By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network

This is a beautiful movie sensibly made to appeal to all sorts of audience across all strata of society. It touches a chord in your heart and connects with everybody. I dare say, TAARE ZAMEEN PAR is a commercial success as well as it will receive critical acclaim. Aamir Khan scores big time with his debut as a director.

But the star here is not Aamir, its Darsheel Safary, who plays the central character of Ishaan Awasti. Ishaan is a bubbly eight-year-old who sees a different world, always getting into fights and always faring badly in school. While his elder brother is a bright student, Ishaan has spent two years in the third standard.

Exasperated, his father packs him off to a boarding school as a punishment. Already struggling with studies, Ishaan now has to deal with the pangs of separation. If earlier he would paint the canvass bright with colours, now he does nothing of the sort. In school, he has gone from bad to worse, but no one seems to know the reason for his dilemma. The truth is, he is dyslexic. In short, Ishaan has a learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.

My question and the only flaw I think in the movie is this; if the child has fared so badly so as to spend two years in one class, how come the parents have not noticed the troubled spot? That is a bit hard to digest. But you are willing to forgive Aamir this one flaw, because when you look at the canvass as a whole, he tackles the whole issue with Ishaan by befriending him and giving him back his self-confidence, and in the bargain winning himself a friend for life.

Darsheel Safary, for an eight-year-old gives off an excellent performance worthy of a standing ovation. This is one bright lad who has understood the character very well. Everything about Ishaan is perfect, from his body language, to the way he delivers his dialogues to the expression in his eyes which shouts for help. Only Aamir sees his plight, that’s because he too was once dyslexic and now teaches in Tulips, a special school for the differently-abled. The way Aamir brings a turn-a-round in Ishaan giving an example of Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Alva Edision, all great men, who suffered from the same malaise, is heartening. At one moment, Ishaan and you as the viewer think it is Ishaan he is talking about!

Finally, a word to all those parents who are always in competition looking for a winner let us say no. To all teachers, let’s make education a fun process rather than a boring exercise where a student is burdened with the expectations of getting good grades.

Like Aamir says, “Ishaan just has to score passing marks, his destiny is elsewhere.”

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