Dec 23, 2007

Taare Zameen Par


My interest in movies revolving around children first started when I watched Anjali, my all time favorite. After a huge gap, a movie on a defective child plus direction by Aamir Khan really made me to go to the first show itself. My expectations for the movie rose as the main character's name was credited before anyone else, including Aamir.
Ishaan is an inattentive child, lagging from his fellow classmates in studies. He also engages in fights. The initial few symptoms made me to wonder if he's having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). As time goes by, his problems become severe and he bunks class to prevent being punished by his teache. His parents fearthat he wouldn't be a studious person like his elder brother and send him to a boarding school. The movie which was revolving primarily ard Ishaan, now onwards takes a shift. Here after, it is about how Aamir Khan (art teacher) recongnizes the disorder in Ishaan, Dyslexia, and helps him to overcome it, and in the climax eventually the child succeeds.
The movie doesn't engross you as good as the story promises. The second half is way too lengthy, with Aamir Khan uttering several monologues to bring forth his opinions about non-understanding and demanding parents. He burdens the movie with himself, and cries too much to test our eye glands, unsuccessfully. The moment we realize that Aamir Khan is after Ishaan, we know how it is gonna end, exactly. Too much predictability takes away any further attachment we can have in seeing the success of Ishaan.
The kid acting as Ishaan was terrific. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy do a fantastic job with some slow numbers in the first half. Nothing much to say about the supporting cast, including Aamir.The argument Aamir has that the dyslexic kids do have the rights to study alongside 'normal' kids holds little water after we see what a specially trained and well-aware Aamir can do. Also, instead of addressing the larger problem of undue pressure on children in the present times, the attention in the second half is only on dyslexic kids. Sure, it is not to be taken lightly, with 10-15% of population reported to have it, but I am not sure if it is them (and their parents & teachers) whom Aamir wanted to target this movie for.
With Aamir Khan touted to act in next Mani Ratnam's movie, I wish he had sought an advice or two from the master director on how to take a movie based on a child. Nevertheless, Aamir needs to be applauded for his good intentions.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

ah,i have heard so many positive reviews on this movie, will definitely need to watch this movie. haven't seen a good hindi movie in ages.saw a few tamil movies recently, but none worth mentioning.waiting to see how india will fare against australia.

Nag said...

This is the first negative review i read about this movie. I saw the movie, and felt ok type.

Anonymous said...

I too felt the second half draggy. Surprisingly, not many felt the same way.

Wishing you a Happy & a Prosperous New Year !

mitr_bayarea said...

Raju-

Happy new year. Will wait to catch this movie on DVD.

FlameWolf said...

I too agree with you.
http://agnijith.blogspot.com/2008/01/taare-zameen-par-review.html

Raju said...

Nitin, this is definitely an above-average hindi movie, but I felt it could have been better.
Regarding Aus tour, it is getting disasterous day-by-day, with the events of the second test most appalling. A draw would have been the best possible result for both the Indian team and for the series, but, alas..
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Nagesh, well, the review was not all -ve.. but as u said, I too felt only 'OK' about it, though it could have been better.

Raju said...

Vm, yeah, after I posted this review soon after the movie, I got to see other reviews, who have raved about this movie. I agree with you.. the second part was dragging beyond bearable.. Aamir's conversations with the kid, calling them 'Dost' and all seemed too artificial for an Indian movie..
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Mitr, Thanks and Happy New Year to you and K too..
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Ajith Nair, welcome here.. I read your review and agreed with you on several parts, including your question on how he managed to enter class 3. Also on total ignorance of the teachers of a good school about dyslexia.

Me too said...

New year-um adhuvuma ennai auto anuppa vekkareengaley!! ;)

Unknown said...

For me the second half was the crux of the movie. Atleast 3 to 4 dialogues left me spell bounded. How effortlessly he conveyd about caring and sharing - is amazing.

Raju said...

Aparna, netrikkan thirappinum kutram kutramey.. Namma Aazhvarpettai Aandavar indha madhiri senjinrundhalum ippadithan ezhudhiyiruppen...
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Manu, with Aamir's entry just b4 the interval, the second half was certainly meant to be more interesting, but he didnt live up to the promise, IMHO. To me, the best dialogue was the reply he gave to the kid's father when the latter says that they looked up at the internet about Dyslexia and thus they do care about their kid..

Anonymous said...

Got this from a forwarded mail :

If Karan Johar made Taare Zameen Par
*Obvious starcast:
*Shah Rukh Khan as the arts teacher (duh duh duh!!).
*Aryan Khan as the dyslexic child (even if he could not act for nuts).

*Rani Mukerjee as the kid’s mom (assuming Kajol is unavailable).
*Abhishek Bachchan as the kid’s dad.

*Amitabh Bachchan as the school principal (who cares if the role is ultra minute, he can afford it).

*It would be shot in New York to appeal to the NRI audience.
*The story line would obviously be different. SRK would fall for the dyslexic kid’s mom. The last scene would have the mom running to the teacher rather than the kid. And again, like in so many other movies, SRK would get someone else’s girl.
It would have one dance number.
The film would be titled ‘Kuch Taare Zameen Par.’

Anonymous said...

If Sanjay Leela Bhansali made Taare Zameen Par
Obvious starcast:

*Salman as the teacher.
*Rani as the mother.

Of course the whole film would be shot on elaborate sets. The school would be nothing short of Harvard university.
An orchestra would play every time anyone cried.
Slow motion, different camera angles for every scene.
The school uniforms would match the classroom walls even though that does not make a f***ing difference.
The film would cost 60 crores

Anonymous said...

If Farah Khan made Taare Zameen Par
Obvious starcast:

SRK as the teacher (yawn).
In the original Taare, Aamir makes an entry at the interval point. In Farah’s version, SRK would be on screen on for 2.30 hrs out of the 2.45 hrs and would be introduced in the first scene itself.

The story would be changed to make sure the above happened. The focus of the film would be a teacher who helps a kid fight dyslexia.

To make it a complete entertainer, there would be a romantic angle, comedy, and action thrown in. Oh idea!! Nikumbh’s character likes another teacher and the kiddo helps him.. throw in some comedy moments there and you have romance and comedy settled.

For action.. hmm.. lemme see.. oh yah, the kid gets kidnapped and the teacher fights the baddies to save him. Wow!!

Anonymous said...

If Rakesh Roshan made Taare Zameen Par
Obvious starcast:

*Hrithik Roshan as the teacher.
Since Rakesh Roshan cannot think beyond science fiction these days, this film would have that too. Instead of dyslexia, the kid would have alienositis or something, a condition induced due to him witnessing an alien abduction.

Instead of Nikumbh being an arts teacher, he would be a physics teacher, and instead of asking kids to be creative, he would ask them to challenge the science we know.
In the scene where Nikumbh asks the kids to open their minds and make whatever they want outdoors, the kid Ishaan, instead of making a boat, would end up making a working spaceship prototype.

Nikumbh would cure the kids problem by making a full fledged version of the kid’s prototype, traveling to the alien planet, and asking them to give the kid his powers back.


The film would have music by Rajesh Roshan ripped off from some world music.

The film’s name would again start with a K.. probably ‘Kuch Aliens Taaron se Zameen Par’.
The director would make sure Hrithik gets to show all his abilities. This would mean a scene with Roshan jr flexing his muscles, and a dance competition in the end, instead of an arts competition

Anonymous said...

If Priyadarshan made Taare Zameen Par
Obvious starcast:

*Akshay Kumar as the teacher.
*Paresh Rawal as the kid’s dad.

It would be a brainless comedy. The kid’s dyslexia would be made fun of. Half the times the parents will be running after the kid from one room to the other and that, in the director’s opinion, would be funny.

The film will be full of sex jokes. So for example, when Akshay would come to the parents telling them that their son has dyslexia, the ignorant father would say something inappropriate like ‘iss umar mein? par kaise, woh to hamesha boys school mein padha hai!’. And yes, the director would think it is funny.
In the climax of the film all the characters in the film would run around in the amphitheater for no reason, spilling colors on each other. That’s where the film will end, without any logical conclusion.

And of course, Paresh Rawal would emote like an epileptic himself making us question the boy’s mental abilities anyway.