Taare Zameen Par
A new star is born. Go and See it!!!

It is said Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia (Germany), in the early eighteenth century, was a fat eccentric ruler who stood on no ceremony or protocol at all. He would go out walking Berlin streets with a walking stick and would use it as a cudgel to beat someone with whose conduct he was displeased. Berliners, knowing his behaviour, would quietly leave the street and remain indoors till he passed. Some would avoid him by hiding here and there.

Once a person was caught by Wilhelm while trying to get into a nearby house to hide. “Why are you running away from me?” asked the ruler. The poor man, nervous as he was, told the truth.
"In order to avoid you, your majesty".
"But why?" asked the king.
"Because I fear you, your majesty."

Friedrich Wilhelm was livid with anger. As his wont, he lifted the stick and hit him on the shoulders screaming: "You are not supposed to fear me. Understand you fool. You are supposed to love me. Love your king".
"Love me. Don't fear me", is also the refrain of the art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) in the masterpiece of a Hindi film Taare Zameen Par, which is currently the best film one could see to celebrate the New Year.

Who says you cannot produce an art film, which is also commercial. Well, Taare Zameen Par no doubt belongs to the genre of commercial films but it can be classified as an art film of classical proportion. Rarely do we get to see a film of this kind which connects the viewers to the story immediately while also enables them to identify themselves with one or the other of the characters. The nine-year-old hero was traumatized by fear of his parents, teachers and fellow students like the citizens of Berlin. And you could easily identify yourself with any one of these characters. As I watched the movie, I was left wondering at the nine-year - old Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) who has given a sterling performance deserving the best actor's award. Such a difficult role for a boy of his age and he has acquitted himself well. To extract a variety of strong emotions from an youngster of his age should indeed be a daunting task but Aamir Khan as a director has done it in such a superb manner it seemed there was nothing left to improve on it.

The story revolves around a nine-year-old Ishaan, who suffers from dyslexia, a specific learning disability — difficulty with written language both in reading and writing with correct spelling. His parents and teachers fail to diagnose his problem and treat him, or at least expect him to be, like other 'normal' children. It needed a loving, caring art teacher Nikumbh to understand Ishaan's problem and make him a hero at the end of the school year and also the film. But till then it was hell for the innocent boy.

Since he can't write properly, spell correctly, he avoids doing homework and even bunks classes going around on his own trip to the disappointment and anxiety of his parents and teachers. Like all parents, Ishaan's parents want him to be what they want him to be. Just as they want Ishaan's elder brother to be a great tennis player. This leads to many confrontations between the child and his parents and also the teachers. They conclude Ishaan to be a 'special child' with some serious mental disability and put him in a boarding school. The way Ishaan begs his father not to send him away and his helplessness were shown so stunningly in the film, for a moment I thought I was Ishaan.

In the year 1946, my father took me to Gurukula Ashram in Kengeri near Bangalore for admission to the boarding school to be “disciplined”. The Ashram was headed by young, bearded Swamiji wearing saffron clothes. The next day my father took leave of the Swamiji and was walking away. I ran after my father crying, leaving behind a saucer of dry fruits the Swamiji had given me, caught hold of his hand pleading to take me back home with him. He, however, brought me back to the Swamiji and left while the Swamiji held me back offering the same old dry fruits. Even to this day, I remember the Swamiji asking my father not to turn back and see me as he went. That separation was heart - wrenching. Not surprisingly, when a traumatized Ishaan was put in the boarding school against his wish, I was compelled to draw a parallel with my own life in 1946. I cried again for Ishaan.

Be that as it may, the trouble of Ishaan continues until the arrival of a new art teacher Nikumbh, who after close observation of this difficult student, discovers after all there is a genius in him. History tells us that among the world's great celebrities some suffered from dyslexia and Nikumbh names a few like Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Alva Edison and Albert Einstein. He even shows a picture of Abhishek Bachchan!
Here in the film our hero becomes a prize - winning painter in the art competition, gets over his inhibition as a result and is suddenly accepted as a normal, lovable boy by everyone.

It is an intelligent movie that calls for viewers' keen sense of observation. For example, on the day of the art competition our young hero leaves the hostel at daybreak when it was still dark and goes to a spot of scenic beauty with a small lake. So immersed was he at the spot that his absence causes concern for the art teacher, Nikumbh, who becomes restless waiting for his special student to arrive. The art contest begins and Ishaan was not to be seen. And then the moment of joy for Nikumbh as Ishaan arrives and paints the scene he had observed at dawn. Not surprisingly it wins the first prize. God always endows special children with some special ability, skill and genius. Only parents and teachers, for their own private, selfish reason, do not recognise it.

Other day one Dr. K. A. Suresh, Senior Professor at Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, was speaking at the St. Mary's Maria Nursery Teacher Training School. Listening to him, I could not but remember this film which I had seen the previous evening. He recalled his school days when teachers were not trained to understand the mind and behaviour of children (just as in the film until Nikumbh came to teach) and gave his own personal experience. One day the head master called him and in the presence of other teachers enquired about his performance which apparently was not up to the expectation. Thinking if the boy came from a far away place, as happened in Kodagu those days, the Principal asked: "How far is your house". The boy Suresh answered, "Ten minutes Sir". Everybody laughed derisively at the answer because they expected the answer in terms of mile and furlong (as was then). The boy was crestfallen.

However, later his class teacher one Dotty went up to him, caressed his head and gently said: "Suresh, your answer was not wrong. You gave the distance in terms of time and they expected it in physical terms. After all, time and distance are relative. If you walk to your school from the house it takes 10 minutes. And if you go by cycle it will take five minutes."

After many years the boy Suresh became a successful scientist!

But to come to the point, I recommend this film Taare Zameen Par first to all teachers, then to all parents and finally to all school students. Every school could do well to take their teachers and students to this film both for education and entertainment. Rarely we could see such a film as this one in these days of obscenity, blood and gore. Aamir Khan Ki Jai. Before I forget, I must say the casting of Safary is just right for that role. His buck - teeth gives the needed reality dimension to that character.