Tare Zameen Par - Notepad » meetu’s notepad

21st December 2007

Tare Zameen Par - Notepad

posted in Hindi Movies, Movie Notes, meetu |

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Quick Review

Classy and charming. Composed and elegant. Aamir Khan delivers his first baby with élan. The hard labor shows in a compassionate portrayal of a sensitive issue.

Rating: Must see - on the big screen (Rating Scale)

See full review

Plot Summary

Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) is a dyslexic, but no one around him knows that. Ram Nikhumb (Aamir Khan) puts his faith in Ishaan and helps him work on his weaknesses and enhance his strengths.

What worked

The gutter scene in the beginning, beautifully shot!
Titles - adorable!
The manner in which the street vendors were captured in the sequence where Ishaan is roaming on the streets.
The shudder Darsheel gives when the car starts (at the hostel).
The way Ishaan’s character has developed. You know he is the kind who would hate showing his tears in public and thus refrains from crying when he is hit on his knuckles.
Portrayal of how color is sucked out of Ishaan, a child whose only true love is colors.
The scenes in which Ishaan is shown gazing at the scenery - a breathtaking composition.

What didn’t

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

How can a school which boasts of discipline allow a parent to interrupt class?
The principal of the school did not look stern enough to be such a stickler for discipline.
How come Ishaan became such a sudden favorite at school that he got a standing ovation?

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, “we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it”. I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

Teachers announcing marks of 60 children in front of the whole class, as if she was taking a roll call. Where does that happen? Marks usually are kept secret. And even if marks are announced they are just of the highest and the lowest scorers.
Ishaan wears a uniform that is two sizes bigger than what he needs. Again, superficial things purposefully used to exaggerate situation and evoke empathy.
Where did Ishaan get money to buy the gola (ice-candy) and take a bus ride? He used his school bus to go home, why would a third grader have money?

Back to main review

This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Hindi Movies, Movie Notes, meetu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On December 21st, 2007, akshay said:

well you dont know but in india many time marks are announced in the classes

posted on December 21st, 2007 at 1:17 pm

2 On December 22nd, 2007, Arpit said:

even i agree with the above remark

marks are announced sometimes

atleast they do that in my school if the performance is lousy on the whole
(and its a very good school by the way)

posted on December 22nd, 2007 at 7:03 am

3 On December 22nd, 2007, vikas said:

i absolutely diagree wid comments abt the movie…..its fabulous movie…one the best ever made in bollywood!n aamir has proved it once again …he’s da perfectionist…as aamir says ‘waise bhi perfection ko improve karna mushkil hota hai’…..

n as far as the above remarks r concerned….marks are read out in class….and cmon kids these days alwaz have money wid’em…atleast 20 buks!n hw much does a ice gola n bus ride cost?????

posted on December 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am

4 On December 23rd, 2007, meetu said:

Akshay, Arpit, Vikas - thanks for pointing that out. I was under the impression that only the top and bottom marks are called out loud. I am sure each school has its own system. But what a shame to call out all marks ! Oh well, hope things change as the system (very) slowly changes.

Vikas, I know the total cost of a bus ride and gola must be less than Rs.10, but it just didn’t feel like these were the kind of parents who would give money to this child, especially the way they were shocked when they found out where he was. Anyway, only a nitty-gritty, doesn’t take away anything at all from the beauty of the movie.

posted on December 23rd, 2007 at 11:25 am

5 On December 24th, 2007, Niyaz said:

Yeah I agree withh some of above comments, In my school we were used to the pracrice of announcing the marks of each and every student may be for tallying before the reports cards ware made:):).
Oops but nothing can take away credit from the direction of AAmir, beacuse in all the songs I could see the relation between the scenes chosen and the lyrics (of my favorite Prsaoon Joshi Lukachhupi fame). Especialy how a child labour in a hotel is shown and then aamir gets him a cup of tea and biscuits its only one of the many touching scenes chosen in the film…It was truly fabulous:):)

posted on December 24th, 2007 at 6:00 am

6 On December 24th, 2007, vikas said:

yea…rite…all in all a great movie!incredibly made…its flawless….n guys lets nt 4get the music….amazing job they’ve done….

posted on December 24th, 2007 at 7:25 am

7 On December 24th, 2007, Chaitali said:

I like to add two more scenes to ‘What worked’
1. Ishaan (at he boarding) by now is not use to appreciation, he looks at Aamir hiding behind
other children and his eyes says so many things. (After he makes that boat)
2. The look he had when he heard that his brother git highest marks in most of the subjects.

posted on December 24th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

8 On December 25th, 2007, Anurag Anand said:

I thought the first half of the movie was 30 minutes too long.The fact that the child is a slow learner was established even before we were through with the credits…and pray, if the Principal was extolling the performance of the elder brother, you are at least entitled to assuming that both brothers go to the same school, why then do they not leave for the school by the same bus! And how do you justify the names like Yohan in an Awasthi family… And Nikumbh sounds like the insomniac opposite of Kumbhkaran.

Contrary to your observations, I thought the preaching scenes were most impressive… an I thought the subtleness in the example of Tribals of Solomon islands was the highlight of the movie. Special mention must be made of Tisca as the hapless mother and V Sharma as the busy father.

Three songs did stand out-the title track, Main bataata nahin and of course bum bum bole (thank god VHP & RSS have not protested the fact that the hero is shaking his bum on what is also a popular ode to Lord Shiva!)

posted on December 25th, 2007 at 5:34 am

9 On December 26th, 2007, sarah said:

the movie has many scenes that brought tears in my eyes,they way ishaan reacted after having a fight with another child…amazing acting…n the way he showed his rage against parents….very nice.
i have objection on one thing after entry of aamir khan,he was talking bit philosophical to young kids….i dont t the young kids,i dont think kids get such thoughtful things….but yes the song was tooo nice…

posted on December 26th, 2007 at 11:26 am

10 On December 27th, 2007, Thomas said:

I like critical reviews.But,this sounds as if somebody paid you to defame or criticize
negativeley.

How can a school which boasts of discipline allow a parent to interrupt class?
Which school dosen boast of discipline.

The principal of the school did not look stern enough to be such a stickler for discipline.
So it is not physical or outward but his principle as a principal

How come Ishaan became such a sudden favorite at school that he got a standing ovation?

Teachers announcing marks of 60 children in front of the whole class, as if she was taking a roll call. Where does that happen? Marks usually are kept secret.???
Says who.. it worked this way in the three schools i studied.youre world is not the world friend.

Ishaan wears a uniform that is two sizes bigger than what he needs. Again, superficial things purposefully used to exaggerate situation and evoke empathy.
Bullish remark eh..,ask the tailor.I had long shorts in school too.

Where did Ishaan get money to buy the gola (ice-candy) and take a bus ride?
He probly had money.Is it necessary to show how he got it?

He used his school bus to go home, why would a third grader have money?
why wouldnt he? he aint no street kid.

The principal gave such an overwhelming speech and even cited examples of guru and shishya and stuff.
Enough said for a standing ovation.

posted on December 27th, 2007 at 10:44 am

11 On December 27th, 2007, Thomas said:

Sarah is that you..Sarah ann abraham?
thats true amir got a little preachy with the kids but then kept it as less complicated as possible.
After all the real meesage is not just to kids but to us.The purpose! more than the situation
in the movie.The dialouge writer could have euphemised the tough subject..but it is easy to type about difficult to
write.

posted on December 27th, 2007 at 10:51 am

12 On December 27th, 2007, meetu said:

Hey Anurag! what bits do you think they could have chopped off. I thought the camera beautifully captured the slow and observant gaze of the child.
Different standards, different times. My kids leave for the same school one hour apart. thank god VHP & RSS have not protested - please don’t give them ideas!

You bet, Sarah!

Thomas - I loved the movie!!!! The nitty-gritty section is just that - nitty gritty observations. It doesn’t mean I didn’t like the movie. Please read the main review, if you haven’t read it yet.

posted on December 27th, 2007 at 11:45 am

13 On December 29th, 2007, Anurag Anand said:

For sure, the school bunking episode could have been chopped off. Also, songs like ‘kyoon mera bheja kum’ and ‘Jame raho’ were both depicting the same contrast between the protagonist and the world around him. One of these numbers should certainly have found the editor’s scissors. The animation in ‘3×9=3’ sequence could have been shorter.

I do understand that different section may mean different timings, but curtailed timings are usually a Nursery-Prep-KG phenomenon, not a luxury for Class III students.

Don’t you think Aamir should have used the mirror-image effect in the titles: the inverted titles to begin with and then its correct mirror image?…I think that would have gone well with the content of the movie.

And was by any chance the intended name of Ishaan’s brother Rohan, and not Yohan? It sounded Yohan all the time, even during the repeat viewing of the movie.

posted on December 29th, 2007 at 7:47 am

14 On December 30th, 2007, GN Singh said:

Dear Meetu,
I am a Math teacher in a low fee Government School of Punjab. I would like to inform every body here that telling marks of every student in the class on the test day itself motivates the bright ones and instills the competition spirit in others. I saw Taare Zameen Par first day first show with whole of my family and learnt a lot of new things. Thanks to every one who put in a effort in making of this film.

posted on December 30th, 2007 at 4:53 am

15 On January 2nd, 2008, sushanth said:

best movie ever written,script was osome.it requires a lot of
courage to make a movie like this in this entertaining world .
amir has taken a simple thing but has executed it superbly.
eshaan was extraordinary.but i dont understand why indian people
like just a entertaining movie like WELCOME that movie is meaningless
.indiafame.com has given it a 2 stars even it has made more than 50 crores in a week
but tare zameen par only 30 crores in a week .better tell ur friends 2 see movies which has reality of life.not just chumma comedy without sense

posted on January 2nd, 2008 at 4:52 am

16 On January 2nd, 2008, ash said:

I will recommend Bharat Ratan for Aamir Khan for this movie…

I don’t normally came to internet to write a comment for a movie and this is first time I am doing because this is the best movie I have seen so far…

I think its so hit because it show us real Life,We see our childhood in this movie.It was hard to stop tears specially in the first half.
How our teachers and parents can be so useless and failed to notice a small problem in a 7 years old Kid…

Of course Aamir Khan must have make this movie to earn some good money but he deserve a “Bharat Ratan” award for it…

Not many people in our Film industry can dare or think to make such a movie…

posted on January 2nd, 2008 at 1:59 pm

17 On January 3rd, 2008, meetu said:

Happy new year all!!

Anurag, the school bunking song was beautifully depicted the child’s gaze - slow and observant.

“bheja kum” shows how the protagonist is questioning his existence and his struggle with the label assigned to him - misfit. “jame raho” shows his environment, hard-working dad, ambitious brother, typical family surroundings.

curtailed timings - hmmm…maybe the brother has extra classes for sports and drama (he mentions something to that effect in his first scene).

Mirror image - cool idea. However, it might have given away the build-up to the description of the child’s condition.

Yohaan - the name didn’t bother me much, because these days parents take extra effort to have a “different” name for their kids.

GN Singh - Calling out the marks could also instill a superiority/inferiority complex depending on whether you are bright/not-so bright academically.

sushanth - yeah!

posted on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 am

18 On January 4th, 2008, Bindu said:

Hi Meetu,

To sum it up it has been one of the best movies and truly touched many hearts.. If we get into the nitty gritties of it to an extent of his loose shirt etc i dont think it holds good for anything.. Nothing on this earth is perfect :)..It was a brilliant movie and hope and pray parents understand their kids better and there are many more AK’s in the schools..

Cheers,
Bindu

posted on January 4th, 2008 at 9:19 am

19 On January 4th, 2008, Matthew said:

Hi All,
I have seen many movies in my lifetime but I have to say ‘TZP’ was one of the the very few ones that made me rooted to my chair from the start to the very end of the credits .Certainly one that evoked joy ,happiness , tears and thoughtfulness in me. A movie every person and any person should watch once in his lifetime ( and look at the world) and one that should be nominated for the IFF other than winning the Bharat Ratna. Many Kudos to you Aamir !!!

posted on January 4th, 2008 at 3:26 pm

20 On January 8th, 2008, Sona said:

Hey all,
The Movie was very fabulous, I being a mother of a seven year child
can completely relate to many of the situations shown in the film.
And come on guys with all that criticism., not fair. It takes real
courage to comeup with such a sensitive issue and entertain as well
I am sure it has touched a lot of hearts.
Hats off to the little champ, he was too good. Actually I have
no words for his acting. Any amount of praise would not be enough.
What can we say about Aamir Khan…..this is expected only from u.
It was an awesome film, Wish My kids had an art teacher like Ram
Nikumbh. Aamir great job….once again.
One of the best scenes in the film, which is my fav is, when
Ram sir gets restless coz Ishan has not shown up for the painting
contest and when Ishan sees Ram Sir’s painting and holds back his
tears. Actually guys we all should once again go and see the film
and get back.See ya.
sona

posted on January 8th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

21 On January 11th, 2008, seema said:

hey guys,

for the first time in my life i took time to sit and read all the reviews on this movie. i am very glad to see we indians are all thinking, even when we go to watch a movie.
i think this was one movie, i can say i cried……not because of high expressed emotions and heavy bombarding dialogues. beautifully depicted caracters, effortfull screenplay, eyes dazzling cinematography, attention to detail………….aamir is one person in india who can raise bollywood to international standards. may god bless him and give him all the oppertunity to raise our countries pride.

i am very proud of you aamir…….well done keep it up.

just one thing i would like to tell you,if you ever read this reviews, please dont ever do movies like fanaa, it doesnt suit you. you are a man of substance, stand by your beliefs, and the world will believe you.

posted on January 11th, 2008 at 10:09 am

22 On January 12th, 2008, Navin said:

@seema, See this blog post by Aamir himself to get an idea of why he did Fanaa. Basically the reason is contained in the 4th paragraph…

posted on January 12th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

23 On January 13th, 2008, arjun said:

one doesn’t need to get into too many logical details for movies- just try to see the point the film maker is trying to make. After all he has to get across his point in just 2-3 hours. If he gets into logic for everything, it will take forever and it will become tedious to watch the movie.
hope you questioned the logic of om shanti om also!

posted on January 13th, 2008 at 4:02 pm

24 On January 15th, 2008, Asha said:

I would like to add few more scenes which i enjoyed :

1.When Aamir starts saying about ppl who have this kind of problem , ishaan thinks its about him
but is surprised to hear Einstein’s Name ,awesome reaction by the Kid and and when he answers to
Aamir’s question of who found light , Ishaan quickly tells the answer thomas alva edison, the way ishaan acts
in this scene was good.
2.When the father comes to meet Aamir he says that his wife has read everythign about the disease and they
care for the kid.
The entire movie is good when compared to other movies which we usually waste time on,
the item songs ,the movie is surely worth the time and money.

posted on January 15th, 2008 at 11:14 am

25 On January 15th, 2008, Chanchal said:

All the actors and directors in India think that indian culture is all about love
and dance with hundreds of imported white girls.With that mentality,Indian films would never
reach to ab international level.For some reason, these kinds of film work.These kinds of films
are important for entertainment but certainly should not be a tradition.Now, only Aamir khan
is the man in the Hindi Film Industry who has always broken the tradition.I would even rank him higher than Aamitabh Bachchan,Dilip Kumar, forget about Shahrukh khan. No body has ever believed that with their talents
they can change the society.They always are mere dolls by the directors.Rabidranath Tagore
wrote a song “If nobody gives you company, go by yourself..by yourself..”. Aamir khan just
by himself has taken the Indian film industry to a new level where the so called actors
altogether have not contributed.Finally, its not what you have done, its what you have tried
.Aamir, Keep trying to make meaningful movies and we will support you from our hearts..

posted on January 15th, 2008 at 8:14 pm

26 On January 17th, 2008, sunil said:

I saw this movie…the child ishaan the way he presented himself is really appreciable and
aamir khan too..

the best scene n dialogues for me in this movie is..
when ishaan’s father come to boording school and telling nikumbh sir that we r not that
kind of parents “jo apne bacho ka khyal nahi rakhte “.. and then nikumbh sir explaining how
u r caring ur child…that words of aamir khan “bachhe ko 1 pyri si pappi lena or gale lagana
ise khyal rakhna kahte hai..” has really inspired me..

i think that scene must be seen by all the parents of the world..

posted on January 17th, 2008 at 10:15 am

27 On January 17th, 2008, sunil said:

I saw this movie…the child ishaan the way he presented himself is really appreciable and
aamir khan too..

the best scene n dialogues for me in this movie is..
when ishaan’s father come to boording school and telling nikumbh sir that we r not that
kind of parents “jo apne bacho ka khyal nahi rakhte “.. and then nikumbh sir explaining how
u r caring ur child…that words of aamir khan “bachhe ko 1 pyri si pappi lena or gale lagana
ise khyal rakhna kahte hai..” has really inspired me..

i think that scene must be seen by all the parents of the world..thanks

posted on January 17th, 2008 at 10:17 am

28 On January 25th, 2008, Kapilesh said:

The movie is fabulous. Ishhan and amiir have done a grt job. Story line is flawless.

A nice movie…. Dont miss it guys…

A kind request.Please stop spreading negative comments on these sort of movies….

posted on January 25th, 2008 at 11:10 am

29 On February 9th, 2008, amrita das said:

its a superb movie……i really dont agree with the comments in meetu’s notebook….i really dont know bout other schools but in my school marks of every exam was announced loudly…..and a student of 3rd standard possess that much money to afford a gola and a bus ride…..

there will b critics for good work…..but still we hav to carry on…..

posted on February 9th, 2008 at 2:38 am

30 On February 14th, 2008, rajkanc said:

i did not understand how ishaan could come to 3rd standard when he is dislexic?!!

posted on February 14th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

31 On March 16th, 2008, vikas said:

amir has set the standards to high for other directors to follow
great film
great story
great dialogues
lots of emotions without saying a words
the child Ishaan outstanding a star is born
amitabh and shah rukh should learn from Amir
perfect film

posted on March 16th, 2008 at 5:03 pm

32 On April 18th, 2008, Gudi said:

Hello guys,

this is the very fst time i m trying dis n m very happy to do dis…
I m feeling very glad tat many people likd this movie..mean 2 say tat v guys ll never b out of
ofour tradition,feelings for which v hav a very great values for all these precious things..

I would like 2 share som of the scenes i likd…

1. when ishant’s dad says he is leaving the hom,he cries n say “please don go papa, i won do it aggain”
as if he is leaving coz of his deeds, den he stares at him ven he comes 2 know tat his dada was jus
jus joking….his look after dis.staering at him……

2. When the dad comes to meet aamir again to say that not 2 thin tat de r not caring abo der child n all….(aamir’s dialogue….”mujhe ye jaankar bahut kushi huyi ki aapko lagat hai ki aap uska khayal rakh rahe hai”…

n his dad cries after seeing ishant trying to read the notice board of tat painting competion….

tat wsa great…..

3.. when ishant hugs aamir when he makes his painting…which showed hw a man can help who is in danger..
dis is a lesson to all teachers n parents a s well i suppose..

4.. aamir asks ishant’s dad to read a chinese script….ven he cudn he ll say”aap shaytani kar rahe hai”
den he ll com 2 no vats hi smistake was,….sudden change of xpression in his dad’s face…well taken…

neways was veey happy seeing ur all comments n compiments…overall discussion..
keep going guys…

hats off to the all the team responsible in making the movie….

posted on April 18th, 2008 at 7:32 am

33 On April 18th, 2008, smriti said:

It’s definitely an outstanding movie. I think this movie truly depicts the academic competition a child faces in India, which needs revolutionising, which has began to some extend but is limited. And parents need to understand feeling of their kids, by reducing the generation gap.
And it’s important to realise that ‘every cloud has a silver lining’.

Brilliant music - the song Maa, makes me cry every time I hear it, it’s a tribute to Mom and child relationship.

posted on April 18th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

34 On May 15th, 2008, celine said:

In my school, marks used to be read out in the class.
And middle class parents always buy uniforms big, to be able to use it in the future

posted on May 15th, 2008 at 4:08 pm

35 On May 19th, 2008, Mohan Pai said:

A truely a great movie. it pulls your heart strings hard and could not help shedding tears for this adorable Ishaan. Amazing acting and directing. I sincerely hope this will great movie will atleast merit a nomination for Oscar, not that I beleive Oscar is the end all and be all!!

posted on May 19th, 2008 at 5:11 am

36 On August 15th, 2008, CJ said:

Hi all, This is the first time I m actually reading some comments on a film.
Even after 5-6 month.. it has the same impact. I watched this movie around 7 times till now..
and I still cry on each emotional scene.. I can watch this movie again and again continuously!!
the more u see.. the more u want to see.. and everytime u get the more minute details and
expressions!! there are so many best scenes in this movie.. I can just mention few of them here:
1) When ishan is getting the award.. he just turns back and hugs Nikumbh and the expressions
of the teacher is so good.. i mean he is trying to avoid tears and seeing everywhere and
still he couldnt control!!!!!!!!!
2) the moment ishan sees his painting made by nikumbh and the music that runs in background!!
is amazing and make u cry with them!!
3) the last scene which shows Aamir is lifting up the kid.. Depicts that how teacher can
actually help a child to grow and touch the sky!!
4) I like the 3*9 scene also.. the imagination was so good and even in the imagination the numbers are shown as mirror image
5) In MAA song when he was sitting on the bed and song says ‘ tujhe sab hai pata .. hainna… MAA’
the reaction on MAA word when the warden tells him to change the dress!!
6) the reaction of ishan, everytime when his elder brother encourages him - like telling ‘Are wah ye to ban raha hai!!’ for puzzle and for the painting . Ishan’s expreeion was a broad smile with closed eyes.. and some proud on his face with the confidence
7) every scene of ‘MERA JAHAN’
I don’t know if u have seen the ending also.. tare jammen par track with the other kids.. it is so good and at the end every child is about to sleep calmly!! ?

Oooo I m feeling like I will not leave any scene of the film here…?.. I was waiting for the original VCD of the film and will buy that ASAP ?!!!

GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTT work by the team.. I wish I could meet aamir and tell him how much I love this movie and will take care of the issues he raised.. atleast try!!

posted on August 15th, 2008 at 4:44 pm