Taare Zameen Par (), also known as Like Stars on Earth in English, is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language psychological drama film produced and directed by Aamir Khan (in his directorial debut). It stars Khan, with Darsheel Safary, Tanay Chheda, Vipin Sharma and Tisca Chopra. It explores the life and imagination of Ishaan (Safary), an artistically gifted 8-year-old boy whose poor academic performance leads his parents to send him to a boarding school, where a new art teacher Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) suspects that he is dyslexic and helps him to overcome his reading disorder. The film focuses on raising awareness about dyslexia in children.
Creative director and writer Amole Gupte developed the idea with his wife Deepa Bhatia, who was the film's editor. Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the score, and Prasoon Joshi wrote the lyrics for many of the songs. Principal photography took place in Mumbai, and in Panchgani's New Era High School, where some of the school's students participated in the filming.
Taare Zameen Par made its theatrical debut in India on 21 December 2007. It was commercially successful, earning gross worldwide. It released to critical acclaim, with praise for its story, screenplay, direction, dialogues, soundtrack, and performances.
A recipient of several accolades, Taare Zameen Par was India's official entry at the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film, but was not nominated. At the 55th National Film Awards, it won 3 awards: Best Film on Family Welfare, Best Lyrics (Prasoon Joshi for "Maa") and Best Male Playback Singer (Shankar Mahadevan for "Maa"). At the 53rd Filmfare Awards, it received 11 nominations, including Best Actor (Safary), Best Supporting Actor (Aamir Khan) and Best Supporting Actress (Chopra), and won a leading 5 awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Aamir Khan) and Best Lyricist (Joshi for "Maa").
Plot Ishaan is an 8-year-old boy living in Mumbai, who has trouble following school. He is assumed by all to simply hate learning and deemed a troublemaker, and is belittled for it. He has even repeated the 3rd standard due to his academic failures from the previous year. Ishaan's imagination, creativity and talent for art and painting are often disregarded. Ishaan's father, Nandkishore Awasthi, is a successful executive who expects his sons to excel. His mother, Maya is a homemaker who gave up her career and is frustrated by her inability to educate Ishaan, despite caring for Ishaan. His elder brother Yohaan is an exemplary student and tennis player in whose shadow Ishaan remains, though he is the most supportive of Ishaan.
One day, his parents are called by the principal to discuss his behavior and grades. Due to Ishaan's continued failures, lack of improvement, and rebellious behavior, the principal suggests they look into special schools, but Nandkishore rejects this and sends him to a boarding school much to Maya and Yohaan's dismay. Alone there, Ishaan rapidly sinks into a state of fear, anxiety and depression, which is only worsened by the teachers' strict and abusive regime. Ishaan's only friend is Rajan Damodaran, a physically disabled boy who is one of the top students and resides with his family there, as his father is part of the school's board. Ishaan contemplates suicide one day, but Rajan intervenes and stops him while also informing Ishaan that Mr. Holkar, the boarding school's strict and abusive art teacher, has left and is being replaced by someone else.
Ram Shankar Nikumbh, a young, cheerful and optimistic instructor at the Tulips School for young children with developmental disabilities, joins as the boarding school's temporary art teacher the same day, replacing Mr. Holkar. Ram's teaching style is markedly different from Holkar's, and he quickly notes Ishaan's unhappiness after Ishaan fails to draw anything during the class. Ram reviews Ishaan's work and concludes that his academic shortcomings are indicative of dyslexia. Ram then visits Ishaan's house in Mumbai, where he is surprised to discover Ishaan's hidden interest in art. Ram demonstrates to Maya and Yohaan how Ishaan has extreme difficulty in understanding letters and words due to dyslexia and his trouble in sports stems from his poor motor ability (which also applies to his difficulty in understanding multiple instructions, tying shoelaces, and judging the size, speed, and distance of a ball). However, Nandkishore labels it as an intellectual disability (as well as an excuse) and dismisses it as laziness, much to Ram's frustration.
Back at school, Ram brings up the topic of dyslexia in a class by offering a list of famous dyslexic people. Ram comforts Ishaan, telling him how he struggled as a child as well. Ram obtains the principal's permission to become Ishaan's tutor. With gradual care, Ram works to improve Ishaan's reading and writing by using remedial techniques developed by dyslexia specialists. Eventually, both Ishaan's demeanor and grades improve. One day, Nandkishore visits the school and tells Ram that he and Maya have read up on dyslexia and understand the condition. Ram mentions that what Ishaan needs more than understanding is that someone loves him. Outside, Nandkishore sees Ishaan attempting to read from a board. With teary eyes, he is unable to face his son and walks away, remorseful for the way he treated Ishaan.
At the end of the school year, Ram organises an arts and crafts contest for the staff and students, judged by artist Lalita Lajmi. Ishaan's work makes him the winner and Ram, who paints Ishaan's portrait, is declared the runner-up. The principal announces that Ram has been hired as the boarding school's permanent art teacher. When Ishaan's parents meet his teachers on the last day of school, they are left speechless by the transformation within their son. Overcome with emotion, Nandkishore thanks Ram. Before leaving, Ishaan runs toward Ram, who lifts him high up in a hug, advising him to come back next year.
Cast
Darsheel Safary as Ishaan "Inu" Nandkishore Awasthi Veer Mohan as Young Ishaan Aamir Khan as Ram Shankar Nikumbh, an art teacher at New Era High School and Ishaan's tuition teacher Tisca Chopra as Maya Nandkishore Awasthi, Nandkishore's wife and Yohaan's and Ishaan's motherLike Stars on Earth DVD commentary. Event occurs at approximately 16:00 Vipin Sharma as Nandkishore Awasthi, Maya's husband and Yohaan's and Ishaan's fatherLike Stars on Earth DVD commentary. Event occurs at approximately 40:00 Sachet Engineer as Yohaan Nandkishore Awasthi, Nandkishore's and Maya's first son and Ishaan's elder brother Aniket Engineer as Young Yohaan Tanay Chheda as Rajan Damodran, Ishaan's best friend and classmate at New Era High School Ramit Gupta as Ranjeet Girija Oak as Jabeen Khan, Ram's co-worker Bugs Bhargava and Shankar Sachdev as Mr. Sen and Mr. Tiwari, Two teachers of New Era High SchoolLike Stars on Earth DVD commentary. Event occurs at approximately 56:45 M. K. Raina as Headmaster, principal of New Era High School Pratima Kulkarni as the principal of St. Anthony's School Meghna Malik as Victoria, class and Math teacher of Ishaan's former school, St. Anthony's School Sonali Sachdev as Irene, English teacher of St. Anthony's school
Production Development The husband and wife team of Amole Gupte and Deepa Bhatia developed the story that eventually became as a way of understanding why some children could not conform to a conventional educational system. Their work began as a short story that evolved into a screenplay over seven years. Bhatia said in an interview with The Hindu that her original inspiration was the childhood of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who did poorly in school. She cited a specific place in Kurosawa's biography where he began to excel after meeting an attentive art teacher, and said that it "became the inspiration for how a teacher could transform the life of a student".
While developing the character of a young boy based on Kurosawa, Bhatia and Gupte explored some possible reasons why he failed in school. Their research led them to the Maharashtra Dyslexia Association and Parents for a Better Curriculum for the Child (PACE). Dyslexia eventually became the central topic and theme of the film. The pair worked with dyslexic children to research and develop the screenplay, basing characters and situations on their observations. Bhatia and Gupte carefully concealed the children's identities in the final version of the script.
Khan and Gupte first met in college. Khan has said that he admired Gupte's abilities as an actor, writer, and painter. Three years before the film's release, Gupte brought Khan to the project as a producer. Gupte originally envisioned Akshaye Khanna as Ram and hoped that Khan could put him in touch with Khanna, since Khan and Khanna had recently collaborated in Dil Chahta Hai (2001). However, this changed after Khan expressed interest in playing the role. Gupte himself was to direct, but the first week's dailies were a great disappointment to Khan, who "lost faith in Amole and his capability of translating on screen what he had so beautifully written on paper". Khan was on the verge of withdrawing his participation in the film because of these "creative differences",Like Stars on Earth Bonus Disc: The Making.... Event occurs at approximately 5:00 but Gupte kept him on board by stepping down as director. Contrary to Khan's claim, Gupte lashed out saying that after the wrap-up party, Khan announced that he was the director of the film, despite Gupte acting as the director. Had it been necessary to hire a third party, production would have been postponed for 6–8 months as the new director prepared for the film. Keen to keep Safary as Ishaan—the actor might have aged too much for the part had production been delayed—Khan took over the role of director. Taare Zameen Par was Khan's first experience in the dual role of actor and director. He has admitted that the transition was challenging, stating that while he had always wanted to direct a film, it was unknown territory for him. Gupte remained on set, "guiding [Khan] and, at times, even correcting [him]".
Title and translation Initially, the film was to retain the short story's title of "High Jump", which referenced Ishaan's inability to achieve the high jump in gym class. This subplot, which was filmed but later cut, would have tied into the original ending for the movie. In this planned ending, a "ghost image" separates from Ishaan after the art competition and runs to the sports field; the film would end on a freeze frame of Ishaan's "ghost image" successfully making the leap. Aamir Khan disliked this proposed ending and convinced Gupte to rewrite it.
With the working title no longer relevant, Khan, Gupte, and Bhatia discussed several alternatives, eventually deciding on Taare Zameen Par. Possible translations of this title include Stars on the Ground and Like Stars on Earth. According to Khan:
Filming Principal photography took place in India over five months.Like Stars on Earth DVD commentary. Event occurs at approximately 20:00 Khan spent his first two days as director blocking the first scene to be filmed: Ishaan returning home from school and putting away his recently collected fish.Like Stars on Earth DVD commentary. Event occurs at approximately 10:15 Believing the audience should not be aware of the camera, he chose a simple shooting style that involved relatively little camera movement.Like Stars on Earth DVD commentary. Event occurs at approximately 15:15