After that awful movie review to close the last year, I am really happy that this year is starting off with a movie such as Taare Zameen Par. I actually watched it before 31st, but this is what's going to impact the rest of my year. The movies that are gonna come next are gonna be invariably compared to this one. And the opinion of that movie is gonna be affected by the same thing.
This movie is brilliant in every way! Remember I was pissed about the child actor performance in the last movie? In this one, within 10 minutes of the movie, I was like "give this kid every friggin award in the world!" Darsheel kinda looks like my cousin sagar... ahem... yeah, I had to mention that. His is the part that could make or break the movie. And for that, i must congratulate the person in charge of the casting. But I can't say I'm equally happy about his brother. LOL. I started hating his guts the moment he comes in the house saying "sab subjects mein FIRST MOM!.." ("I'm first in every subject! mom!") Or maybe its just my eternal hatred for geeks! Or bullys... the kid who gets into a fight with Ishaan.. He keeps repeating the same thing... Ah! who cares. he was there for hardly a minute.
I could really relate to the story and the character. Infact, I couldn't have stopped laughing if my dad accidentally hit mom while threatening me. That scene was Hilarious! The immediate laugh was perfectly timed. But wait, there's a moment... if you have the movie, watch the scene before he swings... The mom looks at his hand for a split second with a scared look. Hilarious I say! I used to just sit with my glass of milk for really really long and just not drink it. I would be getting ready for school, put on one sock, and just forget everything and sit with the other in my hand until mom prompts "Kiska intezaar kar raha hai? Kya soch raha hai? Moja pehnu ke nahi pehnu?"(What are you contemplating? 'whether to wear the sock or not' ? ) I was always and I stress ALWAYS, looking outside the classroom. LOL...Doing animal noises... ahem.. lets not get into how bad a student I really was.
The special effects meant to show the things he imagines like in the song Lage raho and Bheja Kum are really amazing. Even the animation in the title and when he's doing the math test are really well done. I wasn't really expecting to see those things in the movie. They were a pleasant surprise. The alphabet spider that he smashes leaves behind white goo like a real one would. The animation is very lively and expressive. Which is also because of the awesome voiceover by Darsheel.
The teachers are really well portrayed. They are very believable. Infact, so believable, that I could even name what film teachers look like which real teacher I've had. The habits, the traits of the teachers' personalities are not just stereotypical, but real. Even the parents, and their mentality of saying whatever the teachers say too far is sadly, true. If only parents would not start yelling "so you're saying my child is a RETARD!" at every little thing, the situation would be much better off....for everyone. Even my dad would threaten me that he'd send me to a boarding school if I didn't study/behave.... Oh! there I go again, comparing myself to the movie... I think that's because a big part of the movie plays on making you feel the kid's plight, making you feel as if you're in his place, see the things going on from his perspective... And it wouldn't have been this way had it not been for the amazing direction.
One thing that bugged me was the story of solomon islands. I paused the movie where he mentioned that, and went googling for that. I tried every possible search term. Even researched over dyslexia. But nothing! Its not so much that they lied in the movie... Its that if someone were to tell me something like that, I would not immediately believe it or even consider his point.. I would ask for proof that this thing is real. I would not fall for it like Ishaan's dad did. But I say, it is possible that the trees die out from the 'bad sound/noise'. (The movie mentions that to clear a land for farming, the tribals would just gather around a tree/forest and curse it, say bad demeaning words to it and eventually, the tree would wither away) I had learned in moral science (those not familiar with the indian education system will find this weird) class that, plants that are exposed to sweet music grow better than the plants that are kept in silence. I even remember that little illustration in the book of a flower gyrating to music playing on a walkman... So I guess the opposite would work too...
The other problem I had with the movie was I wished it didn't end. I wanted it to go on and on. I was enjoying it SO much that I didn't want to go back to my boring lonely pathetic life. But there are many other real reasons to keep the movie going.... We didn't really see Ishaan's progress in tests, exams, and his graduation from being a sad loner to a friendly outgoing kid. I didn't think Amir Khan got enough credit for what he did. There could have been more instances of the dad or mom talking to Amir khan, and...I don't know... talk about dyslexia or something... like say... Ishaan's progress! I wonder what kind of parents are they who never come up to check on the condition of their kid throughout the semester.. only come at the end! Plus, the movie wasn't 3 hour long.. which usually is the length of hindi movies.... hehe..
Anyways, I feel everyone should watch this movie. If you can't understand hindi, get it with SUBTITLES! Don't get a dubbed version. Because the original voice and the emotion in the voice is really crucial, and the dubbed voice may not be able to carry that across. On a lighter note, I feel that now on, every kid will start trying to take advantage of this knowledge of a 'learning disability'... Kids will just start saying "teacher the words are dancing" or start writing invertes S and expect to be let go. Yeah.. kinda like that episode of south park... LOL. Anyways. Have a positive outlook and always look up in the new year!
