Review: Taare Zameen Par may change your life

OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE: Taare Zameen Par is a film with a big heart and an important message.

    

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In that, it is a noble film. It's well-intended and sincere, and it goes about its business with utmost earnestness. Of course Taare Zameen Par has its fair share of hiccups, but then which film doesn't. At times snail-paced and repetitive, it takes its own sweet time to unfold. It also rushes through Ishaan's whole "learning process" in the end, a portion where a little more patience and detail might have helped.

But such nitpicking aside, Taare Zameen Par is an accomplished effort - it's that rare film that carries an important message and tells a sensitive story, all within the Bollywood-movie format. Yes don't for a moment forget that this is no niche film, it's a film meant for all, and hence the commercial trappings.

Few films have innate goodness within them and Taare Zameen Par is one such film. It tugs at your heartstrings, it urges you to introspect, it makes you look at children differently. How many Bollywood films achieve all that? Simple in the truest sense of the word, it's a film that wins your heart because it's such a relatable story - Ishaan could be your friend, your child, who knows he could be you.

You'll recognize the other characters too, they're all flesh and blood people you know only too well, even though the actors who play them are mostly anonymous faces. Vipin Sharma and Tisca Chopra who play Ishaan's father and mother respectively, make their characters instantly relatable by approaching their roles instinctively.

As Ram Shankar Nikumbh, Ishaan's well-meaning teacher, Aamir Khan is expectedly brilliant, delivering a mature, sensitive performance, adding those little touches that make a difference. It is to his credit as an actor and director that he never once over-shadows the real star performer - Darsheel Safary, who steals your heart as Ishaan Awasthi. Darsheel is a revelation as an actor, he's spontaneous and lovable and carries this film completely on his shoulders.

Taare Zameen Par benefits enormously from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's inspired score, which is original and unconventional, and complements Prasoon Joshi's lyrics perfectly. As a director, Aamir Khan makes a solid debut, turning a fantastic script into a fantastic film.

Never once falling into that trap that most debutant directors cannot escape, Aamir doesn't feel the need to show off with fancy camera angles and stylish storytelling tools. He lets the drama take its own course, keeping a simplistic, accessible style at all times.

When he does use ingenious tools, it's in keeping with the scenes' requirements - like those excellent animation and claymation portions used to convey Ishaan's wildly imaginative thoughts. With no hesitation at all, I'm going with four out of five and two big thumbs up for Taare Zameen Par, it's easily one of the finest films you'll see in a long time.

The film's success is the result of both Amole Gupte's tremendous script, and Aamir Khan's nurturing supervision. Neither could have achieved this without the other. Be prepared to shed tears, not because it's always a sad story, but because it's such an overwhelming experience.

Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)