Taare Zameen Par- A film Review

Friday the 21^st Dec , Saw me watching one of the greatest flicks of Indian cinema Taare Zameen Par, A directorial debut of Super star, Aamir Khan!.... Wow, What a Phenomenal movie! The Movie deals with children with special needs… As rightly quoted “It’s a movie for Parents as well as future parents” This movie gives a message to parents that there is a world beyond topping in a class test.

Owing to the competitive environment today, we see poor children loaded with enormous amount of work at school, and further burdened by parents who want them to excel in studies, become an expert dancer or a singer, not because the child likes singing or dancing but for the upcoming reality shows of Indian television. Sadly these overburdened children now don’t have the time to play or live their childhood in a blissful innocent way. Their innocence is curbed by the parents who want to see their children on the top of the ladder by hook or by crook.

Recently, in a television reality show, an agitated parent whose daughter couldn’t make it to the wild card entry and lost on the basis of audience vote’s claims that he had set up computers in various parts of India to vote his daughter, what he claims to be lakhs of votes. What’s happening is the question of every television viewer; I am shocked at the parent’s incapability to understand that it’s a competition. Ironically, it’s the parent who has to make the child understand that in a competition, there must be fair play and justice, and that there can be only one winner, while participation is the most important part! But here the parent himself plays foul, whatsoever happened to sportsman spirit! As for the child, she is already a genius who has finished her schooling at a mere age of 12.

Such is the poor state of children. Taare Zameen par addresses these parents to look beyond topping in a class or winning a reality show. It tells parents each child is special in its own way. Where one might be a genius in math, the other might be fascinated by history or art. TZP deals with a dyslexic child Eshaan (with a very cute nick name Enu) who has a difficulty to comprehend alphabets or numbers, has a wonderful imagination and is a fantastic painter. He is overshadowed by his genius brother who is a topper in every field be it sports or studies and who lives up to his parents expectations. His parents don’t understand Eshaan’s problems, and succumbing to the enormous pressure they put him to a boarding school! The poor child has to deal with all the humiliation alone and turns out to be a loner. He stops painting, is scared of his imagination and retreats into a shell. Teachers of the school give him a tag of good for nothing fool. Enter Aamir Khan aka Ram Shankar Nikumb who had been a dyslexic child himself, realizing Eshaan’s problem and is all set to solve it for him! As I sit watching the movie with apt attention and tears in my eyes, He makes the reluctant parents face the reality and also the principal of the school who terms Eshaan as a mentally retarded child! Aamir then boosts the lost self confidence in the child and helps him regain the control of the lost strings of his life. Although the climax of the story is predictable, the movie addresses to the audience through a near to life narration and a very natural darsheel safary. It’s a phenomenal debut for Aamir khan as a director. All in all, it’s a must watch film.

I am awed by it and as a future parent, promise myself to deal with my child more carefully and vow to listen to my child’s heart. I urge everyone to watch this movie, not to make it a super hit, but for the essence of the movie. It’s the first time in my entire life that I have seen a movie such as this with such a near to life experience. The narration is so good and the screenplay excellent. I am never a critic but after I have seen this one movie, I feel other than a handful of films, Indian cinema by large lacks films like TZP!

I wish I get to see more meaningful films from Aamir Khan, and also hope many other directors follow his suite!

Nischita!