Published by
Webmaster
at 06:27:48 pm on December 26, 2007
When you can touch a star – Taare Zameen Par
I saw this film a few days ago, and I have not been able to write it’s review. I mean how do I do this? Do I review a film that is so good when the human side in me just seems to be filled with some beautiful flow of love, of soul searching? I watched the late night show and then when I got home, I had to watch a stand up comedy, simply because I didn’t want to get into bed and sleep with whatever I was feeling within me. I wanted to call my parents, my sister, her kids, my best friends, their kids and tell them how much they meant to me, and how much I wanted them to go and see this film. Call me an emotional fool, I accept that completely. But yes go and see this film. What came to mind was a beautiful thought that I heard many a times and that is that GOD works miracles in our lives thru his people here on earth. Amole Gupte and Aamir Khan were chosen to make this film. You will hear a million people say that children are our teachers. Watch this film, watch this film, watch this film.
Reel Life – The film is about a kid who is dyslexic. Keep that aside though, because the film travels thru the kids soul and mind, and takes you on this ride. In doing so, you actually find your own self somewhere in this kid. The kid finds it hard to read and write and as you can imagine, his performance at school isn’t something to write home about, instead it raises a series of alerts. His parents do not understand it. His mother, who tries everything and ofcourse with a typical mother’s heart wants to fix whatever is in his life. On the other hand you have a father whose only vision is that his kids are the best in the completion. Many parents today want their kids to achieve success in life, trying to find comfort in their own failures that have gone by in their growing years. Shame. The boy gets sent to boarding school where upon he looses himself emotionally and sinks into a world of silence. His new arts teacher notices this and then starts the journey of educating his parents, working with the boy and coming out a winner.
Real Life – This is a story of human victory, of human connections and the miracles that GOD has for each one of us, it’s about us being aware of this and surrendering to it, so that God can work his miracle. If an external human being can connect with a child, then why is it that so many of us cannot connect with our own? Not just children, but with our own human relationships? Why is it that so many people want their children to live their life (the parents) instead of letting the children live their own? Every child (for that matter every human being) has their own God given talent, and so why is it that so many of those talents never get noticed and thus get killed? Why is it that when a child cries, we only know about it when tears roll down their cheeks, and we never hear the more painful cries of a child and even another human being, when they are just in silence? But I re-assured myself, that in moments like that, GOD never leaves us. There are angels all around us, and this is the great testimony to show how close God is to us all, SPECIALLY children. It is such a shame that we abuse them, control them and never see the messages of life that they bring to us. What’s in the past, is in the past. It’s time for a change, and I pray that this change comes to you today. Go watch this film, with nothing but your open heart. This is not a ‘Bollywood’ masala film with superstars and item girls, this is a film about life, and most importantly it is a film about you – somehow or the other.
Cinematically – Well this is a film that you just do not get a chance to judge cinematically. Atleast not for the first time. I intend to see it again to do that. From what I can recall is what I write here. The film has Aamir Khan written ALL over it. The kid carries the film on his shoulders and even there you can see an Aamir Khan in that kid. The acting, the expressions – all of him. Aamir Khan gives top credit to the little kid and then follows that with his own name!!! Can you imagine that? But yes, this is true in this film. The direction is top notch, and I say this because the film takes you and puts you in every frame on an emotional level. I really do not know who is better, Aamir as an actor, or Aamir as a director, because at both of these he is what he is – Amazing. In a class of his own. Please do not compare him to the superstars we have today, I am taking about Aamir – the actor! The film-maker! The music is very different and is great. It’s perhaps Bollywood’s first ‘easy-listening’ western feel album, some of the stuff reminds me of the Eagle’s early work. I specially loved, yes love the title track and the song ‘Maa’. The words, the music and the voices just fit in perfect. The film did slow down in paces, but I really think it was needed just to balance your emotions.
Thank you Amole and thanks you Aamir for touching lives. You might not be able to change this world, but you will surely touch the lives of the people that will see this film.
In Conclusion – If this film was made in any other country, the kid in the film would be nominated and possibly win in the best actor category. But! We in India give these awards not to actors but the stars of our country, and leave such talent in categories like ‘best child actor’. Wake up ‘Bollywood’ and wake up India. When we’ve had some really good films this year like ‘Chak De India’, ‘Gandhi My Father’ and ofcourse ‘Taare Zameen Pe’, are we that vain and shallow to consider films like ‘Welcome’, ‘Partner’ and ‘Heyy Babby’ (yeap spelt like that) to be the best films of the year? Someone needs an education, someone needs to wake up. ‘Om Shanti Om’ was a really good entertaining film, but seriously folk, ‘Welcome’, ‘Partner’ and ‘Heyy Babby’?
The Coming Year – I’m looking forward to 2008 cinematically too. Come on Shahrukh, Aamir, Hrithik, even Salman and ofcourse Akshaye Khanna. Akshay Kumar will continue rocking, but please – no more ‘welcome’(s). I am still very disappointed with Mr. Bachchan Senior for doing RGV’s AAG. Can you beat the fact that I brought the DVD to just make sure that it was that bad and my hero (mr. Bachchan senior) actually did that film, and in that way? Then what the hell was he doing in JBJ? Gosh it makes be mad and sad, to see a great man like this do such things. Abhishek Bachchan, well we will see him doing so called ‘cool’ cameos and that’s it. I am hoping (read as desperately hoping) that Sarkar 2 rocks. Finally, I have to say this, that today’s Superstar (not actor, but Super star) is someone who came from nowhere (i.e. non filmy connections), and not only stood up to the so called greatest superstar of Bollywood (Mr. Bachchan) but has taken over. Yes, Mr. Bachchan is no longer the greatest Superstar of ‘Bollywood’. The king of Superstardom, the hysteria of the masses, the representation of Bollywood cinema to the rest of the globe, the icon of superstardom and what success means in the film world, belongs to someone else. The man – Mr. Shahrukh Khan. You can laugh at me, you can hate me. That though my friends is what reality is. Well done Shahrukh.
Ok I shall end here wishing all of you and your loved one a very happy, safe and blessed new year 2008. May you looking within your pure selves and find your purity, and in doing so I pray that you will find the freedom of life and the love of GOD, to go out and become one with the rest of creation. Please, no more hatred, no more fights, no more anger in the name of religions, classes, caste and colours. We are how we were made, and remember we are like a RAINBOW, that GOD looks at and smiles all the time, just like when we smile when we see GOD’s rainbow in the sky.
My name is Tagore Almeida (www.tagorealmeida.com ) and I am a full time IT professional and a part time film-maker/writer(http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2291443/). I am the guardian of a humanitarian group called ‘The Uncultured Company’ (www.theunculturedcompany.com). I believe that there is just ‘One World, One Faith and Once Race. We are all one colour called life, and we have merely a different face’. I wish you peace and love.
3 Responses to “When you can touch a star – Taare Zameen Par”
Well written, Tagore Almeida!
You are my second favorite of RS now,after Bhansali!You wrote tha wright about Akshays and salmans movies this year
You wont see King Khan,Ess Khan or Hrithik take such crap movies!Salman,akshay and saif(nehle de pehle)are lowering
their level when they take this movies(then they will ask why they never win best actor award)
Well written, Tagore Almeida!
You are my second favorite of RS now,after Bhansali!You wrote tha wright about Akshays and salmans movies this year
You wont see King Khan,Ess Khan or Hrithik take such crap movies!Salman,akshay and saif(nehle de pehle)are lowering
their level when they take this movies(then they will ask why they never win best actor award)
i agree but what did you find unpleasent in heyy babyy… it was a better movie than om shanti om in my opinion
What i did not like about Heyy baby was,only one reason.that was it was supposed to be family movie but still there was some nude scenes!