Mr Perfect has a special child!!. Review on Taare Zameen Par

Well well well. Finally I saw this movie after all that has been said and written about it in tha past one week. And I must say that this child (Taare Zameen Par) of Mr Perfect Aamir Khan is indeed very special.

At the onset I am mentioning that I am a huge fan of Aamir Khan's acting. And like all his other fans who eagerly and impatiently await his next film's release I too had been waiting for it to arrive. And look , it came , people saw it and it conquered people's hearts.

Plot:

Taare Zameen Par (TZP) is a story about a 9 year old child called Ishaan Awasthi ( Darsheel Safary ).

Ishaan is not like other children of his age. He loves to paint, fish in the school nallah and  play with street dogs.  Bookish knowledge is distant to him but he is happy to observe and learn through  nature. His school report cards are all red inspite of his best efforts to learn.

The problem lies in the fact that he suffers from dyslexia (a specific learning difficulty with reading, spelling and writing). But no one tries to understand his problem. And in a society where the one who behaves out of the norm is singled

out , Ishaan soon finds himself being sent away to a boarding school by his parents who also fail to understand him and thinks of this as the only solution.  And this adds to the woes of little ishaan who goes into a shell having distanced away from his parents. His boarding school teaching even worsens his problem failing to recognise the root cause. It seems like an unending troubled time for Ishaan.

And one fine day enters a temporary arts teacher Mr Ram Nikumbh ( Aamir Khan) whose way of

tecahing is more friendly and entertaining to students. He is initially puzzled by this silent kid and trie s to understand his problem. Having been a teacher in a  Special Children's  school, he is quick enough to identify ishaan's dyslexia problem and then takes on the task  to help Ishaan out of this problem.

How he manages to do it and what opposition he has to face in going out of the way to help Ishaan forms the end of the story.

In the end he just proves that dyslexia is only a specific problem that can happen to any child and it can be rectified with understanding, focussed efforts and care.

Acting :

The real star of the movie is Ishaan (played by Darsheel Safary)  with Aamir entering the frame only in the second half. This kid moves you completely with his terrific performance. In most of the scenes he communicates through his body and eyes and touches our heart reminding us of our childhood.

Then there is Ishaan's mother Maya Awasthi (played by Tisca Chopra) and his father *Nandkishore Awasthi (played by Vipin Sharma) *who have done a very good job as ishaan's parents and reflect the generation of parents who burden their children with their own unfulfilled carreer aspirations.

Ishaan is always compared to  his brother Yohaan ( Sachet Engineer) who plays an ideal child , the topper, that any parent wants. Ishaan's only boarding school friend Rajan ( Tanay cheda ) helps play supportive role and acts wonderful.

And then there is this arts teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) who helps lift  the second half  smoothly still keeping Ishaan central to the plot. Aamir as usual delivers and lives upto his title as Mr Perfectionist.

Direction :

Attention friends!! A sensitive and talented director is born. Aamir Khan wearing the triple thorny hat of actor, producer and director  manages  it all well and keeps his cool throughout without losing the beauty and simplicity of the story. He narrates the story through Ishaan in a very simple and sensitive way that touches your heart instantly. Resisting the urge to highlight his star persona on screen ( the way SRK might have done it) he does justice to a wonderful script . In the era of item numbers, comedies and formula style flicks aamir's direction and movie stands out and shines brilliantly. He manages to make people weep like babies in the cinema hall and laugh their heart out at Ishaan's funny deeds.

Music :*

Shankar Ehsaan Loy , the musical trio, of TZP ( I love to call them the Amar, Akbar and Anthony of the musical world) strucks the right chords again at the right time. The music is simple with the meaningful lyrics by Prasoon Joshi (the Range De.. lyricist)  adding honey to it. The title track 'taare zameen par', 'Bum bum bole' , 'kholo kholo darwaaze'  blends well with the story and entertains you simultaneously.

Though Special mention must go for the song 'Maa..' sung by shankar mahadevan himself . This song  will make you cry  just  the way  'Luka chupi ' did in Rang De Basanti.

My Take :

This movie works and casts its magic big time. TZP is one of those rare movies you will see that manages to both entertain and deliver a social message. And this one balances it out brilliantly without being preachy at any pont in time.  Its a simple , sensitive and entertaining movie out of the cliches of stereotype bollywood flicks.

TZP is special in many ways including the story, Darsheels performance and Aamir's honest  and earnest attempt at storytelling. And as the title of the movie mentions that "Every child is special.." this child of Aamir is indeed very special and one that Aamir will really be proud of in times to come.

Well done Aamir. Will eagerly wait for your next directorial venture....