TZP - I Love Aamir, I hate Aamir
[Sorry for the deliberately late post.]
Saw TZP alone on a saturday night. Everyone knows the film is about the relationship between a dyslexic child and his mentor/teacher.
No amount of praise is sufficient for the first half. Please take a bow Mr Khan/ Mr Gupte for the in depth research into the mind of a kid. The film instantly set its benchmarks (wrt kid’s understanding) right up with Anjali, Kannathil Muthamittal, Malli, Navrasa, Halo (Manirathnam and Santosh Sivan - two filmakers i know who are unparalleled in invoking performances from children). The film delves into the mind of Darsheel; the delightful distractions of a car tyre upsetting a puddled pot hole while class is going on, the cartoon while solving the maths questionpaper, the joys of digging your nose coolly, the pleasure in watching day to day life unfold in front of your eyes (a haunting Mera Jahaan by Adnan sami) etc. The film takes us into the life,mind and the environment of the ‘real hero’ of the film - the kid.
The kid is irresistibly superb. The research is praiseworthy and the emotional scenes in the first half are touching. I repeat - no amount of praise is enough for the kid. Even the supporting cast namely, the kid’s parents and his brother, the schoolteachers, fellow students (special mention for tanay cheda) are perfect.
Having said that, the 2nd half of the film stuck out like a sore thumb and spoiled the fun majorly for me. All thanks to the great-sensitive-OhMyGod-Ican-cry-any-second Mr Aamir khan’s presence in front of the camera. The moment he came on, he looked awkward throughout to me. Almost like a singing blind beggar in the local train, evoking sympathy and pleading us to look at his wounds (herein - the problems of dyslexia) . You feel sorry for the beggar and want to give him some money but having done that, you feel guilty for having encouraged beggar. A classic paradox. Pray which teacher tells his students (in Urdu-ish shayari-speech) “Apney armaanon ko aasmano mein udney do” or something to that effect. Aamir Khan’s sentimental arguements at the kid’s house seem so forced and in your face preachy.
Forget that dyslexia gets cured in one song, forget that the kid becomes the hero again towards the end (defeating the very purpose of the film - to celebrate different-ableness). I can endure all that since the film is intended to reach a mainstream audience.
But i cannot tolerate Aamir crying (to the title track) and handling over a chai to a child labourer. Even the speech he makes to the principal praising the kid’s painting skills (”just look at the colours, i havent seen such a confident strokes ever”) seem patronising. You feel as if the first half was gulzaar and the second was a subdued and sensitive mehul kumar.
The film is not a ‘masterpiece’ as it is claimed out to be. Yes it is a very important and a very good film and a must see for every kid & parent.. but please don’t tag it as “most sensitive film of the decade”.
Perhaps it would have helped if Nikumb (Aamir’s charactor) didn’t have to show the vicarial tears every time talking about thekid to someone else. He looks s false and trying too hard to draw attention. He’s not performing/acting in the film. Unfortunately, he’s giving an interview throughout the film.
I’m a big Aamir Khan fan and have seen all of his films perhaps excluding only Holi. I just wish Aamir’s role wasnt OMG-look-at-them-they’re-dew-droplets.
However, that should not dissuade anyone from buying the tickets. The film must be seen, but i wish it couldve been even better and courageous as Lagaan.
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I cant agree with u KARTHIK
” The moment he came on, he looked awkward throughout to me. Almost like a singing blind beggar in the local train, evoking sympathy and pleading us to look at his wounds (herein - the problems of dyslexia) . You feel sorry for the beggar and want to give him some money but having done that, you feel guilty for having encouraged beggar”…..
very very frankly those above lines are too harsh..BULLSHIT …dont mind;)
the first half was gulzaar and the second was a subdued and sensitive mehul kumar…..ha ha ha…now thats a gem!! could not agre more KK!!!
Do you want to see Aamir Khan as Amitabh Bachhan in BLACK???
sorry i dont agree
i m not a amir fan but the second half though not as superb as d 1st was great. Yes the OMG attitude was too much but he didn’t go overboard with it, story-wise it would be better had the lad been a loser but we love heroic resurrection. yes amir didn’t look like an art teacher but a hero; that is an ignorable glitch. the story would have been monotonous had we not shown the transformation. The 2nd half didnt appear like a rushed narration, to the film’s credit
Kartik Anna … bas kya … paavum Aamir
!!
if one is to read this and then go for the movie s/he wud be expecting a TR (danda naka danda naka)
from Aamir !!! 
neway ur points are Valid !!!
hey wud like to know ur review of “scent of a woman ” :d
well, i disagree.. You are definately right saying first half is better than second half but it wasn’t soppy like you said. It was story of the teacher who got involved in the child’s problems and decisions of helping him. Didn’t you had a teacher like that? I did and I am sure most of everyone has one way or other..
Most sensitive film of the decade. Most probably not. But, is it great film? Yes, definately. it was instanst classic. Its even far better than Ratnam’s Anjali. Anjali was overrated. Half of the movie is cliched. All kids interaction with old member of the apartment complex looks stupid..
Anyway coming back to TZP, I disagree what you said about second half.
Nik
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Kartik_Krishna_estranged_Mother Who are U to judge? No credentials just to make you popular. Go wash your nappy my son.
@ Kartik,…great effort !…I get disturbed by the constant references to Aamir Khan as an “Actor”. He isnt ! Problem is our audience is too immature ! But I guess I will take my statement back ! Dont wanna start a civil war !
Kartik,
Just a thought..And its just a thought, so it wud come in with its doses of impulsive judgement and hence must be prone to fallacies galore..
I never thought Lagaan was a courageous film.. It too was like ‘Taare Zameen Par’ an attempt to make something honest.
An analysis on a secondary level might just reveal that Lagaan too had many a moments of fabricated honesty just like TZP..
A Corageous film to me wud be something that tries altering a pre-exisitng cinematic language set within a specific cultural domain and manages to fulfill a substantial amount of its pre-conceived ambitions..
I thought, Dil Chahta Hai was a courageous film. I personally thought it was quite a path-breaking effort and easily the best film of 2001..
more courageous? maybe ishaan shouldn’t have started painting again, maybe he shouldn’t have started to improve in studies, maybe he was suppose to make a comeback to his life, maybe this was needed to make the movie a masterpiece. Karthik, not always pessimist movies are masterpiece, maybe this movie was not meant to be a masterpiece, maybe the ’swore thumb’ was meant to be like that because it ishaan wasn’t just a charactor of a story but was representing millions of ishaan around you, me and our families. Dear karthik, what’s wrong if there are families who are looking at their kids as they’ve found ishaan? what’s wrong if even 10 ishaans are discovered in a country of one billion? I found the movie and the shot of “kid having tea” just like another Swades, a shot where SRK bought water from the kid. I dont know about as much u do, but i know when i like the movie it goes straight into my heart, and if a movie enters and inspires even a single heart it is a masterpiece. maybe I am wrong Karthik or maybe you are not perfectly correct.
There is no ‘research’ about kids… you dont go sit and read books to understand their psyche.. you just have to be with them… and automatically these memories of your own childhood, buried deep inside you comes out… at that point you start relating to them… and thats the ‘research’ them…
Sreehari, i partly agree with you, but ‘Dil Chata Hain’ a courageous film? I do not agree with that bit.
Dil Chata Hain, imo, was an urban film but there wasn’t anything extraordinary about the film. The film was very good. The film was a trendsetter, but I do not find it as a courageous film.
Also, Lagaan & Taare Zameen Par, would have had far more risk attached to it compare to Dil Chata Hain. DCH was was a safe film (even if you exclude all the hype… because of Lagaan success.)
i think, “Waisa Bhi Hota Hain”, “Kaun”, (or “No Smoking”) are far better examples of….
Anyway, back to the film, I liked the film. I do not have any objections about the second half. I do not think Aamir cried. There were a couple of exaggerated face expressions, to show his feelings/emotions about the state in Ishaan was. What else could he have done?
There were so many good scenes in second half…. Aamir Khan explaining dyslexia to the dad (that chinese/japanese game box); The Art Mela Winner Scene: When the professor gives a hint about the winner.. Aamir Khan gets all excited like a kid, no?
i dont agree with u.
actually i felt other way round.
second half was very interesting.
Well Karthik, I do agree that he wept a bit too much in the film (although that was nothing compared to what the audience was doing!) but apart from that, I didn’t find anything as wrong in the second half as you’ve said.
What I especially loved in the film was his interactions with the father of the child, although I could honestly never have thought even that sore ass of a father would start to cry just on seeing Ishaan improve. I mean ok he’s reading a board slowly and steadily, what’s there in it to cry about?
@Aastha
i actually believe that the scene (father crying on seeing ishaan readin ..) is quite justified as .. as the scene builds up to it .. and he starts realizing that he is wrong and even a sense of guilt …
it was not the usual out burst due to metal pain!! tats what i feel
@honhaar goonda
i second u man !!!
and ya examples of courageous films … well only one comes to my mind
Kamal Hasan’s Guna !!
actually most of kamal hasan’s movies flirt with that word “courageous” !!!
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I can criticize ur parents for bringing u to this world also.
Mr. Kartik
U take any movie in the world, i can find 100 limitations in that movie. The point is that with all those shortcomings how well the movie gets connected to large audience and TZP has done that. What a masterpiece and definitely movie of the decade for me. I am reading all the comments. The good thing about the movie is that one can criticize any thing in the movie but at the same time one can be proved wrong for the criticism. For me that is due to the depth in the screenplay. The screenplay is Amole gupte
The problem is Taare Zameen Par is Taare Zameen Par (2007).. if it was Taare Zameen Par (1956) or Taare Zameen Par (1973), it wud have been “masterpiece.. why such movies r not made today”..
Why Taare Zameen Par isnt masterpiece?? Bcoz a character sheds a lot of tears… hahaha…
And Nikumbh isnt hero!! Yes, he is hero in Ishaan’s life. But for other kids? He is just another teacher. Nikumbh, being dyslexic, kinda tries to help himself here.
Well Karthik I agree with you.
The movie has great educational value because everyone who will see it will now know what is dyslexic. The film is definitely not a masterpiece. I really dont whether the latter half was good or bad but the movie was definitely customized for family viewing.
although i loved the movie.. and have already seen it twice.. but i will have to agree with kartik krishnan..
when i saw it first time i cried like a little baby.. the movie stayed me for 3 to 4 days… i have to admit that i have never felt this emotional after seeing any movie in past..
i decided to see it again.. with more objectivity.. to seperate myself from the movie so i can see how it is as a movie. .. which made it clearer to me.. my emotional experince was more to do with me connecting myself with the protagnist.. and most of the people who are seeing the movie are loving it because they relate themselves with the movie.. and thats whats really working for the movie.. either audeince is seeing themselves in ishaan or in his parents..
i dont want to take the credit away from the director, writer and talented darsheel.. as to reach audiuence heart also require some creativity….
underdog movies are the favorite genre of aamir khan.. He is king of underdog movies, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Ghulam, Sarfarosh, Lagaan, Mangal Pandey, Rang De Basanti and now Taare Zameen Par..
despite being a strong directorial debut .. you feel he is trying to prove something.. but you cant ignore movie was made with commerical angles.. otherwise.. what happens if the kid even doesnt know painting.. not every dyslexic child has a unique talent.. why there was a “competition” in the end.. what happens to the other good kids who painted well but not as good as protagnist.. my point here is aamir talk about breeding horses in instead of my kids competitive in the world race but then.. in the end it all turns out about the competition.. and i really do nit picking on “perfectionist khan” then.. movie was set up in end of 2006(the absent note signed by the brother was dated oct 7th, 2006) and he starts the school after diwali, which was on october 21st in 2006.. the painitng competition was on december 24th.. with in this period.. he found the cause and cured the child.. i cant digest that.. again.. these decisions are probably made from commerical angle.. not as a masterpiece cinema..
the journey scene where he treats the kid with chai.. was manipulative. and was poor cousin (not copy) of swades scene.. where shahrukh was moved by the poverty of the kid on his crash course to know india.. but aamir’s character was playing the superior.. which was not humble… like white people going to african countries and feeding people and feeling great about themselves and coming back to their luxurious homes..
movie is a very important movie.. as a subject and as it connects with the people on personal level.. but thats it.. its not without flaws..
quite a few people have touched on the chai scene and said its manipulative?
What did nikhumnb really do? The gesture was simple and in my opinion very effective. The underlying message was to do your bit, even if its as simple as feeding a hungry kid - How hard is that to understand and more importantly whats wrong with that?
About Aamir weeping - i bet my last dollar every living soul were teary eyed in the first half, now if you are a teacher who can understand what the kid is going through, and is at pains to explain the parents - isn’t it natural to weep?
Hey Kartik, Badmash
Give me one hindi movie which you think is best, flawless - and all our readers will give you 10 things from it that you didn’t noticed.
C’on guys - see the message coming out, see the presentation, close camera work on kid’s face and emotions - and forget few of those gliches.
It is Aamir here, Shahrukh in Swadesh (poor kid scene) who are forcing you to see the movie and make comments on those scene. Had it be some not-so-popular actor - nobody will notice them. I don’t mind a little masala being added to grab attention plus make it chewable by all, after all its a movie not a documentory for DD-1.
Very apt post.
Well I totallu disagree..the 2nd half was as good as the 1st one..and aamir was playing a guy who is sensitive towards kids..and has suffered a similar problem in life..so he can understand what the kid is going through and thats what makes him behave tht way..and his scenes with Ishann’s parents and the finale was damn brilliant..I stil remember that expression he gives when Ishaan sees himself in his painting…wow..anyways every1 has an opinion..
Kyoon mamu jab apni bari ayi to dar gaye
@PS
bhaaaai aapne deewar ki yaad dila di.. jao pehle us aadmi ka sign le kar aao.. .bad cinema history shouldnt be the parameter of measuring any movie..
first of all.. i didnt say at all what you interpreted.. i am totally with you that it is great “cinema” and a very important movie… and aamir’s presence and endorsement has created great awareness about this issue.. no doubts about it.. i am with you on it.. totally..
but i dont want to lose the objectivity of cinema watching.. with personal experince.. as personal experince.. i dont remember is ever i have seen any movie in theater twice.. and if i have ever cried watching any movie.. but thats my point movie is great because it connects with you on personal level.. its my story it’s your story.. but as cinema .. i have right to criticize it as a movie.. thats where the objective criticism lies..
Bingo re Bingo!
Badmash Bhaiya… my point is still same, there is no movie where you won’t find gliches.
So why always point at those minor things (that we can bypass), give a fair 100% grade to at least one movie, this is not mathematics exam - everything should have a definitive formula and predefined answer.
Points you are raising in your criticism are not valid (my opinion) - chai scene was not bad - it simply states as Sameer (his comment above) pointed out i.e. Do Your Bit to help kids - it wasn’t to prove Aamirs/characters superority. But you noticed that date-period glich - what a great observation, really - but does it has a value to criticise this movie… may be yes… but my request is … badappan dikhao yaar…choti-choti filmo me badi badi galtiyan hoti rehti hai
aapne ulta keh diya..
badi badi filmo mein choti choti galtiyaan..
my only issue with all the bricks against Kartik Krishnan is.. his critism is objective…. as long as any critiism is objective.. it is good.. it will help bring better cinema..
so dont worship Benazir because she is assasinated.. or Modi because he is good for economy…. see the whole picture.. thats the problem with people.. we start worshiping too quickly.. and wants to ignore flaws..
All this influx of negativity makes me wonder if I was the only one educated in India. Who had to go through an almost socialist education system. Whose life and career could be made or broken by a margin of 1 mark. Where students are judged by their marks, employees are judged by their salaries, films are judged by their BO status, people are judged by their bank balances and assets and latest model of car, and your entire worth and existence is summed up in some numerical value.
Cinema used to be an art, now its a business, and the reason cinema as an art is dying can be traced back to our education system, which is breeding a generation of successful followers and not leaders. Of technicians and not artists. And the fact is that this film more then any I’ve seen reaches the core of this country’s problems, if that isn’t courageous I don’t know what is.
Not that I am in any way suggesting cinema needs to exist for our edification, but it is the one medium existing in our country that everyone is passionate about, besides cricket. And unlike other countries, Indian cinema has the potential to make people change, and want to change, to start a Gandhigiri movement, to start an Rang de Basanti movement.
Was Nikumbh really selfless? of course not. Nikumbh was visiting his own childhood, and was doing it all for entirely selfish reasons, to find his hurt and dejected inner child and rescue it. Wouldn’t you cry if your inner child was finally released from its prison? Maybe you should visit your inner child sometime. Better yet, show it TZP. I’m sure it be LOVE it.
Good one Cinemaisdead?
You are right on about our education system. That video of AnOTHER BRICK ON THE WALL is the perfect symbol of whats happening in colleges in Bangalore & Pune.
Only the music has changed. They are walking to the tune of DAFT PUNK.
Bingo..Mainak n cinemaisdead..originality is missing..leaders are absent..thought processes are herded..its visible here too and in our films too..well..that’s fodder for my next post in my blog!!
I watched TZP alone. For all its flaws, i was embarrassed to find myself crying. Multiple times. I have only cried during three movies. All were Pixar. Finding Nemo, Incredibles and even Ratatouille.
I don’t like kids. I find them annoying. I know that if they are not manipulative assholes already, they will grow up to be one. Every last fucking one of them. Yet, after this movie when i sat at a restaurant to get a bite, all i noticed around me was children. I even made a funny face at a 2 year old. He cried. I felt bad.
But all this left me confused. Can I actually feel? What will happen to my world if that starts to happen? I paid for my food and promptly went to watch a rom-com - p.s. I love you. Whenever I am in need of validation of how terrible the world is and I need to arm myself with some cynicism, I reach out for a rom-com. The saccharine convenience and mawkishness of these movies usually fills me with rage and uplifts my spirit in a way few things that are legal can.
I actually enjoyed p.s. I love you. Damn you Taare! Damn ya’ll to hell!
@ Dabba
Hey, who did’nt cry while watching TZP?
I watched it with my son,as old as Ishaan,and just before the interval when I glanced sideways at him I noticed a tear drop glistening on his cheek.He looked at me,slightly embarrassed,then smiled and held my hand tightly.
I wiped off the unwanted tear drop.As we went out for cokes and popcorns in the interval( I don’t recollect seeing a movie where the first half finished so rapidly) my son remarked
” Dad,Aamir khan has just come into the movie,everything will be allright with Ishaan now”
He seemed reassured.
Yes,the hero had arrived .Did that make the second half predictable?
As we walked out into the cold december night I noticed a lot of red eyes.Reddened noses and cheeks too.The cold air and sniffles had combined somehow!
This had to be a weepie,we would’nt settle for anything less.
Bakwas article, no truth in it
rot in the hell
Xyz, what form of low life are you? What’s the point of saying rot in hell for an article that you didn’t like. Show some decency.
Thanks all for the crticisms and comments.
I will adress and reiterate a point which many have drawn attention to.
Clearly i have loved the film EXCEPT FOR AAMIR KHAN’S PERFORMANCE .. WHICH IS WHAT I HAVE RANTED AGAINST. I DO certainly think it is one of the better films of this year …
@krishna - AB sr in black versus Aamir khan in TZP ???
Gimme AB Sr… that doesnt mean i like black more … im just talking about debraj sahai vers nikhumbh
@nikhil - thats the grouse i have with Aamir. He ‘looks and acts’ like a hero
@george - scent of a woman ? I have seen only bits and pieces … but i have a bias for Al Pacino. “Woh Khuda hai”
Abhay, Gunaa, Virumaandi, Hey Raam, and the not started Marudnayagam are brilliant examples of kamal’s courage.
@Nik Patel - We all had a teacher who got involved in us and tried to help us out of our problems … but that is not the grouse i have.My grouse is that Aamirji looks like giving AN INTERVIEW THROGHOUT THE FILM…. THERES A LOT OF
GYAAN BATAOING GOING ON !!
AND PLS PLS PLS … GIMME AN ANJALI anyday ….. if ur comparing the two….
@playback - hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. send in an article ia IView … seriously would love to read it …
@sreehari - hmmmmmmmmm. Lagaan was better than TZP.
@Mohit - respect ur opinion. And i felt as much for ishaaan as u did …. i also had tears in my eyes … but the issue is not with the treatement of the kid. my problem is with mr aamir khan’s preachy role…
@Gopi - that is exactly the research. sitting and playing around with kids.
@HG - bingo
@Aastha/george - dad crying is ok … its just nikhumb’s attitude that pissed me off
@parth pls refer to wat i have been saying. I never said the movie is bad becos aamir cries. it is bad becos he is unnecesarily ‘issue-raising-crying’. Anyway its my humble opinion
@Badmash - thats a mini review in itself. many poiints u have addressed are very valid. my point is wat u have written and hit the nail upon the head - “despite being a strong directorial debut .. you feel he is trying to prove something”
and again another of ur quote which summarises the movie for me is “but aamir
mera nam list main nahien hai :((
Kartik Bhai…maaf kar dijiye bacche ko (Aamir ko), aur mujhe bhi.
Badmash !! wo ultai line intentionally likhi hai…I knew you will grab that and reply…thanks anyway.
Thanks Kartik for your note and reply.
To etj
U can criticize an article by taking points and elaborating why one disagree with all those points but if article is totally created to make hype out of nothing and u still want to disagree why waste so much time. That was the purpose of the language to discourage some guys like kartik to do that again. did u get it now?
maybe Amir should’ve acted like Sunny Deol of Gadar:> anyway… good observations!!!
How I agree with your every word, Kartik! Read my review for more- http://cinemaparadiso.rediffiland.com/blogs/2007/12/22/Twinkle-Twinkle-Little-Star.html
hey Kartik! at last someone else who feels exactly the way I do . . . yes, I think it’s a beautiful film, a deeplly moveng one, an important one . . . but heck, if only it had also been a brilliant one . . . and it so could have been . . . somehow, the sentimentality has drowned the film making part of it . . . unlike so many films Internationally that manage both . . . remember even a commercial Forrest Gump? Just feel that our audiences are so starved of good cinema that anything above average becomes legendary . . . of course that is not to say TZP is merely above average . . . but just not brilliant . . . damn!
Very good review KK! Bang on target! Though I would not be so harsh on Aamir. Frankly I think he had to do what he had to do to make the movie a hit commercially as well…
I am just so glad that he did not give himself a bigger role to himself in the movie…I mean it would have been so easy and tempting to make Nikhumb also ‘a brooding man who has just lost his wife and finds a reason to live again’ kind of a character…
Dec25, 2007, Milpitas, California.
sanjits@gmail.com
http://www.sanjitdang.com
http://www.taarezameepar.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
Have been following this post for a while, didn’t comment for I haven’t watched the movie yet and now after reading Dabba’s comment I am scared to watch it with other junta!
kisi ne rote hue dekh liya to reputation kharab ho jayegi
@KK
“Apney armaanon ko aasmano mein udney do” :)) I am reminded of RDB dialogue “aise kaun baat karta hai be”
All said and done, I think I love AK (and will love him even after watching the movie but after reading your post I am doubtful if I’ll love him in the movie) but yeah all the unnecessary hype surrounding him and his movies and the over-hyped actor status has made him less lovable.
@Sreehari
DCH courageous? nah! path-breaking, Yes!
@Sanjit Singh Dang
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam a classic?
Are you kidding!
Mr. Karthik Krishnan
More I hear people like u …..more I am appalled at ur idiotic notions………
2nd half was d very life of the film ……r u really crazy to suggest otherwise……..
Indeed you are……….
You are comparing the problem and explanation of a dyselsix patient with that of a singing blind beggar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and u sitting on a higher pedestral are also capable of emotions like regret ……after dropping a penny in the beggar’s bowl!!!!!!!!!
So much for your sensitiveness!!!!!!!!!!
And dats why u call the film preachy,false and drawing attention!!!!!!!!
Go and have a crash course in empathy and sympathy and what are the hard-core problems of life!!!!!!!!!!
Singing blind Beggar !!!!!!!!!!and you feeling regret for dropping a penny!!!!!!!!!!
hey kartik,
did you like john abraham’s performance in ‘NO SMOKING’? i guess you would agree that he was better than aamir in TZP & mr.bachchan in BLACK!!
Dear Kartik Krishnan,
I do not fully agree with your assessment of the movie. You portray the second half as being diametrically lacking in quality as the first. The attention to detail in the movie has already been eloquently served by Sanjit Dang (2 postings above). That Amir Khan was close to being presumptuous/needy is a ludicrous argument. I have one important observation from the movie, that no one above mentioned, and that dispels your mehul kumaresque rating out of the park. If you noticed, the two leading actors in the second half i.e. Amir and Darshan have no dialogue between them! The only time Ishaan asks Amir “kya aap mere ghar gaye the?” Amir responds with an affectionate pat/rub of his hair. I think as a director/actor you could so easily be inclined to have that dialogue between the two protagonists. But Amir instead chose color, songs and stunning visuals to showcase the dialogue between the two. Marvellous. Simply incredible. Even the last scene when the child is picked up by his parents for the break, there are no parting dialogues by the kid. Picking this subtle detail per se makes the entire second half compelling.
Krishna
Jax, Florida
KK agrees with KK and wishes that you did not divide a ‘wholesome’ film into 1st and 2nd half.
Both were unbearable.
Unfortunately,could not care much for Mr Gupte’s story/script/creative inputs either.
No,did not cry at all.
[ Dabba you disappoint, howz your love life? :d ]
How can all of you forsake the honesty and sincerity of KKC for this thing called TZP is something I need to ponder over this year…….
Kavita, you didn’t like TZP? to the extent that you call it unbearable.
hmmmn….interesting. Looking forward to read your review in Ronin.
I think except for the language used by Aamir when he is speaking with kids there are not many glitches….and as far as overt used of tears by Aamir is concerned i think its quite justified..imagine seeing your poor self and realising this is what exactly happened with you when u were a kid…i agree not every1 can empathise with the character but still for Nikhumbh, Ishaan stood for what he had been through and so tears welling up in his eyes now n then wasnt really over-dramatic
@ kavita -
I am yet to meet someone that i have not disappointed in some way. love life kaathu, love lives.
@ Neeraja : yaar nothing wrong with TZP, its a mediocre film.I don’t like mediocrity.I demand more.
If you watch Nobody Knows or The Way Home you’ll understand my baadha [ pain ]. Unfortunately,I can’t be objective about my passions.
@Dabba : love lives aaa… we sail in the same boat then!!
^^if you can’t be objective, then you got no business trying to be a “Critic”. Enough said.
I am with Sreehari when he says that DCH was the best film of 2001. The script and direction was just superb. I dont know if anybody observed : every scene of DCH was altering between serious and comedy. I mean when one scene or incident is a serious one, then immediately the next one is comic/light and vice versa. It was simply fabulous and I do not recall any film in Indian Cinema of this kind, keeping the public sit tightly on their seats.
@kavita — i guess your cinematic standards must be set at a very high initial value….otherwise by all standards very very few cinema lovers have called TZP a “mediocre” film…but then you think KKC is better than TZP….well how you think that is might be food for thought for a whole year….;)
@kavita — also objectivity in reviewing a film is one thing but as a reviewer or a cinema lover shutting the windows of your mind to different cinematic trends is unacceptable….”kholo kholo darwazey”
@kcp
Dil Chahta Hai was easily Best of this decade. Completely changed Bollywood forever. But after TZP i do have second thoughts, heart always wins u see.
Sanjit Dang: “He has probably directed several movies….. maybe some parts of Lagaan since I can see his stamp here and there”
Please stop this for God’s sake, unless you think Aamir is God himself. Lagaan was ALL Ashutosh Gowariker. Just one film and you can see Aamir’s directorial stamp? Is this a bloody joke? I don’t think Aamir has such a distinct directorial style yet. It is horrific how people STILL choose to undermine Ashu even after Swades showed how Lagaan was totally his work as a director- notwithstanding Aamir’s considerable confidence in him and contribution as a producer and creative artist.
im glad there are some ppl can see through Amir’s hoax of ‘great acting’ .. his fake acting has ruined tzp’s potenial shot at oscar.
All those people who hated Karthik’s and kavita’s reviews about Taare Zameen Par, would you answer this simple question.
Would you watch this film with out Ameer Khan in it?
Ask yourselves!
Have you ever heard of a film called Mahek? This film deals with a similar (well, almost)issue. And would you care to watch it if its released in your theaters.
I know you wont. It wont tell you through a continuous stream of (now you laugh/now you cry/now you laugh) background music/songs. It will also not have a big star to rescue the child. In Mahek the girl will find a solution for herself. So are the kids in ‘Where is my friends House’ and ‘Children of Heaven’.
Anyway, I didnt like this film. The kid was good. He performed well. But the problem is with the director.he made him over act.
My $ .02
“Almost like a singing blind beggar in the local train, evoking sympathy and pleading us to look at his wounds (herein - the problems of dyslexia) . You feel sorry for the beggar and want to give him some money but having done that, you feel guilty for having encouraged beggar. A classic paradox.”
Exactly! This is the genral attitude towards similar situations and that is what you felt. All you could see is oh! how he is trying to act and evaluate moral standards. You could NOT see beyond that to understand the character who has gone to what all troubles (invisible in the movie) to be where he is. You can know that be his statement to Ishaan, “Jo bhi hoon tumhaare saamne hoon.” Think about it!
“Pray which teacher tells his students (in Urdu-ish shayari-speech)
@ 65 Stranger on January 7th, 2008 1:44 pm
NO i wud have not seen the movie. I mean i wud have but wudnt have made any extra effort, i wudnt have been half as excited. I M A AAMIR KHAN FAN. I just love tht guy, admire him to the fullest!! Wots wrong in it. I never said Fanaa is gr8 movie,never raved abt Mangal Pandey..coz they r bad bad bad movies.If i do get chance to see Mahek n i do like it, I will always say its a gud movie!!
NOW u ask urself.. if TZP was a small movie with unknown NSD Actor, FTII passout director.. wudnt u have liked it?? Ofcourse u wud.
Pls stop rotting ur own brains with anti-popular, anti-Aaamir, anit-SRK sentiments, pls enjoy this beautiful film.. stop thinkin while watching this movie..forget the great iranian cinema… stop finding loopholes in screenplay.. stop ur concern where cinema is heading n all tht crap… just enjoy as it is now.. just watch it from ur heart…the way this movie touches u…very few does - Life is Beautiful, Forrest Gump did 4 me.
I just love Aamir!!!
:-@
What a frustration you have pored in your article….
I think the wisdom of making “choice” makes us little upgraded compared to other creatures of this universe. I think you have failed to pick up this choice while writiing this article…I think you have lost the sense of balanace while evaluating the movie “TZP”…..i think you focused more on Aamir than the whole structure of movie…hummmm…sometime one’s frustration dilutes sense of judgement…
Please be more cautious while writing your opinion about anybody’s work……
Even I think second half had more tory and pace. The entire first half is used to develop a background. The entire first half is in establishing the fact that the kid is a loser and falling prey to unwarranted expectations.
TZP would not have been a successful film in the mainstream, if the ending had been any different. As human beings, we always want good intentions to win, at the end. Had it been a film about an all-and-all loser, it would have been put in the off-beat genre.
Yaeh, Aamir went a little over-board with crying and all but please uderstand that the reason why he took up Ishaan’s cause because it was his own story, he was looking at his own childhood through him.
But no matter what, Aamir has been extremely brave to make a mainstream movie out of this, really “different” story.
It serves the purpose of watching a movie–entertains you, warms you, tugs at your heart and gives a message too!
Wow Wow Kartik what a review yaar Awesome. Dont have the mood on watching the second half yet, but when I finish the second half I will comment on AK specially lol, I am afraid my neighbourhood kids may act fake after seeing this movie, pretending they are also like Ishaan:o
Dear KK, Please provide us your most esteemed views on Sanjeet Dang’s comment. Or should we conclude that you don’t “reply such nonsense”. Moreover, had you seen the movie and reviewed it without ” Aamir the actor ” in it???
Your review of TZP is the most accurate and apt i have read. It was not influenced by aamir’s reputation or love for aamir but a fair and insightful one; you are right, AK didn’t do a good job of this role as he had done for other roles. His acting could have been better. There’s why few can carry out the role of actor and director and producer- its difficult to ‘direct’ yourself and be able to judge whether the acting befits the character/storyline. There were mention somewhere that akshaye khanna was first considered for the role, i think he would have done better justice to the role. The story was good and that’s why the film did well, cos it touches a chord in people.