Manoj Kumar....and many other great Indian Filmmakers cum actors cum producers(Kishoreda, Sunil Dutt, Dev Anand)!!! and now Aamir Khan ?? No Guys, I m not putting Aamir in the same league as Guru Dutt Saab, Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar. It will take many more years and numerous outstanding quality films for Aamir to come even remotely close to these great filmmakers!!
However one thing which Aamir has shown in his first directorial venture is common with the above 3, a rare and amazing sensitivity while directing!! At the very beginning of my review, I would state that "Taare Zameen Par" is an outstanding piece of work!!A very simple story, told beautifully, laced with top-notch performances, without any frills sets TZP apart !!
Blemishes - Of course, there are, but definitely you can ignore them!
So what is Aamir's directorial venture all about??
Its about Ishaan Awasthi(Darsheel Safari).This 8 year old is very different from the children of his age. He is not at all interested in studying and dreads it the most!!. Whenever he tries to read/write, he sees the letters dancing ;) Maths...hmmmm. For him 3X9 =3 ;). No wonder his scores are usually no more than 2 or 3 out of 25!
But he has a penchant/taste for other beautiful things in life...Colors, paintings, nature..He loves catching fish in a "naala", doesnt care if his clothes get soiled;)..He prefers playing with street dogs, rather than playing cricket with the bullies in his building.
However, our competitive world has no place for such kids..Every parents want their kid to excel in every field(be it sports, studies, drama). We need an allrounder for a son/daughter, so that we can boast about him/her in the society, among our relatives!! Ishaan's parents, Mother(Tisca Chopra) and father(Vipin Sharma)are no different, especially when their elder son Yohan (Sachet Engineer)is excellent in all fields and is an ideal son!!
Things dont improve for Ishaan, though. Shunned by teachers and classmates in school and with no encouragement from his father, he starts getting depressed. His mother loves him a lot and so does his brother, but even they cannot stop his father from packing him off to a boarding school..And what for??To improve grades..Without even trying to understand what the kid's actual problem is...
Things go from bad to worse in the boarding school. Ishaan fails to keep up with the standards and gets punished by each and every teacher. Driven by depression, Ishaan goes into a shell. He is no more the joyous Ishaan, who loved other beautiful things in life..He no more enjoys "paintings", "colors"
Untill, one day a new arts teacher(temporary though) comes in, Ram Shankar Nikumbh(Aamir).Nikumbh has his own way of teaching. He is passionate about his profession and cannot see any kid in distress or depression. It pains him to see any kid in difficulty..When Ram encounters Ishaan, he is puzzled and doesnt understand why such a young kid is so different..He starts studying/investigating about Ishaan and discovers a painful truth about him, which no one till now even cared to find out!!
Nikumbh meets Ishaan's parents in Mumbai and explains them the problem!!He comes back and makes a decision to help Ishaan.. Reluctant at first, Ishaan slowly trusts Nikumbh..They form a rare and beautiful bonding..
The following events lead to a very sensitive, positive and clap/applause worthy ending..Though the climax sequences are very simple, they captivate you and the film ends on a very very positive note!!
Performances - The Show clearly belongs to Darsheel. His performance is so subtle and powerful that you just fall in love with the character "Ishaan".
Aamir - Hes as usual, OUTSTANDING.Just watch him in the scene where he explains Ishaan's parents about Ishaan's disablity - his expressions, dialogue delievery, moist eyes bowls you out! Or when he almost breaksdown at the climax(announcement of the winner of painting competition), natural!! One more feather in the cap for AK..
Among other actors Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma, Sachet Engineer and Tanay Cheda(supportive friend of Ishaan in boarding school) are very natural..Other actors are adequate and do their roles well..
Direction -Aamir the director has outdone Aamir the actor..Brilliant debut. He brings out beautiful and mindblowing performances from every actor..He knows what he wants. Though the story is simple, the treatment is excellent!!
Story by Amole Gupte is simple, sweet and heart touching...
Shankar Ehsaan Loy come up with a different and melodious score. Check out the good usage of guitar in couple of songs. The tunes go hand in hand with the story!!
Setu'scinematography is apt..
The length could have been shortened. Pacing could have been little better.
All in all Aamir has come up with a very good movie. No frills, melodrama or extravagant budget, still the movie touches your heart..
*I know, we cannot change the competitive world, but take your kids to this film and change the way you look at them, understand them better, because in real life there is less probability of Ram Shankar Nikumbh gonna come and guide our kids!!
And even teachers should watch this one andshould not think of teaching as just a job! *
