Kho Na Jaaye Yeh - Taare Zameen Par

At the end of the year comes a gem, which enthralls, entertains, educates and most importantly makes you think about the "little stars" on this earth and their predicaments.

The movie tells the story of Ishan Avasthi a dreamy 9 year old for whom the world seems a bit different. He lives cocooned in his own world where alphabets concoct against him, the numbers just don't make sense and the whole world doesn't seem to understand his predicament. His grades are at a ebb and he seems indifferent.

His parents, a loving mother and a very busy executive dad, just can't fathom why their son just can't seem to fit in to this competitive world, while his elder sibling is the perfect kid who tops his school, plays tennis and is adept at whatever he does. This contrast and the reason behind it is credited to Ishan's indifference and he is packed of to a boarding school which they believe will bring Ishan in line.

Here Ishan who has always had his family around him is himself unable to understand why his parents decided to send him away from them, turns into a recluse. But as they say everything happens for the good and here he meets Ram Shankar Nikumbh an stand-in art teacher who for the first time in Ishan's life is somebody who cares to understand his problems

The passages that follow where Ram analyzes the vibrant mind of Ishan and makes the people around him understand the need to give each child his own space is a must watch.

As for performances, Darsheel Safary as Ishan is just brilliant, he encompasses the fragility and spontaneity of Ishan's character with elan. They way he emotes in some scenes of this movie is to be seen to be believed. It just shows the caliber of the child artistes of today. Aamir Khan's performance as Ram is expectedly adept, this I am sure would be considered among his best performances and his most fulfilling too.

But more than Aamir the actor, it's Aamir the director and the film maker who deserves the accolades for making this gem. He seems very adept at his skills behind the camera as he is in front of it, if this is what he can give us for a start, I do surely look forward to many more classics from Aamir.

The music deserves as much credit as the movie itself, Shankar Ehsaan Loy have given in one of their career best sound tracks. "Taare Zameen Par", "Kholo Kholo" and "Maa" are top notch. Prasoon Joshi reiterates his class with some incredible and contextual lyrics.

This certainly is the best movie of 2007 and is a movie made by people with heart in the right place. It's an effort which should be highly encouraged. Very few movies have captured the complexities and issues of a child as this one has. I highly recommend this movie and even think it should be made mandatory viewing :) for all parents and parents to be.

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