Movie Review: Taare Zameen Par (without being a critic)

(I know I'm awfully late in reviewing this movie. Though, unlike the critic-version of the reviews you might have possibly read so far, I'm writing this without being one.) Taare Zameen Par brought back memories of childhood. No, I wasn’t dyslexic - at least not clinically! But there are some things that are common to children - whether dyslexic or not - they create their own world of imagination and love living in it. I remember discussing this with a couple of my friends during one of our post-rehearsal discussions (to be precise, the one we had when I was recording "Maa") - and we all agreed on one thing - when we were kids, we often imagined ourselves as being heroes - larger-than-life creatures, almost mythical characters. One of us saw himself as a cricketer who uprooted the middle stump with every ball he bowled in his dream stadium located in the living room. Then this girl was the next Madhuri Dixit – all the moves et al. One even used to imagine himself singing with a guitar in his hand, in a huge stadium with the packed-to-capacity crowd chanting his name! Sorry for digressing...I am thinking – this is what a movie like TZP does to you, it makes you think! It doesn’t take a film-critic to notice the attention-to-detail given by the makers of the movie in as far as the characterization is concerned. Certain things which really stuck into my memory (while watching it again last weekend) include: 1. The way Ishan Awasthi behaved when he is thrown out of the class in school 2. When Ishan is playing with dogs and the kids in the neighbourhood ask him to get the ball, the dog on his lap is actually sleeping! 3. Aamir’s at-times vocal and at-times controlled expressions 4. Facial expression of the school kids throughout the movie 5. The climax - when Aamir reveals the portrait followed by the hug...very touching :-) It is amazing how so many sub-issues can be dealt with without losing sight of the central theme. Certain sub-issues addressed in Taare Zameen Par (besides for the central theme – dyslexia, of course) include: • Physically-handicapped children • Teacher-student relationship • Corporal-punishment in schools • Parents’ attitudes towards under-performing kids and their over-expectation from the performers • Society’s tendency to add a “number” to every child – judging him/her solely on the basis of academic qualification/achievements The lyrics and the music totally standout – both in the context of the movie and even otherwise. What I liked most about the music was the extensive use of distortion guitars and the melodious strumming in most of the songs. Credit to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Prasoon Joshi. Different movies evoke different reactions from audiences. OSO might make you laugh (?). Black might make you weep. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi will make you think. Taare Zameen Par will make you do all of these things. Besides, it will make you feel!