Taare zameen par (2007)

तारे ज़मीन पर

Aamir Khan acts in his own directorial debut, but he doesn't fill the screen with himself.  Instead he steps aside, giving top billing to an engaging little boy.  The result is Taare zameen par ("stars on earth") a film that's charming and sweet - if a touch preachy at moments - and highly, highly recommended.  Just don't forget to bring the Kleenex.

Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) is struggling in school.  His homework makes no sense to him; scorned by his teachers and laughed at by his classmates, school is a daily torture that he endures the best he can.  His doting mother (Tisca Chopra), demanding father (Vipin Sharma), and affectionate big brother (Sachet Engineer) don't know what to do with him.  After Ishaan fails the third standard for the second time, his father sends him to a boarding school whose strict discipline he believes will set Ishaan straight.  But things only get darker for the boy, who is beaten and declared hopeless by his teachers, until he's all but given up on himself.  Then Ishaan's rescue arrives, in the form of Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan), a substitute art teacher who sees his own childhood in Ishaan's lonely struggle, and helps to give it a name: dyslexia.  Ram sets to work getting through to Ishaan and showing his teachers and parents how to see the world through his eyes.

A story meant to raise awareness about dyslexia - especially in India, where I suspect the disorder is even less widely understood and accommodated than it is in the U.S. - will not be able to completely avoid the pitfalls of pontification, and Taare zameen par has its moments when the preaching gets out of hand.  For the most part, though, it hits all the right spots, giving its instruction by illuminating Ishaan's world - a world where letters and numbers dance on the page, transforming themselves into imaginitive flights of fancy reminiscent of Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes strips.  The occasional wrong note - like Ishaan's father bowing his head and taking an insolent lecture from Ram Nikumbh without a trace of defensiveness or outrage - is more than made up for by the numerous soaring - and searing - moments.  In one standout scene, Ishaan, confused and enraged after his first week or two at the boarding school, breaks away from his visiting family and runs as hard as he can - in tiny circles, around a basketball court. 

Aamir Khan asks young Darsheel Safary, as Ishaan, to shoulder the burden of his film, and the child actor rises to the challenge stunningly.  He is on the screen in nearly every scene, and he fills it with his infectious joy and his heartbreaking anguish. The meticulous detail of his relationship with his family is another of the film's strengths, especially that with his successful older brother Yohan, who takes firsts in every class and plays competitive caliber tennis. Yohan is puzzled by his little brother's failure to thrive but he never once calls him "stupid" or questions the boy's spark.  Aamir himself stays out of the way for the film's first half - he doesn't even appear until seconds before the intermission - but he can't really help taking over in the second half, making it a little less pure and immersive than the first.  But again, like the preachy moments, these are small quibbles about a lovely and winning film. 

The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy soundtrack, like the film itself, hits all the right manipulative notes, now sweet and melancholy, now driving and manic like Ishaan's frustration.  The standout songs include "Jame raho," detailing in frenetic stop-motion the morning routine of Ishaan's family - and the contrast between his father and brother's approach to the day, and his own.  Another memorable song is "Maa," a hymn of love and loneliness played when Ishaan is left alone at the boarding school watching his family recede into the distance.  Reach for the hankies - in scenes like this one, Taare zameen par had me crying buckets. 

Comments

[Maajhi]

This movie had me bawling out uncontrollably, especially near the end of the first half at the boarding school, listening to the lyrics of the maa song, and just everything about the title song. And I had moist eyes during the credits. Man, if film watching is therapeutic, this movie is a prime example.

Strongly recommend it. It drags in some parts but otherwise gives you a wonderful perspective, and brings back loads of memories of your own childhood. I wish I could relive those days.

Another feather in the cap for Aamir! And wonderful review as usual, FG.

[Akshay Shah]

This is one of the only movies that had me sobbing by the bucketloads too!!

[Vikrant]

A nice review. I agree with you totally. I am hooked to mera jahaan...amazing lyrics..totally in tune with the plight of our protagonist Ishaan and brilliantly imaginative...and kholo kholo darwaazein is also very enjoyable for its manic energy and zeal.

PS: I got a chance to watch Santosh Sivan's "Before the rains" at AFI, Dallas, Film Fest today. It was an excellent movie. I highly recommend it. Rahul Bose was brilliant. Lianus Roache was good...Nandita Das was not up to her usual standard.
Needless to say the cinematography was AMAZING!! In Roache's words, "Sivan brings the nature alive...he is like a jazz player with camera". There was a Q & A session after the show with Lianus Roache and producer. Apparently the story is inspired from an Israeli film "Asphalt Zahov". OK I will stop now...sorry i was excited after watching the movie and wanted to share it.

[Joss]

This is a great write-up, for a great film. I too cried and snivelled my way through numerous tissues... both times I watched the film. But it was the humour that won me over before that. Where Ishaan is day-dreaming whilst his mother spins round the flat like a whirlwind in the morning rush hour, it was delightful. So true to life, that I could see animations round my son's head the next day when I was getting him ready for school. That young actor, Darsheel Safary, has an amazing range of emotions to play such comedy and such anguish both so well. Think how much better he is than the current British young talent like Freddy Highmore, for example. Taare Zameen Par is really a major achievement for all concerned in its making. And I think I have to say it is my favourite HIndi film so far. I shall certainly be buying the DVD.

[theBollywoodFan]

I particularly liked how the classroom environments were captured -- truly reflective of a typical classroom there. Everything about this film is worth enjoying and liking. A wonderful film indeed, and not surprising that Aamir Khan's behind this one too!

[Indian Humour @ bobsbanter.com]

Thanks for this amazing review. TZP is my all time fav movie. My other fav movie being kal ho na ho :-)

Regards,
priya
priya@ 4xindia.com
http://www.forexfreedownload.com