28 December 2007

Kho na jaye yeh………………Taare Zameen Par!


Yes… Aamir Khan has brought down lots of stars to earth. He has in fact created stars out of young and unknown people, stars out of unknown characters of Ishaan Awasthi Ramshankar Nikumbh… Yes., ‘stars are born, but can be made too’….seems to be the motto of the movie.

I am glad that Indian cinema is growing beyond the fantasy of teen-age romantic enterprises, it is growing beyond to think about the realities of crores of people, to interpret the lives of disabled, differently abled, deficiently abled!!

The captivating sequence of a train journey to a village in UP, as described in Swades…. A rage against the negligence and least respect for a champion’s life…as shown in Rang De Basanti, An intriguing experience of a physically challenged girl’s life in Black, uniting the nation against the regonal spirits, as in Chak De! India….

Bollywood has grown to these levels, and Aamir Khan’s debut as a director Tare Zameen Par has actually promissed that bollywood will grow beyond these new found values too!

Yes., from an amazing plot to packed performances by literally unknowns, from inane cuteness to the matte of knowledge….. from a childhood to parenting…. from Propheting to Teaching…TZP has it all.

Plot starts with a naughty school going third standard boy, Ishaan Awasti, turning blank and terrified when he is given a sentence to read, when he is given a sum to calculate.

He always seem to be busy reading the footsteps of fishes in the pond, nature of birds on trees, the authenticity of a wall painter, scourge of a haying sea, a drop of rain, a lash of wind…in dream world. He is amazed with these things found around him.

But he seem to have a problem when it comes to studies, He is terrified of his father’s overt expectations of him, he is afraid of the punishments meted out to him at school, he is irritated by his not-so-friendly, always crittering friends!

He is failed in third standard and the principal suspects an abnormalcy in the child. She wants him to be moved to a school teaching the mentally challenged children! Father is furious to hear this about his son.

He gets him admitted to a strict boarding school, as a punishment to the naughty and ignorant child. In the boarding school Ishaan gets dull, and he becomes a “Moooorkh ShiromaNi”, as a teacher scolds him. He loses all his versatility, he stops painting, observing the nature.

And then comes a teacher, as a temporary replacement to a retired art teacher, Ramshankar Nikumbh. Nikumbh immediately gets interested in Ishaan. He discovers that Ishaan is suffering from Dyslexia. And when neither his teachers nor his parents come to rescue the child, Nikumbh himself takes the mantle of helping the child overcome his deficiency. And that comes without making the child aware that he is not normal. Ishaan is shown to be an above average wonder kid.

The story apart, the movie gets a wonderful treatment from both the script writer and the director. Ably supported by superlative music and power packed performances, this movie takes one back to the school, back to the childhood.

Darsheel Safray and Aamir Khan puts up a great show as Ishaan and Nikumbh respectively. Sachet, Visca and Vipin as the family excell in their roles. One can feel empathised with the plot, and characters.

But what is missing here is that one can not relate to something in the movie.

No doubt that this movie is technically excellent, with its gripping scenes, and a dreamy touch. Aamir Khan has come out with a bang on debut.

But yet, you miss the aura of simplicity of Ashutosh Gowariker, melodrama of Bhansali, Shimit Aamin’s gutsy plot.

However, Aamir surpasses your expectations as a director at places, and leaves you with a feeling of could’ve done better at times. Whatever it is, here comes a new thinking director, Aamir Khan. I never liked Aamir like this, before.

I think I will give this movie an 80% marks ;)

9 comments:

CHITRA CHARITA said...

To all your virtues listed on M balaga, I would like to add... You review films very well.

neela

HEMA VEMA said...

One more similarities b/w us dude!!!! Catch my take on Taare zameen Par!!! Same Pinch!! Ouch...

Srik said...

Update :

One of my friends says "people who have not watched the movie yet are not fit to be alive.....go and hang today.."!! OOOOPS!!

mouna said...

i'd heard much about the movie. and i did see the movie. well, there are scenes, as u pointed out, which did not connect. we have a doting mother, who absolutely didn't object to her son being sent to boarding school. she could have performed better. aamir, himself, could have added a little more. there are places where one feels that something is lacking.

we have a song sung by shankar mahadevan, voicing the boy's sadness when he is sent to boarding school. it would have been much much better, if a child had sung that. it would have been more apt.

when it comes children's movies', the king, according to me, is vishal bharadwaj. aamir has quite a way to go...

but, a very nice attempt, indeed.

Anonymous said...

I have heard rave reviews, haven't watched yet ;) So, I won't read your 'UPDATE' comment :)

As for the few other movies which you have listed out, it's funny how people have different interests (and rightly so, else it would be boring).

I thought 'Swades' was a documentary, I thought 'Rang De Basanti' was perhaps one of the worst Aamir Khan movies I have ever watched, as for 'Black' enough said...it's out and out copy of the 'The Miracle Worker'and Sanjay Leela Bhansali had the guts to 'claim' as his original. Yes, I did enjoy 'Chak De...'.

I don't know man, maybe I have way different taste...I like 'Mr. and Mrs. Iyer', 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Lagaan' and such movies :)

Srik said...

DS,
Please read this to know what sort of movies I like.

I liked Swades because it was like a documentary. I liked Lagaan because it captured the innocence of villagers as a documentary!
I did not like Black at all, but I cant stay away from the fact that there was a great hardwork behind the making of it.

You can not deny that Rang de Basanti effect over a magical country, during the anti-reservation rallies, the Jessica Lall and similar murder case investigations...

What I meant was, not that what I liked, but the topic was about the different genere and impact one has on the country.

Dil Chahta Hai is my all time favourite movie, no doubt about it, but that was not for Aamir Khan, mind you! So many other characters were also there ;)

So, I said, I liked Aamir in TZP more than in any other place. TZP is a lovely movie, that could've been better. However, it is successful in bringing an awareness about an unknown deficiency(dont read it as disease, for God's sake!).

Anonymous said...

I am so pissed....I typed in such a long response and it just vanished when I tried to publich it! Aggh, let me try again....

Unlike 'Swades', I never thought 'Lagaan' to be a documentary. The life on the screen was so real, there was a story without having a story, and that was the greatness of the movie.

"Hardwork" behind 'Black'??? I call it "Hardly Any Work"!!! Sanjay Leela Bhansali copied word-to-word from 'The Miracle Worker' and had the guts to claim ti as his original. For heaven's sake everything including the first word she speaks, 'W-A-T-E-R' was copied. If you haven't watched 'The Miracle Worker', you should. An amazing movie.

I agree with you on 'Rang De Basanti'. You see, I am here so far from India and probably I was unable to appreciate the sensitivity of the movie. Maybe if I were in India I probably would have liked it, I don't know. I just wanted to see what all the hoopla was and watched it and literally thought it was one of the worst Aamir Khan movies ever! Talkign of which, when you and I were little kids there was a Kannada movie called 'Ravana Rajya' which was released. Concept was very similar to RDB. I go to see it when Iw as in High School (somehow magically got the video!). A girl gets raped and 4 of her guy friends take revenge. That movie was not a big hit, but RDB smelt so much like it. Of course different times....(For example, if 'Lamhe' was released today, I bet it would be a super-hit. OK, I am digressing!)

'Dil Chahta hai' is certainly one of my all tiem favorites too, and I guess it is for all city slick guys and gals. I haven't watched TZP yet, so can't comment.

OK, I admit...I love talking about movies :)

Srik said...

DS,
>>> Unlike 'Swades', I never thought 'Lagaan' to be a documentary. The life on the screen was so real, there was a story without having a story, and that was the greatness of the movie.

Yes, To add to it, Lagaan had all the features of Cricket while featuring the game, where as Chak De did not have the complete coverage of hockey, isnt it? I'm not saying it is bad, however. Lagaan is one of its kind movie.


>>>"Hardwork" behind 'Black'??? I call it "Hardly Any Work"!!! Sanjay Leela Bhansali copied word-to-word from 'The Miracle Worker' and had the guts to claim ti as his original. For heaven's sake everything including the first word she speaks, 'W-A-T-E-R' was copied. If you haven't watched 'The Miracle Worker', you should. An amazing movie.

I'm not aware of it, I will certainly watch the Miracle Worker and comment about it. But there was a news about Rani getting trained in a special school for some three months to perform...and all such things! Actually sometimes I feel Black was made only to win awards, but the movie clicked with audience too :)

>>>I agree with you on 'Rang De Basanti'............

Yeah...it brought a kind of revolution in the way of Satyagrahas and protests, atleast if not anything else. I havent watched the Ravana Rajya, also, dont know about it. Lamhe...I heard it was such a superb movie, and have watched it in bits and pieces, I dont prefer watching a movie on any of the TV channels, for all the traumatic ad breaks every 15 mins :(


>>>'Dil Chahta hai' is certainly one of my all tiem favorites too, and I guess it is for all city slick guys and gals. I haven't watched TZP yet, so can't comment.

Dil Chahta Hai was released just before we completed the fourth year in hostel...and the emotions in the movie exactly came at a right time for us, since we all lived four years of hostel again, watching the movie. We played it and re-played, until we realised that exams were round the corner.

>>>OK, I admit...I love talking about movies :)

You have a company :P

Anonymous said...

I think this is the best movie of the year and one of the best movies of this decade to achieve cinematic excellence, good review.