Monday, January 7, 2008

Taare Zameen Par


Amidst high-budget movies,snazzy promos,superstars and a bare butt-one Mr.Aamir Khan quietly but boldly walks in with 'taare zameen par'(stars on earth) and proved that for this once the big bang came after the stars.It left such a big impact.


There was no better way to start a new year!Frankly,i walked in thinking it was just another one of those children's movie where the hero takes the spotlight with the oh-i-am-so-kind-i-love-kids portrayal and walks away with the superstar adulation.Boy was i surprised to know that Aamir Khan was playing second fiddle to the show stealer Darsheel Safary(Ishaan Awasthi in the movie)-the most perfect casting of the century.


Mischievous Ishaan is paying his price for being a little different.He suffers from Dyslexia.His parents and teachers, taking it to be adamant carelessness, give him a tough time.Ishaan runs to his creativity for help.His imagination takes him places.He looks at things and sees beauty.His fingers do wonders with paints and crayons but not with pencils and notebooks.


When the entire world is at the peak of writing him off as an incapable idiot,the wonder teacher walks in.Ram Shankar Nikumbh,well portrayed by Aamir,enters dramatically mid-movie.He empathises with Ishaan and what happens later is practically fantastic.


The movie,with its blatant mockery of the cruelly competitive world gives us the paradox which is Ishaan.He is everything,every small beautiful thing which is snubbed in a world which wants only material profit.Ishaan is the intellect that cannot be found in report cards.


What i liked about the movie was that,it did not use the word 'special' to denote disability.That word was used only to show that every child had a talent to call their own.


Moreover,no character looked out of place and there was not one unwanted scene in the movie.


Kudos to Amol Gupte,the writer and creative director.He did most of the paintings too.And of course,the maestros-Shankar Ehsaan and Loy!And hats off to Prasoon Joshi for such imaginative lyrics.


Full marks for Taare Zameen Par.It starts off with a few good laughs but please take along a bunch of napkins.I guarantee you there are no cheap emotional stunts to melt the glaciers in your eyes.This tugs at the right strings.

Anoodha Kunnath





1 comment:

Dr. Ally Critter said...

I just have a little problem with TZP. The fact that Ishaan's family can afford for him to go to boarding school, yet in Bombay, he is very badly looked after.
Also dyslexia usually runs in families....