly good but this is a in some need of hijacking. Of all the accusations, one can level at narrative, I’m loath to use ’slow’, an unhelpful, vague discription whose import differs wildly from one viewer to another. I’ll say instead that Secret Superstar, in its initial 75 odd minutes, feels repetitive and sluggish, circling back to situations and character traits that have already been defined.
In short, Secret Superstar has everything you ask for, but it is not exceptional storytelling. If there is one thing that can be blamed for it, it’s the over melodrama. Imagine the same film without Aamir Khan.