TAARE ZAMEEN PE- not a review
Is Aamir Khan all hype? Is he a media created myth? Why is he so approachable and humble when you meet him, when you expect him to be arrogant? You could talk to him with just your eyes? that’s exactly what i did after watching TZP, i couldn’t talk so i just said later. I never thought Aamir the filmmaker would be as brilliant as Aamir the choicemaker, but the my accompanying friend who is also my fan said after the movie, from now and for now Aamir is my favourite filmmaker.
Is the film brilliant? Yes. By leaps and bounds. Is it my kind of film? No. Is it aamir’s film? may be. but more so it’s a labour of love and compassion for children which i know Aamir has but so does Amol Gupte? Amol Gupte was my first teacher, I was doing theatre in 1993 and had literally no money and Amol use to come watch the plays, He is a brilliant painter, the most original that i have seen, an actor(anyone rememeber Guru Dakshina with Anupam kher,Amol was the other lead) , he was a regular in all FTII films, he was kind of a poor man’s Amol palekar and more. Amol took me under his wing to assist him on a tele series called Tejas which was produced by Saeed Mirza. I was 21. I wrote the dialogues for the first episode and when Amol read it , he said you are a writer, you do not need to assist and he took me to Saeed and said I am not writing the series anymore and here is your writer. Just like that. I was writing,and i was a writer. I owe Amol my early start. From his little room in Alvarez house, influences from where you see galore in TZP, was a hub for artists. Vilkas sivaraman had a studio apartment, probably still has, probably amol is still there . Haven’t met him in a long time. Alvarez House had this one floor where they made aquariums and amol spent a lot of time with the fishes. Probably that aquarium is still there. I really don’t clearly remember whether it was called Alvarez house but it’s so easy to find. It is in Mahim right after the that corner which is becomes one way after four to suburbs and one way before thea to worli . Two buildings after the Park which is after the hospitel. I remember him doodling with his black pen on white ceramics, making shapes and paint visuals with small little circles..those black little circles would continue as he talked to me. He never seemed like he wanted much from life. The whole circle of friends was like that.Amol was more Mansoor Khan’s friend than AAmir’s. He and mansoor started an Ad Film house together, while Mansoor played Drums, amol did everything. In the circle was also noe deceased Mahendra Joshi, the theatre director who would throw chappals at me if i got my lines wron while we were rehearsing “Paankaur naake Jaake” by madhu rai. Mahendra Joshi was also the man who discovered Paresh Rawal, who resurrected Shafi Inaamdar, turned an under sixteen india wicketkeeper into a fine actor and a brilliant and most prolific playwrite ,theatre director Makarand deshpande. I was just a mute witness to these great minds who somewhere were also partly responsible to shape me.
Why am i going into history? Maybe because I see a lot coming from those years in this film, as if TZP has been in making for fourteen years or may be more. I am a great admireee of Aamir Khan and not because i share his initials,but his courage. He is a good hard working, persistent,sometimes to the point of irritating , stubborn, why because when he believes he really believes. My one big grouse with him is why did he take over Amol’s film, but what happens between two people only the two know and i am not going to judge anyone here. He is creative yet sometimes he restricts the freeflow of thoughts because he needs to know before hand. He wants perfection in everything from his daily toast to his films. That kind of a man is not easy to be with, but that kind of man or even a worse eccentric was Kubrick. I am not comparing his filmmaking skills to kubrick, because TZP is not that. Tzp is a brilliant honest film about a dyslexic boy and the world he is at odds with that needs to understand him. AK plays Nikumbh the unconventional art teacher who makes that possible. Not once anyone talked during the film , the story takes it’s own beautiful time to unfold, Darsheel the boy is a discovery, he tugs at your heart with silent stares. No this is not my kind of film, neither is it the kind of film that i make or even love. It has too many tears for my own taste, but it just refuses to leave me. Deepa Bhatia, the researcher, the editor, the wife of Amol Gupte puts it together beautifully and offcourse Aamir would have been there with her and so would amol and they would have fought and argued and everything but what came out is a labour of love. The most disarming momemt in the fil was when the credits began and you see the little Darsheel Safary giventop billing followed by Aamir khan. from then on he just takes you in and you want to see the boy and you don’t wait for Aamir the star to make an entry. this is something all thos need to learn who sell faces on a poster to the people.
This film took me back to my school, it was as if i was watching my own childhood unfolding in front of me, except i was not dyslexic. It took me back to the time when my teachers refused to publish my short story and poem in school because he said it was too dark and not genuine to come from the mind of an eight year old. What was my story about. A boy planning a revenge against a bully in a boarding school , under the tamarind tree. The boy practised everyday throwing a stone that would miss a point he marked on the tree. everyday people saw him hitting the mark and cheer him and one day he deliberately misses it so the stone would hit the bully walking out of his class. It was rejected.
This film took me there , merits are too many to talk about, what i love the most is the way the camera lingers on to the moments and the boy and is not in a hurry to move away.. what i love the most is the writing. It is the most original and rooted piece of writing to have come out of here. I will not like to talk about the little plot points and the story and would like all to see it. It’s really strange also for me to write about TZP and not about Hanuman Returns which is releasing next week. But what the heck, a good film is a good film is a good film. And my heroes of the film are aamir for always putting his money where his mouth is, Ajay and Sanjeev bijli for supporting it, what a start for PVR Pictures, All those wonderful actors, especially Tisca Chopra(once a beauty queen, and a wet shirt heroine and now an extremely evolved and fine actress), The star Darsheel Safary my candidate for best actor of the year over anyone and this time even SRK wouldn’t mind losing to him. For once we can have the youngest best actor after shweta won the award for Iqbal. But my real hero of the film remains Amol Gupte for what he came up with on paper. here is raising a toast to him.
I love the way you write. A perfect tribute to the real hero of TZP-Amole Gupte!
Anurag, that was a very heartfelt post. Yes it sounds like Aamir is indeed the ‘real deal’.Also your willingness to bare yourself so completely on this public forum on numerous occasions shows your true caliber as an artiste and a human being. You are a Mozart, all of us who deride you here are just Salieris….
God Bless.
AK – you are perhaps best positioned to answer this: Would the movie have turned out different if Amol Gupte had continued to direct it and Aamir had not taken over the responsibility?
Am glad though that a hugely popular, mainstream actor has finally decided to go behind the camera instead of insisting to stay in front of it (after Kamal Haasan). But perhaps not many are/were as talented as Kamal/Aamir.
First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to talk about TZP. I, too, was surprised that there were no thoughts about Hanuman Returns. =)But maybe that’s for another time, eh? The very fact that TZP hit you in that way is something very telling.
Screenwriting and storytelling reel me in, so I just wanted to comment on that, since you brought it up. Every story, every movie has its own strenghts and weaknesses and caters to its own brand of viewers and a range of moods. There are always two sides to the camera. One, where magic is made, where the film rolls, where thousands of flickering stop-and-go pictures form and emulate real life. And then there is the real life itself on that other side of the camera. To be able to seamlessly transition between the two sides and capture reality instead of creating it is something so powerful that even the most unlearned man from the depths of society can single it out. He really needs not look at anything past himself, himself as a human. The brilliance of the script and the movie lies in this very fact: that reality is something that we’re all looking for and when faced with it, with something so bare and basic and raw, we want to reach out and hold it to us; make the experience last as long as possible. But it’s just a slice of life, one facet of life.
Lost in the system, as those in a metropolis are, confounded by the layers of institutions, rules, regulations, and general governance the chance to break free of a “created” reality and catapult oneself into that which truly is there must be a heady feeling. This is probably one of the plus points of the story: its refusal to conform. Its acknowledgment to the fact that, yes, there are different learning styles, different disabilities, that we’re not all just numbers in a system. Studying in a one-size-fits-all education system like India can’t be easy and while it churns out grade-A students, there are many more hidden faces that look educational adversity in the eye but aren’t showcased and heralded as loudly. And its portrayed in such a simple manner: a teacher and student relationship. We, as viewers, as humans, don’t merely rejoice on the fact that an obstacle in the boy’s life is overcome or assauged because of the love and care of a teacher. It’s the actual process and formation of that teacher/student relationship that extinguishes alienation. It’s like in Dead Poet’s Society when Robert Sean Leonard realizes he will never be able to face reality and Ethan Hawke realizes he must face reality. It takes time to hit both boys, it takes effort and a cultivating relationship by a teacher who inspires, who steps outside the system, who lifts the layers and readjusts them, and relieves that alienation of the system be it through the troubles of an overbearing father or an overshadowing legacy of an older brother.
Besides the reality and the relationship, it’s also the possibility of possibility. The idea that all is acheivable and inspired. Of course, the world is not seen with such rose-coloured spectacles but if seen through the eyes of Ishaan (in the movie) it really IS all black and white and reacheable. The catalyst is the teacher, the mentor, the experienced figure; if you had, for example, been encouraged and applauded for your genuine story, which was your stark sharp truth and reality clothed in the black and white ensemble of an eight year old, who knows what could and what might have happened? These moments of shining possibility, of real black and white and of the lost ability to overthrow disillusionment and break free are so foreign yet we cherish them, even hunger for them so relentlesly that when something like Taare Zameen Pe comes our way, we dwell in it and soak it in. Who knows when another slice of life, a sharp relief of reality might come along?
P.S. Sorry for rambling but your thoughts on this spurred my thinking! =D
Hmmm…after reading a review by Taran Adarsh yesterday, I thought it might be too mushy and so I will wait but now, can’t wait to see it. What a bitter-sweet moment for Amol.
Aamir isn’t appreciated enough in the media to be called a media-created myth. A flippant journalist somewhere calls him a perfectionist and the rest of the media too follows suit..
Somebody like a Sobhaa De with absolutely no knowledge about movie-making, someone with the naivest of movie senses, somebody whose holds up the title of once being the editor of Stardust( the most voyeuristic magazine to have ever hit the stands here) as the badge of her credibility, comes on a talk-show and refers to him as the most overrated actor and we see the rest of the media latching onto that statement.
Unfortunately here in India, making statements have got less to do with logic and sensibility and more to do with following a verbal trail thats in vogue…
Even the term ‘perfectionist’ doesn’t do justice to Aamir’s contribution to Indian Cinema. His stubborn nature and his fastidious approach to the medium should be seen as an extension of his belief that success and following isnt something that ought to be taken for granted. As a provider of entertainment he is the only actor here today who believes that it is his duty to give to us audiences not just something but ’something worthwhile’ everytime he shows up on screen. Of course his estimations have sometimes backfired upon him, but even on those rare ocassions all he was doing was trying to repay the debt that he believes he owes to every movie-going individual here..
“Aamir is overrated”????? Show me someone here, who isn’t then..
Three cheers for Amol Gupte…
HIP HIP HURRAY
HIP HIP HURRAY
HIP HIP HURRAY
Read the article on Aamir Khan in TEHELKA.this guy is very difficult to figure out.will talk about the film after watching it but my heart beleives that this is a amole gupte & deepa bhatia film.the painting was done by them and all aamir had to do was fill the colours in.
Bhaiyon aur B… When AK is praising AK, toooo film zaroor dekhen!!!
‘Sala mai to peot ban gaya, aree poet ban ke kaise tan gaya’…ohh koi fayeda nahi..I want to become a PFC-Ronin not Poet…not now at least.
Guys…don’t keep high hopes, watch TZP, come back…write a review, don’t write good about it because AK liked it, be a good reviwer…and become Ronin
Oops… just wanted to tickle you all…read comments above…all are getting damn serious…cool down guys !!!
Thanks AK… for the article, you too are a tara zameen par!!!
Hi AK,
After No Smoking, i have become a hugh fan of yours and yor cinema. I had loved your dissection of Khoya khoya chaand and today your feeling about TZP was up to the mark… felt great to know about Mr Amol Gupte and your experiences.
but the reason i am writing this message is that i loved the anecdote about your childhoood and the way you hit that bully mate in your school days.
I am sure you must have read “the child shooting his bully classmate in gurgaon” incident. Could i request you to write a noir movie on the same subject…
i belived you can give audience a good movie to cheer up !!!
wat do ya say ?? my 2 cents …
-Ajay
Thanks Anurag for the wonderful write-up. I am really looking forward to this movie…
Great piece anurag…
I am enjoying your every writing in pfc and even in a publication like mumbai mirror.when all my journo friends are busy in sponsored writing its great to read original,senti,close to heart writings.
keep it flowing boss…
..and yes Amol, I will watch movie for ‘you’.
I had admired the guts of PVR, when they stood up against YRF and refused to screen DHOOM2 instead of increasing the prices for no apparent reason.In case of OSO, almost all the multiplexes were determined to fight against the distributors but all of them relented in the last moment. But just look at the hypocrisy of PVR in case of TZP, where they are the producers. Friday Night show tickets at PVR Bangy are priced at 250/- instead of usual 160/-. Almost a 50% jump in prices for no apparent reason. Even the tickets for weekdays, which are usually priced at 120/-, are now priced at 250/-(for TZP). Shame on you PVR
Nevertheless, I will be watching this movie on the first day itself, but not at PVR.
AK,Great review, even if you dont call it a review!
I wonder how many other actors in the country would give top billing in the credits to a child ahead of themselves!
Kudos to Aamir!
^^ it aint a big deal .. everyone knws abt Amir Khan playing a main character .. so he kind of ends up scoring points and also spreads his goody-goody image .. so its a good strategy even if it comes frm the heart .
Wat a moment for amole gupte guys.If the film succeeds aamir wud be all over but if it fails the writer of the film i.e.gupte will have to bear the brunt for it.
How can Aamir take someone’s labour under their nose man.I didnt wanted to c d film but guess that i’ll watch it for amol and deepa’s sake
@akeyla ….We are not sure what happened between the two ..may be Amol was happy giving his work in hands of aamir …
its god tht u r not talking abt hanuman returns cause pple hav in he past acused u of using u r blog 4 promoting u r own stuff………..but then anoher thught comes into my head tht why not talk abt u r own movies why care abt the world “duniya ka sabse bada rog mere baare mein ya kehte hai log “:- ……………hey i know u rarely reply but why he fuck u said sorry to karan johar ……….. i mean ….. fuck man i didnt expect this coming frm u as u call u r self arrogant
wats goin on wid ronin who the fuck casted mayank chutya shekhar to the judges panel he gav ek chalis a 1 star on the ther hand he gives oso 3 star n kank also he same ……… its really sad o see pfc n oz n anurag fucking up wid the reputaion of pfc they hav created :((
AK,
Thanks for this great post.
Straight from the heart. Loved reading it and your story too
wow…there r few ppl like u, aamir…who praise good work…who work for quality…the passion for cinema is what matters…few months back i watched the making of lagaan DVD…n saw the passion with which they created lagaan…
hats off to u ppl…
Aamir has spoken out today on TZP and his relations with Amol.Check it out on buzz18 section of ibnlive.com
wow.. your (non)review gave me goosebumps.. i found myself tripping over the words in hurry of reading nextline…
will be catching it first day first show…
- Thank you for this. And thanks for bringing Amol Gupte to the forefront. The name would be lost in the storm that will brew upon the movie’s release with all attention (praise, accolades etc.) directed on Aamir (which he deserves). Though the one who lived and experienced TZP for 14 years to come with such a script, may get little or no mention.
after Aamir’s foray into direction and all the acclaim and accolades he’s gonna win post TZP’s release i wonder how many directors(established/newcomers) would dare to work with Aamir – the actor?
anyways he was always accused of ghost directing most of his films and now that everyone would know what a talented director he is, then what will the filmmakers who’ll be directing Aamir in his forthcoming films have to say about their contribution to the film as it’s director!!
big problem ahead for all the directors who will be working with Aamir – the actor!
if the film is a hit it’s thanks to aamir – the actor and director…but if it turns out to be a flop, then the director of the film is gonna be under the scanner..even after having Aamir he cudnt deliver?? sad!!
anyways lets wait and watch!
Anurag
Imli kay payd kay neechay.
loved it.
I was planning to go all the way to Paris to watch this one (provided wahan release hui hogi), and this post has only made my decision stronger. thanks AK
by the way, what’s Mansoor khan doing nowadays, any new projects in pipeline?
and thanks AK
:D
Aamir has always tried to get involved with meaningful cinema and had success.I hope that TZP also become a success.I read the review by Taran Adarsh where he has given a positive review,but I was sceptical since this is same guy who is on payroll of Johars and Chopras.But since Anurag has also given a positive review I am definitely going to watch it
as i havent seen the film i wont comment on amirs dir.
but three cheers for amol gupte, WHY?
amir the perfectionist took over the dir. part for some good reason or no reason.
he took over amol’s dream which means the story and script by amol gupte must have been very good.
so three cheers for amol gupte.
before reading the blog i was kind of dilly dally about watching the movie in the first week … but now after reading so many good things about it i will watch it the first day… though i have my doubts about the film being hit.. but definetly its brave attempt on the film makers part
Neeraja
i heard mansoor khan is doing kheti baadi somewhere away from bombay.. no plans of coming back to direction.. i think he is involved with his nephew Imran Khan’s upcoming movie Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.. which is being directed by Abbas Tyrewala(no not the one from No Smoking) ..
but will be worth the wait… but the filmwalas on pfc can confirm..
Ok buddy boy, I have been nasty. But such treatment is meted out to the ones who dare to rise above the miasma. Your reservoirs of spunk shall carry you forth.
Respect man. Words of caution: don’t wallow in this muck of adhesive admiration.
Total cut …
Your style of NS quite echoed of how one could do justice to one of my all time favourite books – calcutta chromosome. Read it and take your take …. If you choose to render it into celluloid and mess it up …
I am a movie freak and pretty much watch ALL movies from really good ones like KKC to rickshaw wallah classics like Partner, and even the bad ones like Aaja Nachle. Keeping with tradition, I was planning to watch Welcome as well as TZP this weekend, but your words are discouraging me from watching Welcome, as it would be nothing short of insult to the thoughtful film TZP, mostly because I am a huge fan of yours (No Smoking was a marvelous piece of art) and highly regard your inputs.
GT the rights of Calcutta Chromosome lies with a company in UK and they have already offered me the film and the deal did not work out.. so i guess your favourite book is saved from my mess up..
@Badmash
ya ya he is in kunoor (or cunoor, not sure!) doing organic farming but I didn’t know that he had retired from filmdom.
Ajab teri mehfil me dekha Tamaasha
Kahin roshni hai, kahin hai Andhera
Muqaddar chiraagon ke badle hue hain
Koi bujh raha hai, koi jal raha hai
This is what I hate about people in industry, the high and the mighty. They get to see the movie before everybody else does.
Well, even I saw Gulal when AK came to UTV to show his movie. But since I am no longer there I hate it even more.
I am waiting for this movie for so long and AK get to see it first.
I hate you AK but thanks for increasing my appetite.
Aamir always comes across as an eccentric and a weirdo.It seems that he asked for the script of OSO for a two minute appearence in a song.That may be the reason why Amol gupte decided to hand over the microphone to him.
Unbelievable!!
Is the debate over the person Amole Gupte who wrote a movie like Panga Naa Lo?It was shabily conceived and shot like a kids play!!
Yes maybe he believed and wrote a good script for TZP.But in all fairness I belive Aamir took the just decision to do justice to his script.
Film making is not kids play!
- Mohit, the person who appears a weirdo is you. Abusing the comments space to just blurting out anything. The man’s standing there, so lets throw some stones – syndrome.
Guys!! just check out this… noticed it yesterday night…
Taran Adarsh’s review of TZp has a plot summary of the film which is no different from the one at imdb…
Well maybe Mr. Adarsh also writes for imdb anonymously but… can’t say …it is exactly same…
Link to Mr. Adarsh’s review
http://www.indiafm.com/movies/review/13306/index.html
Link to imdb plot summary
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986264/plotsummary
Well question is was Mr. Adarsh’s review written before imdb’s plot summary…
- RS, does it mean a write who writes a bad story is and never will write a good one? That’s a fanatically depressing view without knowing anything that must have gone during the making of TZP. If you do know the inside view please do tell us. You undoubtedly are an Aamir Khan fan based on your one track view in your second paragraph.
Give room in your mind for Gupte too. A guy who lived for 14 years with the story and for 5 years with the script stood there standing in the cornor during the entire shooting, serving chai, being treated like an extra and see his project hijacked. He went through all this so he could atlast his baby being born. He bore all that to see his story atlast overcome his years of struggles and false promises being made even if it mean without him.
The question to ask oneself is would we do that? And before that question comes the big one? How much have we suffered and struggled to be able to tenderly yet critically view Amol Gupte’s decision and his state in all this.
STR,
Have you seen Panga Naa Lo?
I dont mean to say that a person who wrote that cannot write a great script.It depends on a lot of factors.Ashothosh gawarikar made lagaan.It depends on your thought process at different stages in life.
I am not an insider.But my common sense tells me TZP had a great script.Amole gupte maybe a great human being but that alone cannot transform to great cinema.I think its only common sense for anyone to understand that Aamir took up directing TZP coz Amole was not doing a good job for him as a producer.Aamir did not snatch it from him.He stopped shooting and gave the script back to Amole since he is unhappy with his direction.Amole came back to him since he wanted Aamirs name to be associated with the movie.
Yes I am a great fan of Aamir khan.I will give complete credit to Aamir if TZP is a great movie( Ihavent seen it).Without him it would have gone a completely neglected movie not even worthy of mention probably not even having a release.
Hey Anurag,
Nice Post…
Made me more eager to watch TZP …
Looking forward for the actual review of the movie when it releases ..
Bye…
can we see glims u r of childhood story of boy revenge against bully in HANUMAN returns?
@Bhavesh
Anyone who has read Taran Adrash’s reviews before will know that he reproduces the plot summary verbatim from the film’s marketing material. This is true for Tare Zameen par as well. Check out the film’s official site http://www.taarezameenpar.com/
Pick up any of Taran Adarsh’s so called reviews….You will find a paragraph or two of impeccable writing sandwiched between some atrociously penned sentences.
Anuraag,
May be you might have missed this which is all over the place;;;This says it all…aamir’s reply to one of indiafm questions
There are rumours that you (and not Amol Gupte) have directed Taare Zameen Par.
Yes, that’s true. But that’s not how it started out. A couple of years ago, Amol came to me with a script that I fell in love with. He wanted me to act in it and produce it. I was happy to do both. Amol wanted to direct the film and I agreed since I felt he was capable. But one week into the shooting of Taare Zameen Par, I wasn’t happy with what I saw of the rushes. I lost faith in Amol and his capability of translating on screen what he had so beautifully written on paper. At which point, I expressed my feelings to him and did what was fair and returned the script back to him so that he could direct it for another producer, with another actor. But Amol came back to me and said he wants me to continue as the producer and he decided to step back as the director. After going through various names and options, Amol suggested that I take over as director. Our main concern was the child who has a pivotal role in the film. Both of us felt that we had found a magical child in Darsheel Safary. Any new director coming in would mean a delay of six to eight months and we were afraid Darsheel might grow up. It was Amol’s suggestion that I take over as director. So I took on the responsibility and did the best I could.
Nice post….wud sure watch TZP…
hi there
i really liked the article and the way it was written. Taare Zameen Par is going to be the most awaited movie for me. have been following up every little detail bout the flick on Aamir Khans blog. it goes without saying that i am a HUGE Aamir fan.
he is the only person left in Bollywood who i feel is a genuine cinematic GEM! there may be superstars like SRK n Amitabh Bachan, but Aamir Khan’s cinematic vision beats them all hollow.
I mean does anyone in the industry have the balls to debut as a director and produce as well a film which has no starcast so to speak of, and whose main protagonist is a child?? Its only Greats like Aamir Khan who can dare to venture into such territories!
Having said that i also would like to state that i have great respect for Amol Gupte, who initially was supposed to direct the film, but later on agreed on Aamir’s donning the directors hat. How many people do that?
SO cant wait for the release tomorrow. thanks 4 the wonderful piece.
take care
ciao
hey anurag sir…
hv read smwhere that u r writing for a K Jo venture wid shahrukh in it directed by rensel desilva of “RDB” fame…..is it true..?
the link…
looks like a good film .. will watch it .. but i wudve liked the promos to be a litl more subtle .. amir is literally all over the kids: hugging, kissing, playing the clown, setting hair of kids and all that . its ok .. we got the messg: u love kids.
wud have loved to see Balraj Sahni play this role (ofcourse not possible now) ..
if anyone has seen his Kabuliwala/Seema ..
hey thats the link i read…
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=30&contentid=20071220200712200221054211605a6f0
hey CT..
..bu the way in a rediff interview aamir stated that he and amol are no longer on good terms…amol saw the first cut of film n did not like it…
So Anurag Kashyap is finally being sucked in and absorbed by the `system’….KJo long live!!! Is it true?
dear anurag kashyap..
i’ve been following cinema for a while now and can relate 2 ur rants against film critics and the”kuch kuch hota hain” kind.
someone here compared you to Roark…i think thats a thick coat of crap on ones face.
it takes time for new breakthroughs to be absorbed in popular culture b it any field medicine,sports or cinema.hold on this is not my point.
thing is what a successsful director of popular movies manages to do is gauge the depth of this absorption and then titrate it precisely in his work.
that you managed to get ur point across in satya and black friday is also in part due to this.the audience was primed for this via the popular media.
do u agree?do let me know
My review : FANTASTIC
The experience of seeing the movie with my 5.5 years old son, was just out of the world ! I was looking at him half the time !
Kudos to the team who made this superb work !
Kcp
howd u see it already .. its releasing 2mrw na ?
Anurag writes an article once more ! Once more the “lemme suck up to you” brigade tries hard to close in ! Sad ! Hope this isnt what PFC is all about !
And the “since he’s standing there lets spit on him for free” brigade a.k.a. the “official” chutiyon ki baraat on PFC arrives religiously. Hope this isn’t what PFC is all about!
Something unrelated to TZP, didn’t know where to write so using AK’s space as usual :D
Did anyone watch ‘Strangers’? Is it any good?
TZP :
Link to Aamirs interview (audio)
http://www.esakal.com/features/amir-int/index.html
Nice one..
Filmibhai, Saw it first day first show in Dubai ( where all Hindi movies release one day before India )
and BTW Aamir has done much better ( cannot imagine Balraj Sahni in this role )
>-
@aditi
“So Anurag Kashyap is finally being sucked in and absorbed by the `system
So, now Mafitiya is the VP of Chutiyon ki Baraat and wants to dictate what someone should and shouldn’t do. Kahan kahan se aa jate hain!
@67 like the word chutiyon ki baaraat….n really couldnt agree with you more :D
Ghanta Laudable
Ye woh actor hai jo 36 baar ye discussion karta hai ki credit mai kiska naam pehle ayega..
Ye Koi pehli baar nahi hua ki a kid name has appeared first.. Secondly Ye “laudable act ” adult star ke case mai kyon nahi hota hai.. Ye policy bahut purani hai..Maarne ka mauka usko do jisse tumko koi Darr nahi.. Nothing against mr Amir and iam sure even he doesnt feel that its a laudable act.
Regarding Mr Gupte and Amir.. Yea thats between two ppl..Movie making is all abt Deal.. At the End of the day i guess Maybe Amir and Amol both are satisfied.. I guess no one would have known mr gupte if mr Amir khan was not associated with this movie.. You have a clear cut choice..Take it or leave it.. Mr gupte i guess took it.. I guess its perfectly OK..He was aware..I guess he followed ” If rape is inevitable, lay back and njoy it” kinda mind set..
Amir is humble.. Yea probably but sometimes lagta hai its a case of ” Nazuk Lehr paade Zeher” watever it means..
———————
Regarding other post break ke baad..
filhaal
Koi bujh raha hai, koi jal raha hai
Log Badal rahe hai, Zamana badal raha hai
:-?
P(L)AYBACK, what are we supposed to do if we find an article well written and moving? Say it sucked just prove our own credibility?
I’ve found that someone who encourage me to do more of what works is more motivating than someone who trashes my best efforts to get a small point across. That may not be ideal for all creative people, but just understand that praise does not always equal blind worship. Sometimes, it’s valuable and useful feedback.
The TZP trailer we saw looked alarmingly treacly. It was so syrupy that had I to explain to my friend that Aamir usually can be trusted to do something worthy. Without Anurag’s article, I probably would have put off seeing it — PFC Ronin or not.
Anurag, make your school short into a short film na? please?
Anurag, I too was extremly moved by this film. and I just dont know how to thank Amol for thinking about this and Aamir for making it. TZP is indeed a favor to our gen . Also I second you on Darshel- what a brilliant performance- In times when big actors shit bricks to do solos, this kid has pulled the entire first half on his shoulders. Great casting !!
hey rahul…
..welcome to passion for cinema…why dont you share your experiences about parzania here in one of the columns..why not ur own personal blog rather..?.it would be really an elevating experience to read bout such a nice film…
..by the way..what are you working on now a days..?
wOw !!! that’s some review……….
why it’s only aamir who does it again n again…..seriously hope others c(Kh)an come up with such tales…..
@rahul..
it would really be fun..if you had a blog at pfc..parzania was really awesome..!
amol gupte’s moment of truth..
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=30&contentid=20071221200712210222515003d801213
Crediting Amol Gupte as creative director is a nice thing… but knowing that it is his (Amol’s) baby I think they should have both been credited as directors… like Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez for Sin City.
Anyways, I have never seen the movie as being directed by Aamir. Not that hes done a bad job or anything, coz it seems for me that when Aamir comes on screen, everyone else takes a back seat… except this time… aha… its Darsheel… but none of the other factors, including the Director debate, surface when am even watching the promos.
70 Alone
“Ghanta Laudable
Ye woh actor hai jo 36 baar ye discussion karta hai ki credit mai kiska naam pehle ayega..
Ye Koi pehli baar nahi hua ki a kid name has appeared first.. Secondly Ye
watched it…good movie..the child is magical…slow paced a bit repititive but lands punches at right places most notably at our hearts….go with ur pockets full of handkerchifs …
I just saw the movie and the tears from my shirt are yet to dry
every moment hits you…hats off to aamir for capturing each emotional moment so brilliantly
im a darsheel fanboy now…im going to stalk him at greenlawns and shake his hand :P
he not only captures a childs mind and a character but also plays out emotion so convincingly
one thing i see common between RDB and TZP is that there is always music blending into the key emotional movmements beautifully…nice job
the best job by shankar eshan and loy so far
my 10 year old brother a fan of the usual cgi movies and SRK gave it a 4 and a half out of five
a lovely film,a must watch
Neeraja,
If you are still checking this, yes I did watch Strangers. It’s ok, better than some of the pretence floating around but its still a little over-weaningly intelligent. You know, trying too hard types. Killed the whole thing. Also Nandana is another Urmila who cant do semi-(pseudo???)-intellectual stuff to save her life! She so pulls the film down. Else, nothing much to take home.
A little better worded version here, if you have the time – http://www.businessofcinema.com/boc/?file=story&id=6243
And about TZP…saw it and I am speechless! It’s gonna be too difficult to be even semi-objective to write a review. The movie is beautiful.
Thanks anupam, will write more often on pfc. Currently I just got back from a month and a half long kashmir trip (research) which will probably be my next.
can u tell us ur experiance in kashmir .. in a blog preferably
Rahul,
great to have you here. Parzania was a very daring movie and a great watch. I would love to read you blo
will have to wait another 2-3 days before I can watch taare :(
hey AK, liked ur tamarind tree story!
i liked the movie very much:)>-:)>-
To all friends of K, just read this:
http://abbas-tyrewala.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/08/surely-you-re-joking-mr-kashyap.htm
AK,
Abbas , fuck why did he give up?????????????????????????
U tributed him well in NS but m sure u wnt take K’s path or have u already????
Does it matter if 1 AK dies , dos it matter if 1 AK’s family dies…. Nthng mattter , wat matters is u shud stnd by wht u believe in…. One who wrote lyrics for Paanch is doin Main hon Na and OSO.. kya kahein… bt yes he is brilliantly pathetic or pathetically brilliant… bt dnt u evr giv up!!!
A Just A
@Fatema
I watched it too, didn’t like it much. I actually watched it after reading you comment here but nah I wasn’t biased. I liked some of the KK’s and Sonali’s scenes together but as you indicate there is not much to it. It drags and worse it drags predictably, with loopholes.
But at the end of the day, definitely a better and prefered option when compared to OSOs and LCMDs.
Hope to catch TZP soon
Haven’t read a single bad comment aboout it on PFC so far.
@neeraja..
i really doubt if u will EVER hear a bad comment about it TZP..
phoenix’s writeup is pretty much as critical as it gets…
lets see what the Ronins come up with..
TAARE ZAMEEN PAR: MOVIE REVIEW
Cast: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan
Director: Aamir Khan
Runtime: 156 min.
Rating: ***1/2
Genre: Drama
This much I do know
great review satish..why dont u post it in i-view for pfc-ronin
Kindly tell me what is “i-view for pfc-ronin”? I’ve next to no idea what/where that is.
Regards
check this link..u will get an idea..
http://passionforcinema.com/pfcronin-seasonone/
Thanks a bunch, Anupam. I’m just about done as far as my participation is concerned.
Regards,
Satish Naidu
hi anurag,
actually, right now i am in bangalore( i was in bombay just 3 months back)…..so not in touch with the bollywood movie business for some time now(actually i am here to design a website for an NGO very close to my heart)……..i visit pfc often……infact i was one of the participants in ur poster contest…….ok, now coming to the point…..TZP is one of the best movies i have seen in a long time…maa kasam! i did NOT expect so much from amir khan(though i love many(70% approx.) of his movies….expect ‘love love love’ and some other mistakes he made …….BUT as on today…..3 CHEERS to amir khan (the director, actor and producer) from me and many of my friends who love movies.
regards,
raaj
Anurag,thanx for giving the backstory on AmolGupte..And i really appreciate your spirit and magnanimity in appreciating good cinema: ‘What the heck, a good film is a good films is a good film.’
Thank God Aamir Khan is stubborn,irritant,perfectionist and whatever the media calls him. During these times of Om Shanti Om, only such a character can dare to make a movie with a kid in the lead role. And like in Rang De Basanti, he is the only mega star who is willing to share screen with a rookie like Siddharth and accept to die in the end.
I cannot understand why Amol Gupte should feel left out. There is not a single interview where AAmir has not put Amol’s and Deepa’s work in the spotlight. I sincerely feel Amol should be elated that his baby was brought out by an efficient doctor like AAmir.
3 Cheers to the whole team and to AAmir’s guts!!
And dearest Satish, I pray to God, one day you will find a movie that is 100% to your tastes.Try watching Forrest Gump, may be it is closer to what you want out of a movie. But, of course you might find Tom Hank’s performance to be a little too stretched!!!
To all others, you might not find too many better films than TZP, even in other languages across the world.
I have not watched TZP, will definately catch up. These days media makes or breaks a film.Look at OSO – what hype & what was it at the end of it -TRASH. Even Aamir has had “The Rising”. It makes me wonder sometimes do brilliant people actually get over confident & take the audience for granted at some point intime.Innumerable examples- Vidhu Vinod,Ramgopal Varma,Ramesh Sippy,Kamalhasan,Shankar (of Sivaji fame)…
what does it take to be consistent???
just read this:
“The best drama, the best thriller and the best political film released in the United States this year is Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Black Friday,’ about a 1993 terrorist bombing that devastated Mumbai (then Bombay) and highlighted rifts between Muslims and Hindus. The police interrogation scenes are more harrowing than anything in this year’s Hollywood films dealing with war, terrorism and torture. The rhetorically dense arguments between cops and suspects grant more insight into how class and religious difference feeds terrorism than anything you read on the op-ed page in the last 12 months. It’s also as expansive as ‘Munich’ and as savagely kinetic as ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’ That this film didn’t get a wider release in the U.S. is a minor tragedy. Rent the DVD immediately.” — Matt Zoller Seitz
wow! congratulations AK!
great film…………..great article….:)>-
Anurag
You claimed to be an unconventional genius but not suffering from the reading/writing disorder like TZP kid…but I certainly think that u have that disorder….. You wrote FISHES instead of FISH in your first para abour amul gupta…come on even a kid knows that FISHES is wrong and the plural is also FISH, it shows that u r suffering from that disorder. And your childhood story clearly shows that your innerself is full of negativity and revenge that you cannot express in a productive way because of your weak personality and inferiority complex…and just coated them with self proclaimed genuine but actually dark and soaked in inferiority complex stories and movies. I think u genuinely need a major help to build positive approach and productive thinking in yourself.
hahahahahahaha!!!!
@saima
it’s amole gupte and not amul gupta. it seems u r suffering from that disorder too.
wait, i wrote u instead of you, maybe i suffer from the same disorder. u and i are also suffering from the same inferiority complex and hence need to use PFC for our personal benefit of taking out our frustrations and negativity on mr. kashyap by lynching his personality when we hardly know him personally, because he wrote an inane and innocent piece of fiction.
i guess u have already begun to help yourself to build a positive approach and productive thinking in you by doing so. keep it up, loser!
by the way, related to KM in any way?
Great film and I echo Anurag’s sentiments. When somebody does not seem to be learning (doesn’t matter if it is a child or a grown-up), the fault lies in the way the subject is taught, not with the person who is learning. I think, in general, teachers and educationists need to really look at their work from this perspective.
Hi anurag reel life stories toh aap dete hi ho but what I like about you is you also give us real life stories. I think and iam sure Amol gupte will definately be awarded for best screenplay and story of the year. And the whole world knows whose baby it is still evryone is prasing amir khan becz i belive he has done justice to the script but not to Amol gupte. Ek ko toh harna hi tha. As as audience I give full credit to amol first than darsheel and third comes amir. I would motivate amol to write many such brilliant script nothing is lost. Go for it and come up with brilliant work in near fututre all the best.
Y is Ram Gopal Varma praised 4 Satya??
Y is Ramesh Sippy praised 4 Sholay???
Y isnt Roger Avery’s Pulp Fiction???
@ Saima: I guess you don’t know that the plural of fish is both fish as well as fishes. “Fish” refers to more than one fish of the same species, whereas “fishes” is the collective for fish of more than one species.
Sorry, didn’t want to be a wet blanket, but could’t resist because the fact you use as the basis of your rant is actually wrong!
Watched Taare Zameen par last evening. Had read all the gushing reviews and had gone with my expectations high. Well, for all the noble intentions, and good ideas, for me the film did not work. For me there is only one yarstick for cinema; does it hold me, engage me, keep me invovled. Sadly the movie fails to hold. maybe i am being harsh.But truth is ; i was unmoved by the movie. But i can understand if a lot of people love the movie and i am in a miniscule minority. As far as aamir is concerned, well he is a fine actor and i am sure he would turn out to be a good director in time to come.
Hi AK
very nicely put…. loved every bit of ur review.. or should I say “Not-a-review”… There is no point reveiwing a movie like TZP…We all just have to feel it and it works on its own…. Amul Gupte may be the real star of the movie (other than Darshaan ofcourse)… But Aamir Khan deserves all the credit for having the courage & vision to direct and produce a movie like TZP… we all have to remember that Aamir is a superstar and is part of the commercial stream of movies….Still he belived in a story like TZP, made it and at the end of the day made it work commercially also… Bravo Aamir and your team!!!!
People like Adi Chopra, Karan Johor, SRK should go and watch this movie and learn a few things about film making and also learn what is the real sense of “Hatke” movie…
For people like Shobha Dee and other Media created “Nobodies” just one request —- Just Shut Up!!!
Anurag
I think your blog readers need to know one thing-who directed the film in reality. Can’t be Amir.
If he has indeed then we look forward to his next masterpiece-only we hope he wont steal again.
Two-will you please explain what a creative director actually is?
Then we will know the real HATKE director
Kilroy:d
@whoactuallydunnit…how and why do u expect anurag to know everything. Sir/Maam…u can ask the question directly to aamir. He has a blog of his own. shoot it there.
Hmmph. Why are people so determined to form preconceived notions about people and relationships and to be a part of one party or the other before they appreciate a piece of cinema??
Amole was the creative director. It was his idea, his screenplay, he chose the music and casting along with aamir, he was one who developed the concept. Hence creative director. Aamir directed the movie. hence he’s the director. Is it really so complex?
Anurag kashyap, I’m a huge fan of your writing. You have a penchant for exploring the dark seedy underbelly of society that is refreshing, albeit in a morbid way. Hope you keep writing!
i sud say zat i agree wiz misha , amol n aamir worked together for the success of tzp , its a team work not only aamir’s or amol’s
stop critisiizing someone’s capabilities
for god’s sake
Anurag’s is one of the most candid and honest take on a film like TZP. Film’s credits underline the fact which AK wants to emphasize on thru this piece of art.
kudos to amol, AK & more than anybody , the boy wonder Darsheel
- sanjay
:(
:(
hey anurag, another friday of yours has come…so i get up early, check the newspaper call my friend, and run to PVR Priya to catch up with The Return Of Hanuman, 10 am show…when we reach the counter the guy there who probably knows me by now is shaking his head…I ask him,
“What!!!its houseful???????”
He says, “SHOW CANCELLED”
I am like WHAT THE??? and he tells me that only a couple had bought two tickets before us…
:(:(:(
So I guess, HANUMAN will return for me only on saturday…
Hello Mr. Kashyap
,
I just wanted to say that I found your last movie, No Smoking, very intelligent and thought provoking. It’s one of it’s kind, which indeed is rare in Indian Film Making. I don’t think that Indian mass is already prepared to see that kind of movie, but I wish you would continue making films of impact, not melodramatic ones. Leave those types for Johars, and Chopras. :D
All the best for your animation venture.
Dyuas
Hi Anurag,
I happened to see your latest movie Return of Hanuman this early morning… must say … it’s really a good movie. There was a mindset when one watches a animation movie around mythology, but this was very contemporary which made the difference from all the mythological animated movies.
Special mention about ChitraGupt, Narad, Brahma were very impressive. GOOD WORK !! One thing to comment on, technically the animation is not that advanced as how it is in the recent times, dont know whether it was done intentionally ….
There’s a request from my side, when can i expect a movie of yours with actors like Amitabh Bachchan, music by AR Rehman and cinematography by Santosh Sivan. Anticipating a response from your end.
Regards,
Suraj Nair
Tujhe sab kuch pata hai na Maa… anyone who didn’t cry in that song of the film, should stop watching films…
dear Anurag,
It is likely that perhaps if the film had continued with the earlier director, we could have had a good film , not a great film.
With the type of perfectionism that aamir strives for, it is no wonder that we are hooked to the boy and the rest of the ensemble from the word go till about interval, when we slap our foreheads and yelp..oh yeah there is aamir too…!
That itself should speak volumes of what good Aamir has done with an outstanding script.
warm regards
nd
Anurag…I worship your work…..not everything though…may be Satya or a Black Friday…
From now on I would be a regular to your blog too..
:d/
Hey noticed something
AK for Anurag Kashyap
and AK for Aamir Khan…
bye the way check my reveiw of TZP on http://www.supershiva.blogspot.com
AND AK i am 14 trying to write a story on’
http://www.versatilecollection.blogspot.com
they protrayed the emotions of a kid in a neat simple way where everyone could identify with. gr8 movie..
Watched TZP – i am falling short of adjectives (in the positive sense ofcourse). This is what sets Aamir apart from the other Khans.
Also caught up on Hanuman Returns – i returned home midway during the interval. Anurag this was a disappointment.The child in me did noit relate to it , better luck next time buddy
tzp is very nice indeed .. tho occasionally it betrays the fact that its a bollywood production – amir’s intoductory clown jig , few bad actors (caricatursh teachers and schoolboys)
its in imdb top 250 :O
damn . wrong smiley .. i was actually pleased
I beg to disagree…I know it
Smitha, I could not disagree with your points more
will articulate why soon.
//Three, it lacks a certain punch in the gut in the end. Ishan
Hmmm…. very difficult to say anything conclusive here.
Is TZP realistic? Not really! Ishaan does not display any of the classic symptoms of autism. His melodramatic recovery indicates that he is, atmost, a borderline case (top 0.5 percentile). So, in the end this is a feel-good film that doesn’t convince someone with a real special needs kid.
Maybe, if Amol had made it himself… TZP would have been closer to reality! Or maybe, it will get seem by millions onl because Aamir Khan made it the way he did!
But, this is a very important film because it will help generate awareness about special needs… not among those that deal with special needs up-close, but with those that do not have any understanding about what it takes to deal with a special needs child.
Misha, your point is taken…even though I still disagree…agreed his methods are imaginative but Ishan’s never shown making any mistakes and misspelling words (except enough)during the period. And I have sevral dyslxic friends who also agree that a year, possibly less since he joined in the middle of the term, is too less for that kind of improvement.
Anyway, what about my other contentions?
Hi Anurag,
I really don’t know who hold the rights for these words. To me the word ‘brilliant’ means a lot. And TZP is not brilliant. It is a good film (in its own terms) and i am sure it will do a lot of good to lots of suffering children, ignorant parents and to hindi cinema. It is a great thing.
But making the film ‘brilliant’ takes more than that. here are few things i find which doesn’t qualify TZP for the ‘Brilliant’ title:
1. TZP stuck to the usual formula of – underdog, savior hero, final victory.
2. Characters are created just for the convenience of story telling, by forgetting they have a life of their own. So you end up with ‘bad’ father, ‘idiotic’ teachers, ‘ignorant’ principal and of course a gem of a hero.
3. This is the fundamental problem with most of the Hindi films. As an audience i have got no space in the film. It is an one way traffic. I have been asked to sit in the chair and cry or laugh as in when instructed by the filmmaker.
Anurag, i felt a bit cheated to see that you have called it a ‘brilliant’ film. But i am happy that you said it is not your kind of film and you will never make anything like this.
thanks
Haridas
@131 Smita Jain
//Contrary to popular opinion,// is KEY LINE in the entire review!!
@131 Smita Jain
//The lyrics are strictly average. Mr. Joshi, like Gulzarsaab in recent times, tries too hard. Yet, apart from the Maa and the title track which still pass muster, his lyrics are neither poetic not evocative.//
When was last time Lyrics even mentioned in a Film Review? That itself is more than achievement for Prasoon.
“Yeh omlete par jeete hai, tonic saare pite hai”
“Baarish hai ya asmaan mein, chhod diye hai nal khule kahin”
“Har kaam ko taala karte hai, yeh to sapne paala karte hai”
This is Genius!!! IMHO
Mayb ur idea of poetry is heavy un-understandable words!!
TZP breaks into IMDB top 250 list. Visit imdb.com for more details.
Apparently TZP is the only hindi movie in the entire list.
Hi Anurag,
I am trying to reach you but the number I have of you is not working. Will it be possible for me to meet up with you? Here is my email add:
vipinsemail@gmail.com
Thanks.
PS: I played Darsheel’s father in TZP. Just in case you didn’t recognize me by my name.
Taare Zameen Par
-a true motion picture
Sanjit Singh Dang, PhD.
Dec25, 2007, Milpitas, California.
sanjits@gmail.com
www.sanjitdang.com
www.taarezameepar.com
www.aamir-khan.com
Ok. here’s Aamir presenting his first official directorial effort (unofficially, he has probably directed several movies…Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Ghulam, maybe some parts of Lagaan since I can see his stamp here and there, …). So, howz the movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’? The film is made with a lot of conviction and sensitivity. It has a unique script with a social message, executed differently compared to contemporary Hindi cinema.
I always want to see Aamir Khan movies right from the very first shot, be it the standard shot saying ‘all characters in this film are fictitious….bla bla bla’. But due to unavoidable reasons, we reached the theatre 2minutes post the scheduled start time, but I was lucky to find that it had not yet started. As soon as we sat down, my 3-year old daughter Taarini demanded popcorn. Knowing her craze for the popped corn, I had to rush to get it. The counter lady was too slow for me and irritated me by her Qs: do you want butter on popcorn or not? your credit card doesn’t work. …Grrrrrrrrr…I almost grabbed her neck and rebuked her for eating away an extra 50seconds! By the time I re-entered the hall, I saw a boy onscreen staring at some water. It was the opening shot, ahhhhhh, a sigh of relief. I watched the sequence with eyes wide open: how a mesmerized Ishaan stares at the tiny fishes from the gutter, how he picks them up using his small fishing net, how he pours them into his water bottle, and how his hobby time is suddenly cut short by the rude bus conductor who scolds him yet again for keeping the bus waiting. I simply loved how the entire sequence of picking up aquatic creatures from the gutter was shot. The scene was very nicely done, each shot was crystal clear and well-intended. That told me right-away that Aamir, the director, knows the nuances of his craft very finely. And that impression continued throughout the film. This sequence also established the free-spirited lifestyle of Ishaan. The next hour delves deeper into his day-dreaming mind, each scene solidifying that Ishaan just wants to be mentally free from the shackles of our systems.
The movie identifies with us, touching our emotional chords. We can relate to Ishaan staring out of the window during class, or being compared to his studious elder brother, or being rebuked for low marks by teachers and parents. In parallel, the film is extremely sensitive. I had tears in my eyes whenever Ishaan or his mother got sentimental: like the departing moment at boarding school, the following ‘Maa’ song, or when Ishaan runs into Aamir’s arms while receiving the best painting prize. Prasoon Joshi
Sanjit Singh,
What is your Phd on? Amir Khan?
TZP is an average indian melodrama. Please keep your NRI sentiments out of it and see the film again. You will know it doesn’t worth so many passionate words you have used.
Relax.
G
This looks like a write-up from everyone who has watched TZP. It is a film about a child and about everything around us. I would like to mention Prasoon Joshi for those lines put to music by the famous trio. TZP shows that our much maligned Bollywood has grown up. Kudos to the entire team of TZP.
Me also Kudos to entire team of TZP…whe bollywood masala meaningless entertainers are doing great and all the good films are vanishing from the theatres at the very first week…Its TZP a meaningful cinema packed with right dose of entertainment that works..send message in the right direction and prooves a point…Infact aaamir Khan has lot of guts to make a film like this which is commercially not viable and release it along with mindless welcome…but still it managed to draw attention from all people..be the critics, the intellectual or the average movie goers…Long live TZP team and thanks Anurag for appreciating a brilliant work…
Well those who didnot like this film I feel Sorry for them ..either they are dead or they are biased or else I think they only wan to see dark gloomy patches in the name of realistic cinema…
Another thing directing children is very tough job which Aamir has beautifully handled and gave us Darsheel Safary who according to me gave the best performance as a child actor in Hindi cinema…
Please Aamir Khan and his team do make movies like this….There will be obviously few people who have the knack to criticise what others are calling good ( as I find some here in the comments ..) ..actually they simply want to go against the tide..Feel sorry for them Ha!ha!ha!ha! TZP is heart warming real story that hardly seen in bollywood…the emotions where right on target without going loud like few recent films on real subjects..the climax where Ishaan see Nikubh sir’s painting and then when he runs to Nikumb sir after the prize giving ceremony is bound to melt the stone hearted…I was telling to few that if there is anyone whose heart doesnot melts in the climax has the capacity to become cold blooded murderer…
@ Tumpy… Tumi ekta ramchhagol ! With a name like “Tumpy” I wanna go “HAHAHAHAHA” !
@Tumpy…never ridicule people u dont have the capacity to understand !
@P(L)AYBACK….aami kauke mean kore ridicule korini…I find the heart and soul of the film was in the right place but found some harsh comments against it…Come on if people like Aamir staying in the commercial scenario makes such nice films like this that should be appreciated and not ridiuled…
Tumpy
no one forced Amir to stay in the commercial scenario, so that is no excuse for making an average film.
Imagine if you go to resturant and they serve you bad food and when you ask them they say it is because they are in the commercial scenario!
Bad taste is bad taste….in any scenario.
G
So Girish you think TZP is average film…then be it but then his films are better than the others that entertains and enlightens…And moreover you cant be outside commercial scenario in India and make films with good message that will be accepted by one and all…
Obviously I am not taking side for all Aaamir Khan filsm but most of the recent ones..Also I dont find a film like TZP to be one with bad taste…common I am not justifying films like fanaa or mangal pandey but TZP was a rare watch treat for me..I found to the proceedings very natural and Aamir could put up the mind of the child very well…
And in this waste of debate I forgot to thank anurag kashyap for this articla on TZP…In this industry with self vested interest it was surprising to see someone appreciatin a a good work…Its easy to criticise others than to make something constructive…and to all here in PFC (and outside) I can say onething its better to take the positive thing from an individual and see the positive side of a creation than criticising it and thereby showing others the ‘larger than thou’ feeling….
:(:x hi girish…doesn’t it speak volumes abt u being a pathetic subject of negative EQ stereotyping that even after probably being an adult u hav no other discerning panorama rather than classification of this world into good and bad ,black and white…its obviously a commercial scenario but does that necessitates a hobnob with the ever fragile consumeristic trends? it could easily hav served more than purpose for Amir to cater thru some saas bahu kind of thing and boast abt being able to suture the hunger of the mindless who r satisfied by gulping azinamoto stuffed chowmein , rarely fathoming that their ‘educated’ brain is being controlled by order of the day (which in the hindsight may not be order for everyone…) i cud hav sounded easily cliched but thought u must hav already tasted them several times on a roadside fast food joint!
its a film which encourages one to find one’s true abilities, understand others abilities, wrings out sensitivity from the stone hearted.
people who do not find tzp appealing, cant find anything appealing in life. they r just too shocked from such a starter by aamir and searching for defects like needles in haystack just to make them look diff from others.
Hey bhattacharya, chakraborty. Guys lets make one thing very clear. honest to god, i have no intention to be ‘different’ or standout. i am just an ordinary average guy and i am aware of it.
i had to respond to the kind of hysteria broke out among critics regarding TZP. Being an average/ ordinary guy with lots of time in hand i got an opportunity to watch lots of world cinema. And got to see some great films from directors like Abbas Kiarostami, Makhmalbaf, Lars won trier, Kim Ki Duk, Tsai Ming liang, fellini, bresson…..etc etc.
I have no prejudice to believe that amir khan is not capable of making films in their standard. So i ket my standards and expectations high. But the film has not gone beyond a superficial level. After 2 weeks of watching TZP is not doing anything to me. (even though i have cried a lot while watching it) On the other hand an Abbas Kiarostami film which i have seen 3 years ago still wake me up at midnight thinking about it.
so If you don’t want to label me us some one trying to be ’smart’. and be open to the idea that TZP can be looked at a bit more depth than what mainstream critics doing. Lets start a discussion.
welcome
G
Hi Girish no fights…NOw to start Lets make one thing clear (I have told that again) we should compare..Well may be I am not that lucky enough to see the films of great film amkers you mentioned but managed to see few of Fellini,kim ki duk and I will say that on one hand I get positively moved by their films and also by TZP…Well staying here I am not aware of the whole scenario out there but I know in Hindi there are hardly any filmstar or film maker who maked films with issue and Aamir is one of them..This type films are made keeping in mind the majority of audience as they are meant for throwing the message in a class scale..And for that sometimes we may overlook few things to put fwd the main issue..and here for TZP I found it to be brave attempt and also its giving the right awakening needed…And I think this kind of film makers should be applauded…Think its Debut film for perfectionist Aamir Khan and that also in this scale of execution..We expect (as usual) more from him both as actor and director..I feel that ist better not to keep a film like TZP to post mortem and scrutinise it effect…till its heart and soul in telling the point is in right direction (read optimism)..
I completely agree with G. loved the restaurant analogy:)
TZP is an ‘ok’ film. But the media and critics of india and the NRI blogers made it into a monument. I seriously recommend them to watch some of the great cinema made in the rest of the world, countries like Korea Taiwan, Iran, Romania (list is long). Then you know that TZP or Amir Khan has not even entered the compound of great cinema forget the sanctum.
@ girish
OK the film dint work for u. but tht doesnt mean its “bad taste”.
Aamir khan is running his restaurant successfully for 20 years now. N it works just bcoz of the Food. Ppl dont go there for bar gals n beer. Ppl in large group with varied tastes have enjoyed The Food to their tastes. mayb that is y he caters to larger customers than niche dhabhas run by Korean n Iranians.
Some llllove it, some dont and more max lllike it!!
Im loving it!
Im loving it!
- this is infact the catch line for McDonald’s. they also believe that the whole world can have one taste, and any one who doesn’t like that taste is niche, boring, unexciting, snooty, not like the joys of life.. so on and so forth. I don’t think the quality of anything can be evaluated by how many people like it. Quality has to be evaluated by critically looking at the product.
why don’t you guys get DVDs and watch few of those niche films to understand what quality filmmaking is all about, than dismissing it because they are niche.
But Im not loving it….I dont know why you guys want to bring down a good film comaparing it to other ‘masterpieces’ from the whole world..I feel liking a good foreign film doesnot mean athat I have to hate something from our country veneif (as you say) is not at par with them…Who wants comparison???? I love their films as well as films made in India…Be happy that Aaamir has tried something different…:):)
Girish,
Your words stink of intellectual snobbery that is a trademark of the “nouvellement cultiv
@ Papai…The ridicule was instigated. And how does ridiculing translate to no IQ ? :O Thats a real “no-brainer”. …Especially after writing a comment full of ridicule ! Bujhle mona ?
i dont see how ur comment was instigated…. no one else commented about animals your name reminds one of!!!! and ridiculing sm1 does not translate to no iq…but inane insults of which you are so fond of is a trademark of mentally challenged or one lacking maturity… perhaps you are to pitied rather than censured… in that case i am sorry… every child is special… bujhle khoka :”>
Papai,…this is going nowhere. I choose not to argue with people like you.
lol…
dont sulk kiddo…. lite le n be positive…
giligili
@ papai, i don’t know how this information helps you, but since you have asked for it: Yes i have seen Lars von Trier’s films- Dancer in the dark, Idiots, Breaking the waves, Dogville, Five obstructions, Element of crime. I promise you lars von trier and the other film makers i have mentioned in my mail earlier, they are not just names for me. I follow their work and respect their integrity as artists.
Regarding Hindi films, yes i am keeping track with the latest -last two i have seen is OSO and TZP.
if this is a good track record for me to comment on TZP can i please go ahead and explain why i think TZP is not a brilliant film as many critics have described it.
my analysis on next post
I buy the point, i was making an unwanted comparison of TZP with World Cinema. So i have decided to put down my views only on TZP. There four to five points i wish to discuss but i will write one at a time, so that we can have an in-depth discussion on that.
a) TZP lack Integrity:
Integrity of the film as well as the film maker is the on important quality i always look in a film. What i mean by integrity is the unity of what the film set out to do and what it end up with, what the film maker talk and what he does.
In case of TZP one of the main issues the film set out to address is the whole issue of competition and all the parents wanting the children to be topers in school. It has been established effectively by showing the contrast between Ishan and his elder brother who got top in every subject. There is also a dialog by Amir khan about how they make the children suffer in this competitive world…..very well said. But see the ending of the film it is another competition (painting this time) The same teacher who given long talk about the bad competitive world is conducting a painting competition! He become very restless when Ishan didn’t turn up for the competition, but he is relived when he finally arrives, and he is the happiest man in the world when Ishan become the winner!
What is this all about? ….At the end of it ‘top position’ is the desired result? ….The whole notion of ’succes’s is the biggest problem in this competitive society which make kids like ishan worthless, if parents and society has the ability to accept a child as it is then there is no issue. If the message of TZP is to make the child toper in something else then we are back to square one. Unfortunately the film does exactly that.
G
Hello Girish,
The point that you have raised is a very common issue raised by many critics.
No one would have liked Ishaan to slog out the rest of his existence purely on the basis of “UNDERSTANDING” alone. Ishaans genius lay in his art, and the painting competition is a necessary affirmation of his talent, or more accurately a confidence building measure. Remember in the movie Ishaan had stopped painting in the boarding school until Ram had come along and had actually started a meaningful healing process. Do we want to see a Ishaan hiding his talent to the world because he does not have the confidence to face it? No we do not want Ishaan to forever hide in his shell. I dont want him to say “Please understand that I am disabled”. I want him to say “I can paint”. And i want the world to say “Oh wat a lovely painting”. In that reasoning the success was necessary in reaffirming Ishaans faith in himself. The message of the movie lies in the fact that every one has a particular mental orientation. Everyone cannot be expected to be an engineer. The film says that there ARE other ways. That if you are not an engineer you CAN BE A VERY GOOD PAINTER. Competition is a way of nature and i do not want Ishaan to run away from it. Ram allows the world to see wat Ishaan can do, and that is a mental boost many such Ishaans in our country need. If you view this movie as a crusade against competition you are mistaken. This movie is a journey of identity and self affirmation. This movie says that you can take a less trodden path and succeed, despite all opposition.
Girish the point you raised now almost sounded valid but then thats it….
Basically the competiton shown in the end was only meant for showing that Ishaan is best in that field..previously due to his problem he was unable to do things at per with other ‘normal’ child not even mere reading and writing…But then when we were introduced to his paintings, the depth shown in them gave us a glimpse of the brain that acoording to Nikumb hum aab, hum saabke kabiliyat se kahin aage.. aur woh hazaaro khwalon buun rehen hain rangon se..
Now to show that he is best with it the competiton was shown…Note in the end Ishaan has been shown to have progressd in all the subjects and not the topper of class showing which would have ruined the whole theme…
I think you guys are right. Yes, competition is the way of nature. Yes, without that competition sequence as the climax the film couldn’t have established that Ishan after all is a great painter. I agree with u guys on this. the next point i like to discuss:
b) TZP is manipulative.
I always try not to read the synopsis or review of a film before i watch it, i want the film to unfold in front of me as the filmaker planed it.(it is tough these days with so much publicity around to not get ‘informed’) In the case of TZP all i knew was it has something to do with children. But even without me not being aware of what the story going to be, within first half hour i knew how the film is not going to develop and how will it end. (Like when i was watching Lagan as soon as they introduce the cricket theme i told my girlfriend sitting next to me that in the last shot Amir Khan will hit a six and win the match for the villagers.) In case of TZP not me alone i think almost everyone in the theater knew that the boy is going to be in trouble, everyone will give up on him, then amir khan will come as a coach and transform his life…..etc. I even knew before hand that the segment in which amir khan couching the kid will be done over a song with montages of his progress. (i have seen enough commercial cinema to predict this)
But TZP is an effective film it moves people. When a film has a predictable story line how does one make the film effective? Like every other filmmaker in the country Amir also decided to make the events within the story line very effective / dramatic / filled with emotions. How does Amir achieve this, in the first half make the boys life hell! In order to make this happen give birth to a father character who is just blind towards Ishan, bring in some bully friends who beat ishan up, create a bunch of teachers who are the most ignorant teachers you ever find in the world. All these characters absolutely lack any character, they are just placed in the story to serve a storytelling purpose, the purpose is to make Ishan’s life hell so that the audience will develop enough sympathy towards him for them to wait for Amir Khan’s entry and cheer for his victory.
Another trick commercial cinema often take out on its audience is ‘Make the audience feel guilty.’ Amir also decided to use it rather cleverly. In the good part of the beginning of the film when ishan has been blamed by every one for not studying, we as audience has not given any impression that he has a learning difficulty. Like his hand gesture after he has been thrown out of the class, the incident in which he run out of the house when his mother asked him to do homework…..etc. etc. (there are many) all this only suggest that he is just not interested in study. Very much like Ishan’s father the audience also think for while that he is doing ‘bathmisi’. This has been done very cleverly by keeping some information hidden from us so that when it finally get reveled that he has a serious problem in learning, we audience should feel extremely guilty that for few times thinking that he is just fooling around. This trick as the hollywood screenplay guide line (just do google you will find it) goes will make the audience strengthen the empathy towards the protagonist and the audience wish desperately for his success as a gesture to get out of their guilt feeling.
These manipulation of the audience emotions may not be a big problem for many of you. But for me it is question of an attitude of a filmmaker, if you are making a sensitive film (that is what many call TZP) won’t you have to be bit more sensitive towards the characters you are creating, won’t they need some shades of gray? won’t you need to be bit bore sensitive towards your audience’s emotions? how can you take very clever decision to manipulate the emotions of audience? I think a sensitive film maker has to think of these issues very deeply, otherwise we will always be making films addressing the the ‘issues’ but not human soul. May be in the future there will be a need to make another film about the mistaken identity of a father of a child with learning difficulty.
Hi Girish,
Have you read Merchant of Venice? Shakespear had to create an effective villain character for the times, whom the audience will hate. but Shakespear was also a humanist. So he disguised the outright villainy of Shylock with nuggets of redeeming properties, for example a self righteous grief and anger, in order to create a character with shades of gray. In Elizabethan times Shylock was a villain, but during modern studies we appreciate the shades of gray in of Shylock.
Now back to Taare Zameen Par. In this we have an overbearing, gruff father figure, very busy, expecting same same level of maturity from 8-10 yr olds that he will expect from a colleague. He is dominating and demanding, and for him his son’s achievments are his own and his son’s failures a slap to his face. Many Indian kids face some of the same kind of issues at home. Someone’s dad may be out of town, some ones parents may be obsessed. I feel it was needed to portray the father with broad brushstrokes as an amalgamation of the many problems the kids face. Also, looking from a childs perspective, all minute emotions will be overblown and magnified. That is child psychology.
Notice some important points. Ishaan’s father, returning from his trip, brings the same gifts for both his sons, who are radically different. Also notice Ishaans dog like devotion to his father in the earlier scenes when he begs him not to leave them, and also when he asks for an aquarium. It shows that the father is indulgent – sometimes.
I will not argue that the father figure is more black than gray, but that is a dramatic necessity to highlight the later transformation and understanding.
It would be rather interesting to comment that Ishaans father is a mixture of the blatant ambition driven, distant parent that is so common in India today, along with a dose of tough love. This character needed to be painted in bold brush strokes as a necessary contrast to Aamir’s (the other strong male in the story) sensitivity. It is a case of magnifying stereotypes – a little like hyper realism. It is necessary to draw out emotions- if you call that manipulative I call it good cinema. I am sure you get the point.
About the other aspects I knew all about the story before I watched the movie (dyslexia etc.) so I connected with “The letters are dancing”… i am sure many teachers in India would have taken that comment as a sign of prank due to lack of awareness…
@ Papai,…where are u from ?
I am from Kolkata but I have stayed for some years in Mumbai too… currently working in Hyderabad as a Game Designer.. Why?
@ Papai,…Thank you for the info. Just asked.
8-| :-?
Papai,
I thought we have decided that we are not taking any other examples or comparison in this discussion? so i am not commenting about Shakespeare.
Regarding the TZP debate, I think we are in agreement in most of the things you have said:
” I will not argue that the father figure is more black than gray, but that is a dramatic necessity to highlight the later transformation and understanding.”
“It is a case of magnifying stereotypes. It is necessary to draw out emotions”
“character needed to be painted in bold brush strokes as a necessary contrast to Aamir
@ Girish
TZP is an imperfect film that has many flaws, no doubt but I’m Amazed by your Arrogance after reading the following excerpts from your Comments.
“But It is an easy way of filmmaking for Amir and party. All they had to do is to just create this black and white grid and fill necessary characters in them. Also in this sort of filmmaking it is so easy for the director to direct his actors. you have to just brief them as
//Also in this sort of filmmaking it is so easy for the director to direct his actors. you have to just brief them as
@ I second Sreehari
Do U think a dyslexic kid can be only good at one thing? I mean if he is good at painting, then cant he be able to get pass mark level even in one subject? Its weird, cos I met a dyslexic kid whos always distracted one way or the other, but she is obedient, she listen to what her parents her teachers say, and she somehow managed to get 80% marks from 100 although she cant get above that.
I mean cant U encourage teh kid on the other subjects with the help of his favourite hobby or talent or whatsoever he is gifted? For eg: Cant’ U make him memorize the letters by his fav colours, the things he love most etc…. I found Ishans character overboard, and I found him a bit too much on the disobedient side. There maybe anger and frustration, from a kid having this prob but as far as I know these type kids have a prob of diffic in pronouncing the words, and memorizing things, such kinda prob can be cured by care and therapy plus councelling.
And how comes all of a sudden Ishans art teacher noticed he is having this prob? If I experienced the disease in my childhood also I cant realize some kid is having teh same prob as mine.
I am so frustrated and upset abt my couzin trying to copy this, no wonder most films have side effects. He tries to ognore his parents and try doing some of the things which Ishan did, cos he found it funny!
Good debut direction by Amir although he tried way hard to impress the viewers by his facial expression, sobbing and etc. He seems fake totally, despite being my second fav actor, I found his TZP totally overboard but it was fun to watch Ishan’s expression and his naughty behav. Loved Amirs hip shaking dance.
Bravo Darsheel. Wonderful expressions and awesoem acting. But plz, dont be like Amir, hehe refusing Screen awards cos he thinks he should win best actor award! Kinda arrogant.
Damn sorry for the spell mistake “ignore” Shit! Cant U be able to edit posts? :d
@Sheen
A friend of mine is aged 32 is a brilliant Cinematographer but has trouble calculating f-stops and exposure because he is dyslexic. He was born left handed but his parents forced him to do everything with his right hand as they were orthodox christians. As a result the neurons in his brain got messed up which resulted in dyslexia.
I suffered from ADHD as a kid. Trust me Ishaan’s behaviour is normal. Luckily Ive grown out of it but a short attention span still persists.
I urge you to research the medical condition thoroughly before you start making assumptions on the veracity of them.
Thanx Mithun, but could encourage in variety of things right? And can get better results too haina? Not 2 or 3 marks out of 100 right?
I am sorry to hear abt U, but glad to know U are doing perfectly alright!
The education system in certain places make ppl to realize kids prob better, unlike the rural areas or certain strict schools. Like when we have the system as “learning through playing” we’ll know if a kids having some kinda prob, and we’ll open our eyes better on these subjects.
btw manipulating cinema, Aamir is same as SLB. Black vs TZP!
Once again Thanx Mithun for the post!
Sheen ! Totally agree !
@ P(L)ayback! Aawww! So sweet, thankx swthrt!:”>
Btw did U guys saw the directors cut from zoom? Amir talking abt TZP and directing, plus eeny weeny bit personal life! :d Awesome show to watch!
@ Sheen,…the pleasures all mine
Praveen dont fight with this guys ..there no point as they think they know every art of film making…Felt sad to see that there are people who think TZP to be like black but anyhow they are very few..(and probably they are happy as they proudly feels like doing something different and ‘intellectual’ by nailing TZP).. LOve all you guys and eagerly awaiting your films…I fell they will be real treat to watch:)
Praveen , Arnab,
I don’t know where you guys got the idea that a critic should also be a brillient filmmaker. Only time in the history when critics turned into great filmmakers was in the 60s when the french new wave started with Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer etc. Please don’t expect poor Khalid Mohammad do the same.
I believe critics role is to help raise the bar when it comes to the quality of filmmaking. A critic should be able to push the filmmaker to new levels and also help the audience to appreciate that level of quality cinema. Good criticism will result in the making of good cinema, not because the critic will make great films, but critics can work as a catalyst for the change.
But unfortunately current indian film criticism is all TRASH. Praveen said Nikhat Kazmi & Rajeev Masand are constructive critics. I have red both their reviews on TZP, they are nothing but a superficial account of the highlights of the film. Khalid Mohammad’s review is equally hollow but on the other side. They all follow a similar format, first they will write the synopsis of the film in their own words, then they highlight few scenes from the film as important ones to watch out for, then they have few comments about various departments – brillient acting or bad acting, great cinematography, imaginative editing or something like that, (Which doesn’t help the audience in any ways) Then they get on with the business of giving verdicts and stars etc. They have no time or energy to look at the films in depth.
Rajeev Masand is unintentionally funny, I have seen a Cannes special by Rajeev Masand in CNN-IBN. He goes all the way to Cannes and interview John Abraham! This is the same time when few young Romanian film makers taken Cannes by storm. The critic from Headlines Today went a bit further she was following Bipasha Basu while she was busy shopping in Cannes! Can u believe it?
Now there is another new kind of critics too, the blogers. They are supposed to be independent, free speech etc. But see the bad influence these mainstream critics has on most of the bloggers. Just do a google search with the key words “TZP and Heart in the right place” ….Some critic said this line and now every one is just going around and writing the same thing, without even thinking what it exactly mean.
And there are people like Anurag Kashyap who is worried about what happened between Amol Gupte and Amir Khan…..who is interested, lets talk about the film guys, it is high time we did that. so i request you guys to just freely chat about the film without worrying about the ‘verdict’ and stars.
I am giving all my five stars to TZP, now can i discuss the film in bit more detail, without you guys attacking me?
@ Praveen, 80% of your response was a kind of personal attacks on me. So I haven’t responded to it. It would have been nice if you could spend that time in contributing to this discussion ‘constructively’.
@ Sheen
Darsheel did the right thing by not attending a bogus award ceremony like Screen. The Jury of the Award function should evaluate the Actors on the basis of their Acting in the film and not by their Age, Seniority or Super-Stardom.
Awards in India are very Feudalistic in nature i.e. a newcomer will never be treated the same way as the superstar even if the newcomer has outperformed the superstar as an Actor.
Hence the Indian award system divides the Nomination for the Best Performance Category into Best Actor & Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actor & Actress in a Supproting Role which are always Reserved for the Superstars and the rest of the actors are relegated to receive lower denomination of awards such as Best Actor in a Comic Role and Best Actor in a Negetive Role and Best Child Actor Award.
Whereas all the credible award ceremonies around the world divide the Nominations for the Best Performance Category into – Best Actor & Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actor & Actress in a Supporting Role.
The Academy Awards 2002 showed how credible the Oscars are (most of the time); when it comes to rewarding merit over seniority.
Adrian Brody an unknown 29 year old newcomer won the Best Actor Award for The Pianist despite the nominations of other Senior Actors in the Best Actor category like Nicholas Cage(Adaptation), Michael Caine(The Quiet American), Daniel Day-Lewis(Gangs of New York) and JACK NICHOLSON(About Schmidt).
That’s what I call rewarding an Actor and not the Superstar.
No wonder an Oscar Award changes the Profile of the Actor for the rest of his life and ensures lifetime of employment as he will always be reffered to as ‘An Oscar Winner’ but I would’nt say the same about Filmfare or any other Indian film awards.
If Jackie Cooper at age 9 became the youngest person to be Nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actor category, for Skippy in 1931 then even Darsheel is justified in expecting atleast a Nomination in the Best Actor category in the various Indian awards. If that is being too Arrogant then the Indian award ceremonies must change the name of the
Best ‘Actor’ Award to the Best ‘Superstar’ Award as they are more interested in rewarding superstardom than acting.
I totally agree with Praveen on this point.
@Praveen,…I am with u !
@ Girish
I read my comments after reading your reactions to it and it did seem to me that I went overboard with the personal attacks and I would like to apologize to you for that at the very outset.
1) I think there are three genres of films. The First being Art films which includes films made by Abbas Kiarostami, Fellini etc. which are made for film festivals. Second being Commercial films like OSO which are made for only for Box-Office success and then there are these Hybrid films like TZP, Lagaan which are made primarily to achieve Box Office success in India using the art house quality albeit in limited measure and within the constraints of making the film financially viable among Indian audiences in India and abroad.
Comparing Abbas Kiarostami and Lars Won Trier’s films to Aamir Khan’s TZP is like comparing apples to oranges which I think is unfair, cos Aamir is not trying to make Masterpiece Art films to screen it in the Film Festivals. His business model focuses on creating Hybrid films which are good, simple films that are primarily aimed at Indian audiences so as to make it commercially successful and then if the film turns out to really good then it will be screened at Film festivals and will be nominated for International Awards which anyway is secondary for him.
Hence he has created TZP with a good storyline which is mainly targeted towards the urban Multiplex audience in India & NRI’s overseas; so there has to be those standard songs (which intellectuals and critics will find unnecessary) and stereotypical black and white characters which Indian audiences can identify with in order to make the film financially viable. Sonam Kapoor’s character in Saawariya was gray and quite predictably the Indian audiences couldn
@ Sreehari
I still think the Quality of films created is directly proportional to the Quality and Quantity of Hard-Work put in by the director.
Bhansali always works extra-hard on sets, props, music and emotions in order to create a utopian world and there by neglecting the other aspects of film-making such as story, screenplay and subtlety in performance. Thus in all of Bhansali’s films an
Over-orchestrated emotional portrayal almost always overflows into the realm of overacting. But I guess that
@ Praveen
no man…. no need to apologize to me. I am used to personal attack (a lot happend here itself). Infact in my experience when someone attack me personally it reveals a lot about that person than hurting me.
I haven’t compared Amir Khan with Abbas Kiarostami or Fellini in any of my posts….please see my posts again. I don’t know why you assume that and write a whole post based on that assumption.
All the comments i have made about the predictable story-line, characters, lack of integrity etc. are by just looking at TZP in isolation, not in comparison with anything. Now these are fundamental problems with the film, so far most of the guys were arguing with me that they are not faults of the film. But now if you are saying that those are genuine problems, Amir Khan knew all about it and he has deliberately done that to cater to the taste of ‘indian audience’, then we are talking something else.
This attitude of us – ‘We think it is overboard but the Indian audience need it’ is a dangerous one…bit pseudo. Indian audience means YOU AND ME TOO. And there are thousands of guys like us. If we speak out and say we don’t want these sort of exaggeration / manipulation in cinema, then it will stop. But if you take the role of a sociologist and say ‘ not ok with me but those dumb indians will love it’. Then Indian cinema will never come out of this trap.
lets talk about the film in your personal point of view as an audience.
lets leave the verdicts and stars to the ‘Critics’…poor guys make a living out of it.
G
@ Girish
I based my previous post to you with reference to your comments (on post no.154) the excerpts of which are stated below.
“So I kept my standards and expectations high. But the film has not gone beyond a superficial level. After 2 weeks of watching TZP is not doing anything to me. (even though i have cried a lot while watching it) On the other hand an Abbas Kiarostami film which i have seen 3 years ago still wake me up at midnight thinking about it.”
In my post no. 189, I forgot to mention two other lower denomination awards such as
Praveen,
You r being self-contradictory here. When u intially started this argument of hard-work vs. sensibility, you had very carefully put forth your stance that TZP shud never be treated as a “convenient film” bcos Aamir states in his blog that he was “physically stressed” while making the movie. Thats when I chipped in with the fact that physical exertion has got nothin to do with sensibility..
Now, you are just rephrasing my argument and appending examples to it.
Dude…. Just pick a finger and go with it!!!
@ Praveen
very sorry, i have got little mixed up about that. totally my fault.
G
Confused!! :-?
In one of the feedback above, Rony D’costa said the paintings in the movie was done by Amol Gupte & his wife Deepa. But Rediff today reports that, the final two paintings (of the climax) were done by Samir Mondal. Is that right? Anyhow, one of the MOST moving moment for me was when Ishaan looked over to what Nikumbh had painted, and a beautiful painting of his face reveals.
AGAIN I HAVE COME TO A CONCLUSION—-you are good Anurag….and i have been posting almost everyday! And what il still say is….i still doubt who can prove to be more trippy—-you or me! (WITH ALL RESPECT TO YOU….SIR)
Hi Anurag,
Trying to get a hold of you. Send me an email when you have a moment at vikrant.sisodia@gmail.com and we can talk a little about the bullies in boarding school.
Bye
Vikrant
Maybe its just me but at times i felt like Aamir was holding back …he constantly went back to frames with the Darsheel staring at something ….he had already established beyond a reasonable doubt the entire charecter of Darsheel… I felt like he wanted to do more but either couldnt get it out of Darsheel or just overthought the flow…
Is this true ???
http://www.allbollywood.com/v2/bd/stc/nws/2008/4/9/30246.shtml
:((:((:((:((
Hi Anurag,
I THINK THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE WAS directed by Amole gupte . because if u look at the movie the first half is much better and moreover it is more convincing than the other second half . because in the second half u see Amir with his stupid hair and dressed like a teenager. And to make things worse u see him crying for the little boy. In the movie he is working as teacher who is teaches special kids.
So he must have seen cases worse that the dyslexic kid so i don’t see a point
in crying(here it means this part of movie was directed by Aamir because he obviously did not research for this movie.Because surely Mr. Amole gupte would not have shown a teacher crying )
Moreover first half seems it was directed by some good artist , i don’t think a film star can be so observant or he so much time to devote for that movie.
moreover if we say that aamir directed this movie. then it puts him in same league as best directors of the world . according to me amole directed the first half and second half belonged to amir.
i think the film deserves the success it got, it was made with the audience in mind. Throughout. We as an audience have a long way to go. We get the cinema we deserve….as if the whole point of making a film is to make people cry or laugh.
hello sir….m a gr8 fan of urs nd mor thn dat of ur writing skills..(not only movies but also comments dat somtim sounds….erratic but still i luv it)…well ur comments on TZp r lik icing on the cake..well excuse my honesty..but havin a luk at ur kind of film making i ddnt expect u too to writ such comments but still as i said m fan of urs wrtin skills…i luvd thm…well i hop u wud lik to read this dat m also a writer of lowprofil(as m just 20)
nd luv to hav a keen in terest in film makin…i also writ poems..short stories….etc..i too luv writin.(includin cmmnts)…waitin for ur next film…ie.. DEV D..as far i know…i wantd to know dat do u also writ poems….nd wud luv to see u makin…a uv story..(not a dark one)…as i adore for everythng u do…mit be u sumtims u sound quit harsh…nut still harsh is still about harsh(hindi)…..well tak car keep writin…God Bless U…nd pls reply to me…..a rqst from my heart….
my email is …die_liv@yahoo.com
Here is the link to the book that Taare Zameen par has been copied from. Its a story of a girl (replaced the girl with the boy in the movie) who suffers from dyslexia and who is helped by her teacher. Its a picture book meaning it has pictures too. This book is autobiographical. Its the author Patricia Polacco’s story.
http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/falker/falker_index.html
Here is the link to the book on amazon and if you read the reviews you will know.
http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Falker-Patricia-Polacco/dp/0399231668
Anyways here are the excerpts from the editorial reviews on amazon.
Young Tricia wants desperately to read but when she starts school she finds that the words “wiggle” on the page. Teased by her classmates, she retreats into dreams and drawings. It’s not until the family moves to California and Tricia has managed to reach the fifth grade that a new teacher finally recognizes her pain and distress. What’s more, he does something about it. Without belaboring the point, the author clearly shows the ways that children internalize critical comments made by others and suffer for their differences. This touching story is accompanied by illustrations in Polacco’s signature style. Youngsters, as well as adults, may find themselves choked up at the emotions so eloquently described in words and pictures. Yet, like the tears young Tricia cries at the end of the book, these are ultimately tears of joy. Thank you, indeed, Mr. Felker (the real name of the teacher involved) for making it all possible.
Read more at
http://jhakaasmovies.blogspot.com/2008/05/taare-zameen-par-story-copied-from-book.html
i just simply love it
it was okay
kudos to Amol Gupte for coming up with such a fine movie n Aamir for putting money in it…
I just edited Amole Gupte’s wikipedia page to include this post for Further Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amole_Gupte
Thank you for this tribute.