Taare Zameen Par

This is one of the best written film reviews I have seen, and it happens to be by a mature teen journalist Alyzae Feroz, my grand daughter.

Taare Zameen Par
By: Alyzae Feroz

The Bollywood film ‘Taare Zameen Par’ portrays a strong and important message that transcends through culture, race and religion. The title of the film directly translates from Hindi to ‘Stars upon the ground.’ The director Aamir Khan uses this metaphor to enlighten audiences of the idea that children are like stars in the world, and that every child is special in his or her own way. Unlike the conventional bollywood film that consists of romance, comedy, fight scenes, songs and more romance, Taare Zameen Par is not an entertainer, but rather an eye opener.

The film touches on a social disorder predominately within the Indian subcontinent and other parts of Asia. Parents are constantly pressuring their children to excel in all areas of life especially school; therefore no one has patience or sympathy toward slow learners. Everyone is required to join the rat race and win it too.

The story of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ is about eight-year-old Ishaan Awasthy who suffers from dyslexia. He has failed the 3rd grade twice now, and things aren’t getting any better. Ishaan complains that the words on pages ‘dance’ and writing and spelling is terrible. Despite this, he has an abnormal inclination towards art and successfully creates captivating paintings. His parents and teachers fail to realize his problem of dyslexia and send him off to boarding school with the accusation of insolence towards schoolwork. Things only became worse at boarding school; he slips into depression and misses his mother. Fortunately for Ishaan, a new art teacher joins the boarding school and re-habilitates the young boy so that he may legitimately compete with fellow classmates.

Taare Zameen Par is so compelling because it evokes the emotions of a scared little boy who does not understand his place in life. No matter how hard he tries, he keeps walking into the same wall, his struggle and bravery to face the world is truly inspiring. Ishaan is the character who stood out the most, child artist Darsheel Safary accurately portrayed every nuance of a gifted child who suffers from such humiliation, trauma and torture.

In terms of technicalities the director took a spin on things by adding animations to depict what was happening in the little boys head. For example, during a song sequence, (its still bollywood) giant spiders come crawling out of Ishaan’s back pack, this portrays his animosity and fear toward school work. The music is another plus point of the movie, particularly the song ‘Maa’ that illustrates Ishaan’s first days at boarding school where he cannot co-op without his mother.

A motif in the film is drawings of various marine life, because marine life is so diverse it explains the theme which is that every child is special, thus used effectively to express individuality. Taare Zameen Par deserves five stars, because it is the first motion picture that has ever made me cry. One thing is for sure, remember to bring a box of tissues, the flood gates are guaranteed to burst open.