Taare Zameen Par (translation: Stars on Earth) is a 2007 award-winning film directed by Aamir Khan and produced by Aamir Khan Productions. The film was initially conceived of and developed by the husband and wife team, Amole Gupte (writer and creative director) and Deepa Bhatia (concept, research, and editing) and features music by the trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. CG animation is by Visual Computing Labs, Tata Elxsi Ltd., 2D animation is by Vaibhav Kumaresh’s Vaibhav studios,and title animation is by Dhimant Vyas.
Taare Zameen Par tells the story of eight year old Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) who suffers greatly until a teacher (Aamir Khan) identifies him as dyslexic. Both commercially and critically acclaimed, Taare Zameen Par won the 2008 Filmfare Best Movie Award as well as a number of other Filmfare and Star Screen Awards. It was declared tax free by the Government of Delhi. The Walt Disney Company has bought the home video rights for distribution of an international edition DVD for future release in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. This is “the first time an international studio has bought the video rights of an Indian film.”
Taare Zameen Par is India’s official entry for the 81st Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category.
Production
Development
The husband and wife team of Amol Gupte and Deepa Bhatia initially conceived of the idea for Taare Zameen Par out of the desire to understand why some children cannot conform to an educational system. The screenplay began as a short story titled “High Jump” and developed into a full work seven years later. Deepa Bhatia later stated in an interview with The Hindu that her initial inspiration was not the subject of dyslexia. Instead, it was derived from the childhood of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa (who was a poor student in school), as she wanted to explore the story of “a child who did not fit into the school stream.” Bhatia referenced a specific moment when Kurosawa began to bloom only after meeting an art teacher who devoted time and attention to him. Bhatia further stated, “It was this scene that became the inspiration for how a teacher could transform the life of a student.”
In developing the character of a young boy based on Kurosawa, Bhatia and Gupte found themselves perplexed: “Amole kept posing issues like: what was wrong with the kid? Was he a slow learner? Was he disinterested, or incapable? All these questions kept coming up and we felt that there were not enough answers.” They became involved in intensive research which led them to groups such as the Maharashtra Dyslexia Association and PACE (Parents for a Better Curriculum for the Child). Eventually they decided to make dyslexia the central topic and theme of the film: “We thought this was the way to address Ishaan’s story, as a child who has learning disabilities and nobody understands what the problem is.” They began to spend time and work with dyslexic children in order to begin development of the screenplay, carefully protecting their identities in the final version of the screenplay. Gupte recalled that, “We began with a small workshop with eight or nine kids. A fun session, this became a space to observe their anxieties and the way their mind was working through art, paper and colours. And it was clear that their minds were thinking ‘out of the box’. This had to be respected, honoured and clapped for.”
Casting
Gupte and Bhatia turned to Shiamak Davar’s Summer Funk workshops in order to find an actor to play Ishaan. In choosing Darsheel Safary, Gupte had a number of boys audition for a scene in which they would informally describe how they would bunk school after being given a few scenerios. He recalls, “It was a tough call. But Darsheel has the mischief in his eyes to be Ishaan. Everyone just naturally gravitated towards him.”
Cast
- Aamir Khan as Ram Shankar Nikumbh
- Darsheel Safary as Ishaan Awasthi
- Tanay Cheda as Rajan Damodran
- Sachet Engineer as Yohaan Awasthi/Dada
- Tisca Chopra as Mrs. Awasthi/Ma
- Vipin Sharma as Mr.Awasthi/Papa
- Lalita Lajmi as herself (Painting competition judge)
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