January 2, 2008

Taare Zameen Par

Before reading further, just go back in time and try to remember when you had last cried while watching a movie (the reason for crying being the movie itself, of course). Or try to remember the movie which made you THINK while coming out the movie hall? For many the answer may be Rang De Basanti, including me. And Aamir again leaves you with the above mentioned effects with his directorial debut “Taare Zameen Par”. Kudos! Mind numbing! Commendable! I can go on and on with these adjectives. But the truth remains that, the movie is indeed a good one.

Don’t be under the impression that this is a children’s movie. This actually is a movie which every adult should watch. I can definitely agree with Aamir, who had told before the release of the movie that probably this would be the most important movie about children coming from India. I also find a similarity between TZP and another masterpiece by Mani Ratnam, “Anjali”. Not in terms of content or approach, but in terms of the effect the movies had on audience. They actually make parents to relook at their parenting. But the biggest achievement of the movie, according to me is different. It even makes the kids relate to the movie and go through the same emotions which the protagonist of the movie goes through. There lies the genius of the director. To understand this point, just try yourself at holding the attention of a kid at home for more than 15 minutes. Then you will come to know how difficult a task it is and then you will start appreciating what the director has achieved.

There are so many good scenes in the movie which leave you moist eyed. But the following are my favourite among the lot:

1. The scene when Ishaan runs to the top of the apartment after having a fight with a bully and then crying.

2. The nightmare which Ishaan has about him getting separated from his mother. It’s a beautiful sequence in which the kid starts by holding his Mom’s pallu. It is so common where you are termed as “Mother’s pallu ka beta” in your childhood. It’s a heart warming scene indeed.

3. The song about “Meri Maa”. Ah, I am in awe with Prasoon Joshi. He is turning out to be an expert in churning out amazing songs about Mother-Son relation. Remember “Luka Chupi” from Ran De Basanti? The lyrics are very imaginative and natural at the same time.

4. In the same song the scene in which the Mother cries while coming back from the boarding school. It has a beautiful metaphor attached to it. The elder brother cries only for some time and then sleeps for the rest of the journey. The Father does not cry at all but has a concerned face. But the Mother cries uncontrollably, indicating that Mother’s love (or concern) is unconditional among the three.

5. The opening titles of the movie. This is one of the best that I have seen in recent times after Johnny Gaddar and Casino Royale.

6. The scene where Aamir gives the example of Solomon Island.

7. The entire sequence of the Art Mela in the climax. The emotions of both Aamir and the kid are amazing. I am really confused as to what should I appreciate in the scene. Is it the brilliance of the writer who has conceived such a beautiful scene, or the director who was able to not only translate the same emotion on to the screen but also extract the performance from the kid, or the actors themselves who have acted brilliantly? Simply amazing!

Aamir has shown strokes of genius as a director in many parts of the movie. The way he places important clues about the disease, which appear as simple everyday problems of a below average 3rd standard student and then use the same examples in explaining the disease to the kid’s parents, is interesting. It appears to be so obvious that the kid is having dyslexia after hearing to Aamir’s explanation that we start thinking “How could the parents miss it?”. The brothers’ thread is also handled very well. Tisca Chopra does a reasonably good job as the Mother but all other performances are so overshadowed by the single performance of Ishaan Awasthi played by the kid Darsheel Safary. Even Aamir appears to be a supporting artist. In fact one of the reviews on the net demanded that the child should be nominated for Best Actor in a leading role! That speaks volumes about the performance of the kid. Aamir has definitely shown the potential to become a good director. If he directs more and more movies, he will be able to fine tune his creative instincts as a director and will definitely churn out more gems like this movie.

All in all, this is one of the best movies of Aamir’s illustrious career and probably the best movie of the year. I am sorry SRK. “Chak De India” was unchallenged to take up that position this year until December but this movie gains more brownie points because of its universal appeal across different age groups. Better luck next time King Khan.

TAILPIECE: - The kid, Darsheel Safary, is one of the reasons for Aamir turning a director. Originally, the movie was to be directed by the writer Amol Gupte himself. But after he left the project, Aamir had to take up to direction as the kid was fast growing up and loosing the innocent looks of an 8 year old child. Thank God that Aamir took that decision and made this important movie.

Raja Simha Kesari
[email protected]

More My Movie experiences:
Happy Days by Krishna Sastry
Chirutha by Phani Kumar
Chak De India by Ravi
Yamadonga by Lalitha
Chak De India by Shyam
AMAV by Darsakudu
5 in March by Sashidhar
Okkadunnadu by Anand
Black Friday by Ratnakar
Desamuduru by Krishna Prasad
Guru by It's opinion
Dhoom 2 by Lalitha Spoorthi
Dhoom 2 by ASK
Don - Syam
Boss - Anand
Boss - Hrithik
Stalin - Bala
Bommarillu - Nandini
Bommarillu - Darsakudu
Bommarillu - Vasu
Bommarillu - Harsha Prakash
Bommarillu - Lalitha Spoorthi
LRMB - Shravan
Bommarillu - Anirudh
LRMB - Srinivas
LRMB - Darsakudu
LRMB - S Sridhar
Bommarillu - Shridevi
Bommarillu - Vasudev
Bommarillu - Roopa
Sriram - Godavari
Sarath - Bangaram
Bala - Pokiri
Srinadh - Allari Pidugu
Sudheer Allari Pidugu
Anu - Athadu
Shyam Krishna - Iqbal
Purnesh - Grahanam
Sudhindra - Super
Vijay - Aparichitudu
Madhav - Aparichitudu
Hazaraon Kwaishein Aisi
Swades
Shyam - Black
Sai - Anand
Rohit - Anand & Veer Zaara
Jaya Prakash - 7GBC
Raj - Anand
Purnesh - Anand
Purnesh - The Village
Sriram - Gudumba Shankar
Purnesh - Gharshana
Purnesh - Lakshya
Purnesh - Yuva
Leenesh - Yuva
Kis - Lakshmi Narasimha
Indian Pride - Tagore
Raj - Boys
Phani - Gangotri
Phani - Khadgam
Vikram - CKR
BKR - Indra (Singapore)
Ram - Indra (Dubai)
Ranjeet - Idiot
Rahul - Indra
King Koduri - Indra
Srilakshmi Katragadda - Mitr: My Friend