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 ;)
