Stunning in its impact, elevating as an experience, and entertaining to its core, Sitaare Zameen Paris a quasi-masterpiece from Aamir Khan as producer and actor.
As he had occasion to mention, unlike in Taare Zameen Par, wherein he was the idealistic teacher and guide to a dyslexic boy, this time, he is like an antagonist. A boorish member of the Delhi Sports Association, Gulshan Arora (Aamir Khan), who is an assistant basketball coach there, thinks he is Mr. Perfectionist (!!) himself in life and relationships when he is anything but that. As his mother and he have been deserted by a cad of her husband (Gulshan’s father), Gulshan does not want to be a dad and when his loving wife, Sunita (Genelia Deshmukh) craves to have a child, he leaves her and goes to live with his mother.
Cynical of the ways of the main coach, Paswan (Deepraj Rana), to whose position he aspires as well, he misbehaves with him and is suspended from his job. Inebriated, he rams into two police cars and escapes prison only because of his till-then clean record. But the judge (Tarana Raja) does not let him off easily. He is told to teach and train boys with disabilities as a retribution and even penalized monetarily when he scornfully refers to his future students as “paagal” (mad).
Gulshan’s initial interactions and experience with this small group is nerve-wracking for him. They simply term him as an ass, make fun of him and while one of them has never taken a bath after a frightful experience, others have individual quirks and eccentricities. Kartar Paaji, the manager, is sympathetic and slowly initiates Gulshan to the facts of their lives and traits. And then things seemingly get worse when he announces to Gulshan that his students will be competing in the National Basketball Championship!
What happens next is something that should not be described but watched for its heart-tugging yet uplifting demonstration of how these loving and lovely human beings, who are either autistic or have Down’s Syndrome, deal with life and each other, and in fact, emerge as beacons for ‘normal’ human beings with their own individual ‘normal’s. Gulshan transforms slowly, surely and positively, learning what he should from his students’ natures and ways.
As he puts it, it was his belief that he was teaching them a sport. But his students were actually coaching him about how to be a good human being and how to correct his flaws. The students’ team wins almost every match they play but show exemplary spirit and generosity even in defeat.
During all this healing process, Gulshan repairs his relationship with his wife, wins back his job, and now rues leaving his (now) pet favorite people. This apart from a surprising development centering around his mother.
These finer details and nuances are best experienced in the movie hall. Based on the Spanish film, Campeones (Champion) by David Marqués and Javier Fesser, this movie was inspired by the Aderes team in Spain, of people with intellectual disabilities that won 12 Spanish championships between 1999 and 2014! But rather than being a frame-to-frame rework, the story has been perfectly Indianized by writer Divy Nidhi Sharma. R.S. Prasanna, the multi-lingual director who helmed the average Shubh Mangal Zyaada Saavdhan, does a masterful job of the magnificent writing by Sharma.
Two sequences that rank high among the emotional crème-de-la-crème of this film are Kartar Paaji’s (Gurpal Singh)’s explanation to the churlish Gulshan about the value of such people to their loving families and the sequence in which Sunil, one of the students, embraces the unsuspecting Gulshan and tells him that he will prove to be a great father.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s songs are average, except for their infectious Good for nothing, with its lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya paying a left-handed tribute to Aamir’s cult song, Papa kehte hain(Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak) with surpassing and original brilliance. Ram Sampath’s background score represents the quirky humor and pathos of the film well.
Another triumph of the film lies in its casting (of real youngsters with disabilities) and their performances. None of these can be singled out as they are all effortless and towering turns.
Rishi Shahani as Sharmaji, whose talk cannot often be comprehended, GopiKrishnan K. Verma as Golu, who has to be hoodwinked to get over his fear of water, Aayush Bhansali as Lotus, who dyes his hair differently daily, Vedant Sharma as Bantu, whose finger is always in his ear, Samvit Desai as the exploited Kareem, Naman Misra as Hargobind, who distrusts any coach out of experience, Ashish Pendse as Sunil, who always wears protective headgear, Aroush Dutta as the ever-cheerful Satbir and Rishabh Jain as the judge’s nephew Raju are magnificent indeed.
The scene-stealer, though she romps in late, is Simran Mangeshkar as Golu—always determined, pragmatic and practical, and someone who never takes things lying down!
Aamir Khan, of course, sinks into (and synchs into!) his character of Gulshan, the odious and temperamental jerk who outgrows his kinks and defective psyche (including a phobia about riding in an elevator!!) thanks to his students, and also learns that physical height is unimportant but the personal desires of his mother and his wife are. It’s an award-worthy turn by any standards. His eyebrows, frown, cocky expressions and (needlessly) frazzled expressions are topnotch.
Genelia Deshmukh is endearing as the ever-supportive Suneeta, and Gurpal Singh adorable as Kartar Paaji. Dolly Ahluwalia Tewari does a superb Preeto, Gulshan’s no-nonsense mother. Deepraj Rana as Paswan, Tarana Raja as the judge and Sham Mashalkar as Rustom give able support. In the first half, we get to think that Brijendra Kala is wasted, but we are in for a delightful surprise as we near the climax.
Don’t miss this one. It’s takeaway as well as repeat-worthy quotient is very high! Aamir Khan Productions maintains its high level of cinematic and mainstream entertainment with powerful social commentaries (Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, Secret Superstar, Laapataa Ladies) with this explosively feel-good drama of human quirks, weaknesses and strengths—especially the last.
Rating: ****1/2
Aamir Khan Productions’ Sitaare Zameen Par Produced By: Aamir Khan & Aparna Purohit Directed by: R.S. Prasanna Written by: David Marqués, Javier Fesser & Divy Nidhi Sharma Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Starring: Aamir Khan, Genelia Deshmukh, Gurpal Singh, Dolly Ahluwalia Tewari, Brijendra Kala, Deepraj Rana, Happy Ranajit, Tarana Raja, Jagbir Rathee, Sham Mashalkar, Nikhat Khan Hegde, Ankita Sahigal, Jasvinder Kaur & others & introducing Rishi Shahani, Gopikrishnan K. Verma, Aayush Bhansali, Vedant Sharma, Samvit Desai, Naman Misra, Ashish Pendse, Aroush Dutta, Rishabh Jain & Simran Mangeshkar
