Taare Zameen Par

‘Taare Zameen Par’ hits the screen with lot of hype and expectations around it. Frankly, it supersedes them and stands out as one of the best ever made bollywood films of recent times. A movie about a child with Dyslexia is a new concept and the treatment that 'Director' Aamir Khan gives to it wonderful.

Aamir, the long celebrated 'Perfectionist' of Bollywood, does stand up to the expectations as a Director - Actor and a producer. The movie starts with the child Ishaan (Darsheel Safary), and slowly educates the audience with the problems faced by him. It is not revealed at this stage to the audience about Dyslexia. When packed off to a boarding school and the child’s metamorphosis into an introvert from being an active kid, and the subsequent entry of the 'Temporary' art teacher in Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) is where the real problem of Dyslexia is revealed in good detail, with examples that sounds like the 'Who's Who List'. The rest of the movie is about the teachers efforts in making the child, his parents and the school faculty on how to deal with the kid.

First, kudos and praises for Aamir Khan, to have directed a masterpiece in his debut as a director. The actor Aamir too has every reason to smile for his splendid yet non-overshadowing portrayal of the teacher's character. The child artiste Darsheel Safary is the real hero of the film, rightly depicted in the title credits with his name appearing before that of aamir. Darsheel does act naturally with all the innocence of an 8-9 year old.

The movie is captured in a very poetic way. The photography, the music by the very talented trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the story flow, everything is so poetic that it feels like traveling with a small kid with his own problems and a 'Pied Piper' to help him out. The music and the songs have also boldly created for the script and not for the audio sales. The title track 'Taare Zameen Par' and the tearful 'Maa', both rendered by Shankar Mahadevan do stand out.
Actors other than Darsheel and Aamir, to have been true to their roles, be it the mother or the always supporting elder brother, the characterization seems so non-bollywoodish. This is also one of the plus points to this film; being natural and realistic without the 'Drama' feeling.
As many have said, there are lots of scenes from the film that remains with you even when out of the cinema. Like, the 'Ishaan's Day out in the city alone' scene, 'Don't send me to boarding, mein sab kuch seekhoonga' scene, 'Aamir explaining Ishaan's problem to his parents' scene and the final 'Revealing of the two paintings' scene. It was an emotional journey into the life of a kid with Dyslexia. Personally, this movie seems like the next best one after Anjali by Mani Ratnam. The movie goes with a tagline ‘Every Child is Special’; so is this movie.A MUST WATCH FOR ALL, NO AGE BAR.

Blue Umbrella - A Visual treat

We decided to test the MOD [Movie on Demand] offered to us by Tata Sky (we are proud subscribers NOW!). As an inaugural offer they did offer us one free MOD and we decided to put that to good use. The first debate was on the movie to be selected; fortunately TATA SKY did not take up this responsibility. The ones available in the movie showcase were, Awaarapan, Bheja Fry, Shootout at Lokhandwala and The Blue Umbrella. As we had seen Bheja Fry already and no one wanted to watch the terror drama Shootout we decided to go for 'The Blue Umbrella'. Awaarapan was not even considered for the selection. Once chosen TATA SKY plays the movie till Midnight.

I had read about the film in some reviews which were all positive. The names Vishal Baradwaj and Gulzar did create some expectations in me. And did they meet? Well, frankly..more than that !

The story is simple. A girl in a remote village with an attractive blue umbrella, is suddenly grieved by the loss of it and she suspects all those in the village who had an eye on it, especially the 'Kathri', the tea shop owner, amazingly portrayed on screen by Pankaj Kapur.
Never before, have I seen Himachal so beautifully captured on screen, with all the green and the snow white during the last part of the movie. The director goes poetic when on screen he shows the transformation to the winter, from the cotton dust to snow flakes. The other main character of the movie is the music. The songs and the BGM do add to the feel and look of the film.
It's a treat to watch this one. Though categorized as a children’s film, it is for all ages.