I happened to meet one such person last week... Monday, the 31st of december, to be exact... He is an awessome guy... a little different tho, but as i d ve it, verrrry special... So let me introduce him to u.... the great Mr.Ishaan Awasthi!!!!
Very sweet lad... His toothy smiles, n pranks n pangs n tears steal our hearts at once... But I shud say, its not jus him.. The credit shud also go to his awessum teacher who brought him to the limelight...
For those of u, who cant make much sense outta wat im talkin, Ishaan Avasti is the dyslexic hero of TZP...
(Note: If u haven't seen the movie or read the plot, much of dis post mayb puzzlin. so for better results, c d movie.. :D )
"Taare Zameen Par" shout the posters... automatically generating in our minds, the thought... "Aamir khan.. Another movie for children..." N i immiediately retaliate... "no, not jus "another" movie for children!!"
So, lets begin at the beginning....
The black screen stares at u, n u stare back, filled wid wonder at wat lies in store for us.... Since, it is critically acclaimed, probably, our curiosity is even more kindled. And then the first 3 letters appear. s-a-w (or mayb w-a-s, i don remembr which). Then another 6. All of us try to read the words, in an attempt to find out wat the words are intended to convey. And as we continue to read, the words appear faster, then in such rapid succession, that we lose track!!! And then the message from the director dawns on our heads.... "Don't search for meaning in every action, monotonically... Sit back and relax, and more meanings than ever shall bloom before your eyes!" One of the BEST directorial touches, I must say. But lest we think that is the end of Aamir-Amole's creativity, they immiediately show how greatly mistaken we are. With Ishaan fishing in muddy waters, literally, we are transported back to those days wen rainwater puddles held the greatest pleasures of our lives. As Ishaan watches the tadpoles in his bottle, unaware of all the mud clinging to his uniform, we begin to forget the rules of society that bind us- the clocks, the procedures, protocols, decorum, and conventions of our lifestyles. As Ishaan swings on one gate, though the other is open, we become lil kids, and go back to the swings and see-saws. And wen he sits in class, dreaming of flying trains and starfish, our minds too start spinning tales. (I don think I need to quote Bernard Shaw- "u c things n ask "y", i imagine em n ask "y not?" !!" ) And den during the disasters......... Wen the teacher begins to announce results. As her tone changes between the 24/25 and 3/25, our hearts soar and sink and we clench our fists against our primary school enemies. That is great work by the directors. The noise of the marks bein read out really makes our heads reel (courtesy, RDX!) and we reminisce the days wen those numbers ruled our lives. Again, as the local boys order Ishaan about, we prepare to fight those bullies who whacked us, and hope they are suffering now! As Ishaan leaves home, we remembr the beauty of the institution of family!
Ok, that seems to go on and on... So summarizing, I could say, in routine reviewer style- "The success of a venture is in d details"... n here s TZP...
Leaving the rest of the pre-intermission for u to savour, v land on Aamir's entry. It doesn't seem practical to have such a wonderful teacher. Blame it on the cliches of Hindi cinema. However, I must say, if Ram Shankar Nikumbh cares, so do a few other ppl. N if not teachers, der re neighbours n frnz n relatives like him ,who take time to understand kids' language n light their lives. N Aamir has played the role very well... Sorry, i ve erred.. he hasn't played or acted, in that sense; he has really become that nice caring concerned teacher, and melted our concrete laden hearts...
I don think i shud dwell on the storyline as such- how Ishaan struggles in school, how his bro youhan is sucha goodie-goodie addin to the contrast, how his teachers n parents get buggd, hw he hates boardin school, hw d hadicapped topper makes a nice frnd n how RamShankar transforms his life...
So quickly, for the plusses and minuses...
Plusses- All actors have done a gr88888 job (nobody excluded!)! Innovative narration of story, tho the story itself is obvious! Portrayal of teachers--- funny, maybe hyperbolic, but still reminds us that nobody is omniscient n tat at times, anyone can get silly! The book of drawings, depicting their separation-- one more amazin example of attention to details, and a very touching one too...
The songs and the message conveyed, of course, but spl section devoted for tat below....
Minuses- Very predictable storyline; Loads of stereotypes -- v surely expected better stuff!! Copyin calvin n hobbes (the arithmetic wid planets!) -- wen ll our directors stop copyin?? And the most obvious climax... A lil disappointing, that!
Songs...... hmmm.... The songs are really good. The one that says "Tujhko sab patha hai na ma" really reminds us of how we completely trusted our mothers, n imagined them to be all- powerful... of the days wen holding her one finger was the source of al security... Special congrats to Prasoon joshi for the lyrics... The other one about monotony in life is also wel depicted. Seeing Ishaan's mother make omelettes so continuously makes us feel sorry for our mothers who toil their lives out for our sake, yet take no reward. Credits for the others too, but now lets quickly jump to the social significance of the tale...
Tho packed with entertainment, Aamir has also sunk in the mesage of the importance of helpin oders. Tho most of us ll forget tat v pledged to make a difrnz to someone's life, once v come out, at least the seed has been sown... Besides, the example given by Aamir to Ishaan's father is worth remembring, I mean, the one wher he asks him to read Chinese n xplains that if u dunno d letters, u cannot understand wat u read, however intelligent u may b... nails the fact too well... excellent direction!!!
And of course, the one inference that I personally made.... The taste of success... It can create miracles in our lives. Wen Ishaan Awasthi's painting is published, the amount of confidence he gains, years of pep talk and efforts could not have given. Success seems to be a drug, that transforms our personalities,. and our perceptions of the world around us.... It is of course, a lil addictive, as al drugs are, but useful in small doses, nevertheless!!!
Wel, den, cheers to Aamir, for producing one of the best movies ever (this time, truthfully, unlike most reviews, wen v praise box office hits!). We shall continue to expect good cinema from him, ever.....
In short.....
Movie: Taare Zameen Par
Genre: Strictly under 18!!
Director: Aamir Khan, Amole Gupte
Story: C'mon, u ve heard dis story smeared across the Indian print media
Bottomline: Two Nobel Prize nominations for the directors! (U read it rite- Nobel, not the Oscar!)
Expansion of bottomline :) --
Nobel prize nominations for the following reasons:-
1. For having built the best time machine ever, and transporting every spectator to those days when the world was filled with innocence, and every pebble under our feet held some secret miracle, waiting to be unlocked by us.
2. For discovering the "Elixir of Life", that brought back our childhood, made us forget our age, filled us with curiosity, happiness, imagination, dreams, innocence, love and tears all at once! For a reminder that taught us to laugh, to cry, and made us glad to be alive! (better put...... for embedding in their movie the great principle of all drama- "Its WONDERFUL to laugh; and it is okay to cry!!!)
