Taare Zameen Par- A Review

This ‘gem’ deserves an unequivocal 5 star rating. A movie, which I am sure, has cut across every ‘segment’ of movie-goers and has appealed to all and sundry. And what makes the movie special is that, it’s a movie with a ‘heart and soul’, which beats in tandem with the pulse of the audience. The simplicity of the story is its hall-mark. And without an exception, this master-piece would have tugged at the heart strings of every single person in the audience.

On the face of it, it’s a story about a boy, who is suffering from dyslexia and is bogged down by the expectations of a rigid curriculum at school and a indifferent and ignorant society at large. At a more sublime level, it is a eye-opener for a society, which is hung up on academic excellence alone without making a effort towards a more holistic development of its children. For people who are differently challenged, we only seem be guided by our preconceived notions and half-baked knowledge. And this same ignorance stops the differently-challenged individuals, to become part of the main-stream society, in any and every walk of life. So lives which are already rendered difficult and in many cases full with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, become even more difficult to live.

The protagonist, Eshaan Avasthi, played by the debutante Darshaan Safarry, suffers from dyslexia. It’s a condition, which stays undetected and undiagnosed, because his poor academic scores and inability to get even ‘passable’ grades are attributed to ‘laziness, stubbornness, indifference and the like by his so-called erudite teachers. And a warped education system which doesn’t factor in the natural abilities and inclinations of young minds in the age-old curriculum and instead sticks to a straight-jacketed method of evaluation, adds to his woes. This nine year old cannot admit to his helplessness at understanding simple words, for fear of being ridiculed and mocked, by peers, seniors and parents too. A impressionable and malleable mind of the boy, which can dream a thousand dreams and is more talented, though not in the conventional sense, then his classmates , who are adored and adulated for their ‘ academic’ excellence, has to forcibly ‘fit’ in the same ‘ groove’.

His dilemma and helplessness is also misinterpreted by his parents, who are also guided by the same opaque view about their ward, which is painted by his teachers and people around them. They are worried about how a complacent, lazy and incompetent boy would grow up to face the challenges thrown at him by this increasingly competitive world, which measures everyone on the same scale, irrespective of the individual’s personal interests and natural skill-sets.

The last ditch effort and an apparent panacea to Eshaan’s woes, is a boarding school. A classic case of missing the forests for the woods, the parents and the academicians set out to treat the boy’s symptoms, rather then addressing the root cause. This proves counter productive, as the ever-chirpy , gregarious and playful chap, slowly withdraws into a shell, even as the ‘culture of discipline’ of this school tries to correct’ behavourial’ flaws in this boy, but it fails to correct them, because they aren’t flaws in the first place.



This ‘savior’ for this wilting sunflower comes in the form of his arts teacher, played by Aamir Khan. He introduces a sense of vibrancy and joyfulness in the otherwise staid portals of this institution. For someone, who was a dyslexic himself and who overcame it with sheer determination and grit, he becomes the cool shade to give respite to this young, innocent , parched and tattered soul.

What follows thereafter is a poignant and moving tale of a teacher and his student, who together, set out to battle the odds and overcome those same seemingly insurmountable obstacles, which were holding back Ehsaan.

The belief of one man, who has just known this boy for a very short period, turns his life around. And people bereft of empathy ,many of who have known this boy for a very long time, did very little but to admonish and penalize this child for his ‘short-comings’.

The movie is a tale of the triumph of ‘human spirit’. It’s a sordid account of a myopic society, which uses the same ‘mould’ to shape everyone; It’s a story, which touches every raw nerve inside you, and awakens emotions within you, which you had lost touch with; It’s a movie which reminds you that your fist-sized organ is much more then a pump, and helps you connect with your own conscience.

Brilliant performances by child-actor, Darshan and Aamir Khan, form the crux of the movie. The chemistry between them is beautifully captured and portrayed, within the time-bound frame of a bollywood movie.

The music score by Ehesaan-Shankar-Loy complements the script very well. The essence of the movie is held together by the music of this movie. And the supporting cast has also delivered good performances, to complete this pièce de résistance.

Whether this film wins accolades at any awards function is not a matter of any consequence. Aamir Khan has proved again, that conventional wisdom can be turned on its head and yet deliver the goods. A simple story can also become a commercial success, if told the right way. But what’s more important then the box-office success of this movie is the impact it has had on its audience. And if the moist eyes of every person coming out of the movie hall is any indication, then perhaps, we can safely assume that this movie has earned itself a place in the Indian cinematic history and carved a permanent place is the psyche of the audience.