When one of the country’s biggest star who is known to be a perfectionist and is often accused of ghost directing his movies decides to don the mantle of direction, you expect a movie in which a greater level of thought process has gone into the making of the product. And that is exactly what Aamir Khan offers with Taare Zameen Par, a film which showcases the needs of ‘special children’, a path less trodden in Bollywood. So guys, move beyond those run-of-the-mill Bollywood potboilers, those semi clad item girls, those six pack abs and *dard-e disco s, *and give a chance to relevant, meaningful and thought provoking cinema. At the outset, let me declare that that I am a huge fan of Aamir Khan, and was eagerly awaiting the release of TZP so that I could critique the movie, but I assure the readers that at no point of time this would be a biased review.
Taare Zameen Par is a story of Ishaan Awasthi, an eight year old dyslexic child, who is disinterested in studies, fails in every subject at school, is punished by all his teachers, but loves to paint and live in his own fantacy world, playing with dogs and fish. He is often compared to his brother who is a topper at school and that does not help his cause. The entire society, including his overzealous parents refuse to understand his special needs and pack him off to a boarding school in order to discipline him. Ishaan is ridiculed by one and all, and is emotionally and physically traumatized by his teachers, so much so that he stops speaking and becomes disinterested with life. But then enters the art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, who observes and understands Ishaan s needs and takes it upon as his duty to not allow Ishaan fade away into the dark like other mentally challenged kids.
Taare Zameen Par has got its heart in the right place. A movie which deals with emotions of children, special children in this case, needs to be handled with much more care and sensitivity since a lapse in any aspect of movie-making, be it acting or direction, would fail to strike a chord with the audience. Aamir Khan handles the subject with conviction and is able to infuse in just the right level of emotions, without getting overboard and churns out sensitive, heart-wrenching and competitive performances from the central characters. Only a few films before this, such as Black, which also dealt with a similar subject, have been successful in touching your heart. The perfectionist actor, producer and now a director has carved out a very socially relevant and a thought provoking story(written by Amol Gupte) which compels the audience to empathise with a child who is burdened with the pressure of his parents’ expectations, questioning the validity of the rat race and unhealthy competition in the society. The film in its own special way authenticates its tagline, *Every Child Is Special, *and delivers its message effectively, enlightening the parents about the different needs of their children.
But on the flip side, Taare Zameen Par is not a perfect film. The story unfolds at a leisurely pace and the first half is very long and can get a bit boring at certain points. Add to this, certain characters in the movie, like the child’s father, overact and their behaviour looks far from real. The film takes off to a new high when Aamir Khan enters the scene and after that, it is a joyride. The second half of the film right upto the climax is brilliant and is its high point. At around 170 minutes, the film is a tad too long and some crisp editing can only make the film more effective.
Coming to the performances, child artiste Darsheel Safary who portrays the role of Ishaan carries the entire first half on his shoulders and delivers an outstanding performance. Playing a dyslexic child, Darsheel brings out all the required emotions and has the power to bring tears to your eye. The portrayal of a day in Ishaan’s life is very relatable and can be picked out of a leaf of any student’s book. Watch him in the scene where he fool around outside his class after being punished by his teacher. Kudos to his powerful performance which can easily go down as one of the finest by any child artiste in Hindi Cinema.
Aamir Khan delivers a mature and inspiring performance, playing the mentor to Ishaan. He shares great on-screen chemistry with children, which he had proved in is earlier films(such as Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke and Akele Hum Akele Tum) and has continued it with TZP. Aamir’s character infuses life into the movie and his interaction with the children and Ishaan’s parents and the scene in which he discovers that Ishaan is dyslexic by observing his notebooks, are the highlights of the movie.
Tisca Chopra and Sachet Engineer, playing Ishaan’s mother and brother respectively are alright. Vipin Sharma, playing Ishaan’s father overacts and like I mentioned earlier, is the weakest link of the movie.
Music by Shankar-Eshsaan-Loy compliments the meaningful and inspirational lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. Almost all the songs play in the background and the Song “Taare Zameen Par” and “Meri Maa” are soulful. The children will enjoy the song “Bam Bam Bole”.
So thats 3.5 stars out of 5, and like Rajeev Masand puts it, its two thumbs up for Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par. Few films touch your heart and this is one of them. It’s a film made with noble intentions and a must watch for all the parents. This is meaningful and thought provoking cinema at its best.