Taare Zameen Par

Many of us have already watched this film - Palak doesn't want to be reminded of it ;) - but here is my little non-review (as Vishwa would put it) for those who haven't watched it yet.

I was reading Anurag Kashyap's review of the film and I completely agree with him when he says that the most 'disarming moment' of the film is when the credits roll in and Darsheel Safary's name appears before Aamir Khan's. Of course I don't have any personal anecdotes to share about Amol Gupte - the creative director and scriptwriter of the film. But what I can say is that TZP caps a dream year for the Hindi film industry.

Bollywood is known for its stars, for their six-packs, for their fashion faux pas and their one-upmanship. What was hitherto unknown is that Bollywood could be home to that innocuous little peripheral called 'script'. Thankfully, late 2006 and then 2007 brought in 'Khosla ka Ghosla', 'Manorama - six feet under', 'No Smoking', and now Taare Zameen Par.

What completely blew me over about TZP is that the film is completely shorn of glamour. Ram Shankar Nikhumbh never really becomes a Raj Aryan (Mohabbatein) or a Debraj Sahai (Black). Aamir Khan's victory lies in his willingness to let the visuals speak, in being able to slip into the background, in a well-researched script and in his ability to let the film dictate its own pace.

Young Darsheel Safary is s-u-p-e-r-b. His performance replaces young Sarla's (the girl who played Chhuiya in Water) and Master Kumar's (child artiste in critically acclaimed Mallu film Deshadanam) as my favourite 'child-performance' in Indian movies. Aamir Khan as Nikhumbh delivers a masterclass in underplay and intensity (forget Bachchan's crap act in Black). Tisca Chopra does well as the torn mother.

There are quite a few scenes which stand out but I don't want to reveal too much. But the highlight of the movie is young Ishaan breaking down on seeing his portrait.

A special mention for Prasoon Joshi for his stirring lyrics, especially in the track Maa. I would give it a 4 out of 5. The missing 1 is my way of acting pricey. But really, Taare Zameen Par is a must-watch. And may I add, it makes Black look pedestrian.