Monday, December 31, 2007

Tare Zameen Par


Directed by Amir Khan - these words set high hopes in me. Having got an opportunity to watch it in the big screen with my dear friend without worrying about entertaining my 2 year old (thanks, B!) , I instantly grabbed it. I came out of the theatre extremely contented - having done what I love to do - watch quality movies in theatre,especially Indian movies and enjoy every moment of it.

It is a very different theme - it is about a third grader Ishaan who is suffering from Dyslexia .Typical Indian father does not try to find out what is causing his son to fail in 3rd grade repetitively and forces him to go to boarding school. The boy is creative and can do excellent paintings, but this not viewed as of any use to practical life by the dad. Looks like mom is nice, but is helpless because Ishaan is not showing any signs of improvement in studies. Ishan stops expressing his feelings totally and becomes a quiet loner in the new boarding school.

Art sir Amir Khan enters the school, he spots Ishaan and recognizes the symptoms right away - having gone through all the pain Ishaan is going through, in his own life. How he turns Ishaan around emotionally and academically is the rest of the story.

Plus Points of the movie
1.Excellent direction by Amir
2.Excellent acting by the boy ( I would give credit to Aamir also for this for envisioning and crafting this character )
3.Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy compliments the story so very well. This is how music and songs should be.
4.Lyrics are so beautiful and have expressed the boy's feelings accurately.

Scenes that made special impact
1.Ishan's shudder when the car door closes when he is dropped off to boarding.
2.Amir's meeting with Ishan's family and the dialogue about how the boy disguises his incomptence in the form of naughtiness and how even that outlet got crushed in the boarding school.
3.Amir's lecture on geniuses who had learning difficulties and the name he privately mentions to Ishaan ...'ek aur hai jo itna famous nahin hai..' and you think he is going to say Ishaan and he says Nikumbh...
4.The shot when the painting Amir made is revealed - I could not control my tears.
5.When Ishaan wins the first prize, how he comes and hugs Amir..it was moving, to say the least.
6. All the communication from the boy to Nikumb is poetic.

Negatives:
1.Why does not Ishaan tell the parents that 'akshar naach rahe hain' seriously? I mean, he is old enough to describe the symptoms, isn't he?
2.After a point in the first half, it felt like the movie is dragging, ok, come to the point, that is what we want to say then!

Issues like this are small and can be forgiven completely - because the movie conveys the intended message quite beautifully! A must see!

5 comments:

Bewildered said...

I completely agree about the plus points on the movie...to call it a good movie I think is an understatement, considering the fact that this is Aamir's first venture as a Director.

The lyrics deserve special merit because the while the script focuses on the issue, the lyrics simply speaks volumes on the emotions we all may have experienced as a child( some of us still do today) and moves anyone who is listening to tears. Especially the song MAA.. just thinking about it after the movie brings tears to my eyes..
The acting of young Darsheel is amazing, to say the least and Aamir works his magic too.. He has really grown as an actor and a force to be recokened with, in the world of hindi cinema and u can't help but feel hopeful and proud of his journey as an actor and now a filmaker in an industry where mindless entertainment is the norm of the day.

All in all I think this is a must watch. For all of u who shudder at the though of walking into a theatre playing Hindi movies-this movie will be so worth ur time and money and grrr self -sacrifice! Don't worry, even if u do shed a tear here or there no one will notice, cos all the others are busy wiping their's off.

Verdict - Best $10 my dear friend ever spent on me and made it special by watching it with me.. Thnks Anamika!

anamika said...

@s - Completely agree with you.

A-kay said...

Came here from Laksh' review page. That was a nice review, in line with what I have read about the movie so far. Yet to catch the movie.

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