Like Stars on Earth (2007)

An eight-year-old boy is thought to be lazy and a trouble-maker, until the new art teacher has the patience and compassion to discover the real problem behind his struggles in school.

Directors:

Aamir Khan, Amole Gupte (uncredited)

Writers:

Amole Gupte (dialogue & screenplay), Amole Gupte (story)

Stars:

Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tanay Chheda

13 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Darsheel Safary	...	Ishaan Awasthi
Aamir Khan	...	Ram Shankar Nikumbh
Tanay Chheda	...	Rajan Damodaran
Sachet Engineer	...	Yohan Awasthi
Tisca Chopra	...	Maya Awasthi
Vipin Sharma	...	Nandkishore Awasthi
Lalitha Lajmi	...	Herself - Art Mela's Chief Guest
Girija Oak	...	Jabeen - Amir's Co-worker (as Girija)
Ravi Khanvilkar	...	Mr. Holkar (as Ravi Khanwelkar)
Pratima Kulkarni	...	Principal - St. Anthony's School
Meghna Malik	...	Victoria Teacher
Sonali Sachdev	...	Irene Teacher
Sanjay Dadich	...	Maadhoo
Raaj Gopal Iyer	...	George Sir
Bugs Bhargava	...	Sen Sir

Storyline

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate; colours, fish, dogs and kites are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks and neatness. And Ishaan just cannot seem to get anything right in class. When he gets into far more trouble than his parents can handle, he is packed off to a boarding school to 'be disciplined'. Things are no different at his new school, and Ishaan has to contend with the added trauma of separation from his family. One day a new art teacher bursts onto the scene, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, who infects the students with joy and optimism. He breaks all the rules of 'how things are done' by asking them to think, dream and imagine, and all the children respond with enthusiasm, all except Ishaan. Nikumbh soon realizes that Ishaan is very unhappy, and he sets out to discover why. With time, patience and care, he ultimately helps Ishaan find himself.

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Plot Keywords:

school | teacher | boarding school | joy | child | 

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Taglines:

Every Child is Special

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material, brief violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (India)

Also Known As:

Taare Zameen Par - Ein Stern auf Erden

Filming Locations:

Panchgani, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£66,204 (UK) (21 December 2007)

Gross:

$1,204,660 (USA) (18 January 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aamir Khan Productions, PVR Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

165 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Amole Gupte, the creative director, created most of the paintings credited to Ishaan.

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Goofs

While Ishaan's parents are driving home, after receiving his poor academic report, his mother laments "I teach him myself. All day it's 'Ishaan! Ishaan! Ishaan!'". But, when she says the third "Ishaan" word, her lips are closed.

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Quotes

Ram Shankar Nikumbh: lf you fancy racing, breed racehorses, dammit, not children.

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Connections

Referenced in Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story (2013)

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Soundtracks

Maa
Written by Prasoon Joshi
Composed by Shankar Mahadevan (as Shankar), Ehsaan Noorani (as Ehsaan) and Loy Mendonsa (as Loy)
Performed by Shankar Mahadevan
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

a special film for the special child in all of us

for a mainstream Hindi film, the following is rare: 1. a film for children2. the only star of the film getting a limited screen space 3. high quality animation4. choosing undertones over melodrama, 5. no regular masala stuff 6. strong message that can actually change lives of people 7. conviction and honesty of the makers palpable in every frame 8. and in spite of all this, the movie offering complete, healthy entertainment...

the only problem with the audience is that although we keep shouting on the extreme want of quality cinema, meaningful cinema, when a good film actually comes, we tend to find more flaws in it than appreciating it. Are we insecure of accepting somebodies honesty and creative genius?

Sure, Taare Zameen Par has moments that could have been better, but shouldn't we just try to overlook those and once, for all, applaud the effort the makers have put...

and believe me it is not difficult... for there are innumerable other moments that leave you spellbound, a wet film over your eyes, a strange pain down your throat, a mild ache at your heart, but a pure smile on your lips... there are times you wish you were a kid...

may be it takes a child to love simple tales told with honesty and warmth... may be we grown ups have lost that quality we all once had... but Taare Zameen Par should touch a chord somewhere in every one's heart... we all have been after all, at least for some beautiful part of our lives, special. the film is dedicated to that special child in all of us...

P.S- no one can hate it...at least i would like to think that way