Everyone knows Aamir Khan the actor - now they have seen Aamir Khan the director - a sensitive and artistic director with a fine eye for detail. A maker of true quality cinema; a director who extracts the best from every actor, every department, every person contributing to his movie.
Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), is a young boy of eight who admires and adores the simple things in life, such as Nature, colours, animals and toys. The 'real' world - as his parents tell him - which consists of grades, neatness, and homework, is just too tiring and boring for Ishaan to deal with and he spends his time daydreaming and having fun. Unlike his older brother Yohaan, who has earned an admirable reputation for his top marks and studious attitude, Ishaan cannot seem to focus, however hard he tries, and reading and writing are torture on his mind. Ishaan starts a reputation of his own, one of mischief and bad behaviour, and is ultimately packed off to boarding school, to be "disciplined". Torn away from his family, and isolated in a world of bright, prim-proper children, Ishaan is lost in a new world, of misery and and tears. His impressive talent for painting and drawing is barely recognized - he cannot fit in academically and this is causing him to succumb to stress and fear, not to mention killing his self esteem completely. One day a new art teacher joins his school, Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan), who encourages the children to think bright an bold; fill their minds with imagination; dance, sing, express themselves. As the other kids grow to love Nikumbh, Ishaan barely acknowledges his new teacher, and remains in his daze of homesickness and gloom. Nikumbh sees past Ishaan, and views the pain in his eyes, and using his kind, patient nature, he discovers that Ishaan suffers from Dyslexia - a learning disorder which is the cause of his low marks. Nikumbh holds out a helping hand to Ishaan, and becomes the one person to look past the grades and see the boy inside, resulting in a close and caring friendship, and exulting Ishaan into the clouds once more - but this time to find his foothold.
Taare Zameen Par is Aamir Khan's directorial debut, as well as his debut as a producer. One very impressive thing about his direction is the pace of the movie, which progresses naturally until the very end. The cinematography and production design were superb, as was the music. The added animation, which surprised me, was better than anything I expected for a Bollywood movie; much crisper and sharper, transporting the viewer to the world of Ishaan's dreams. The A-Grade script by Amol Gupte also contributes greatly, and I did not find the ending to be "cheesy" or too dramatic in the slightest.
The fine performance by Darsheel Safary stands out, and the little one is sure to be remembered for his fantastic portrayal of Ishaan Awasthi. Though I found he didn't speak much throughout the movie, he brought a life to his role and endeared himself to the audience. His performance brought a lump to my throat on more than one occasion, and reminded me of certain parts of my childhood. Whenever anyone says 'CHILD STAR', I will think of him. Aamir surprised me once more by letting the little one carry the movie forward, and only appearing just about halfway. Even then, Aamir did not steal the film, though he did give a powerful performance, and the spotlight was kept on Darsheel. The two actors playing Ishaan's parents, Tisca Chopra and Vipin Sharma, were adequate, though I was more impressed with Chopra than her male counterpart. The chemistry between the cast seemed good, though I thought Darsheel and Aamir's on screen connection could have seemed stronger.
The soundtrack amazed me. My favourite song, had to be 'Maa'. The amount tears I shed during that one song is hard to explain. The beautiful lyrics added to the charm of the song, and even hearing it now makes me want to cry my heart out. 'Bum Bum Bole' is a lighthearted and catchy track picturised on Aamir, and 'Jame Raho' is an addictive number which was used and picturised very well. 'Kholo Kholo' is a soulful song with again, gorgeous lyrics, leaving 'Bheja Kum', an interesting track, used to show Ishaan's trouble at Boarding School. The title track was also lovely.
I really regret not having seen this when it released. After viewing it, I strongly believe this is the best movie that came out in 2007, every film seems weak before Taare Zameen Par, it overshadows almost every movie by far.
A great and inspiring experience.
Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), is a young boy of eight who admires and adores the simple things in life, such as Nature, colours, animals and toys. The 'real' world - as his parents tell him - which consists of grades, neatness, and homework, is just too tiring and boring for Ishaan to deal with and he spends his time daydreaming and having fun. Unlike his older brother Yohaan, who has earned an admirable reputation for his top marks and studious attitude, Ishaan cannot seem to focus, however hard he tries, and reading and writing are torture on his mind. Ishaan starts a reputation of his own, one of mischief and bad behaviour, and is ultimately packed off to boarding school, to be "disciplined". Torn away from his family, and isolated in a world of bright, prim-proper children, Ishaan is lost in a new world, of misery and and tears. His impressive talent for painting and drawing is barely recognized - he cannot fit in academically and this is causing him to succumb to stress and fear, not to mention killing his self esteem completely. One day a new art teacher joins his school, Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan), who encourages the children to think bright an bold; fill their minds with imagination; dance, sing, express themselves. As the other kids grow to love Nikumbh, Ishaan barely acknowledges his new teacher, and remains in his daze of homesickness and gloom. Nikumbh sees past Ishaan, and views the pain in his eyes, and using his kind, patient nature, he discovers that Ishaan suffers from Dyslexia - a learning disorder which is the cause of his low marks. Nikumbh holds out a helping hand to Ishaan, and becomes the one person to look past the grades and see the boy inside, resulting in a close and caring friendship, and exulting Ishaan into the clouds once more - but this time to find his foothold.
Taare Zameen Par is Aamir Khan's directorial debut, as well as his debut as a producer. One very impressive thing about his direction is the pace of the movie, which progresses naturally until the very end. The cinematography and production design were superb, as was the music. The added animation, which surprised me, was better than anything I expected for a Bollywood movie; much crisper and sharper, transporting the viewer to the world of Ishaan's dreams. The A-Grade script by Amol Gupte also contributes greatly, and I did not find the ending to be "cheesy" or too dramatic in the slightest.
The fine performance by Darsheel Safary stands out, and the little one is sure to be remembered for his fantastic portrayal of Ishaan Awasthi. Though I found he didn't speak much throughout the movie, he brought a life to his role and endeared himself to the audience. His performance brought a lump to my throat on more than one occasion, and reminded me of certain parts of my childhood. Whenever anyone says 'CHILD STAR', I will think of him. Aamir surprised me once more by letting the little one carry the movie forward, and only appearing just about halfway. Even then, Aamir did not steal the film, though he did give a powerful performance, and the spotlight was kept on Darsheel. The two actors playing Ishaan's parents, Tisca Chopra and Vipin Sharma, were adequate, though I was more impressed with Chopra than her male counterpart. The chemistry between the cast seemed good, though I thought Darsheel and Aamir's on screen connection could have seemed stronger.
The soundtrack amazed me. My favourite song, had to be 'Maa'. The amount tears I shed during that one song is hard to explain. The beautiful lyrics added to the charm of the song, and even hearing it now makes me want to cry my heart out. 'Bum Bum Bole' is a lighthearted and catchy track picturised on Aamir, and 'Jame Raho' is an addictive number which was used and picturised very well. 'Kholo Kholo' is a soulful song with again, gorgeous lyrics, leaving 'Bheja Kum', an interesting track, used to show Ishaan's trouble at Boarding School. The title track was also lovely.
I really regret not having seen this when it released. After viewing it, I strongly believe this is the best movie that came out in 2007, every film seems weak before Taare Zameen Par, it overshadows almost every movie by far.
A great and inspiring experience.