Like Stars on Earth (2007)

An eight-year-old boy is thought to be a lazy 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, Tisca Chopra

Top Rated Movies #88 | 23 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Darsheel Safary	...	Ishaan Awasthi
Aamir Khan	...	Ram Shankar Nikumbh
Tisca Chopra	...	Maya Awasthi
Vipin Sharma	...	Nandkishore Awasthi
Sachet Engineer	...	Yohan Awasthi
Tanay Chheda	...	Rajan Damodaran
Lalitha Lajmi	...	Lalitha Lajmi - 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 Krishna	...	Sen Sir (as Bugs Bhargava)

Storyline

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old child 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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

dyslexia | against the odds | papadum | man's best friend | masculine female | 

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Taglines:

Every Child is Special

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material, brief violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song 'Bheja Kam' was intended to represent a young boy's worst nightmare, in terms of the worst thing that he can think of. Madhvani based the visual concept on his son's fear of "creepy-crawlies" such as cockroaches, dragonflies, and lizards. Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Labs made the creatures out of the English alphabet and numbers, although Khan insisted they include the Hindi alphabet as not all the audience would be familiar with English. The chalkboard writing's transformation into a snake was included to surprise the audience and "end the song on a high note."

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Goofs

When Rajan and Ishaan are talking in the corridors, Rajan says he lives in the staff quarters as opposed to in the normal student dorm. Later on, Ram asks Rajan where Ishaan is, and Rajan says he saw him leave the student dorm early. If Rajan lived in the staff quarters, he wouldn't know this.

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Quotes

Ram Shankar Nikumbh: It is very important to take care... it has the power of curing within it... and it's a medicine which eliminates pain.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits rolls after few minutes of the film and consists of animated sequences (in order to portray the main character's imaginary world).

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Connections

Referenced in Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam (2015)

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Soundtracks

Bheja Kam
Written by Prasoon Joshi
Composed by Shankar Mahadevan (as Shankar), Ehsaan Noorani (as Ehsaan) and Loy Mendonsa (as Loy)
Performed by Shankar Mahadevan, Bugs Bhargava Krishna, Shankar Sachdev, Raaj Gopal Iyer,
Ravi Khanvilkar, Loy Mendonsa, Amole Gupte, Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan and Ram Madhvani
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

Undoubtedly the best Hindi movie of 2007

If you haven't seen Taare Zameen Par, you are missing out. The best Hindi movie of 2007 without doubt. Extremely sensitively handled, and flawlessly executed performances, especially by Darsheel Safary. This movie really hits you.

In a way, everyone can relate to it, especially if you have grown up in India where most children are classified as dumb or unintelligent if they "can't" become engineers or doctors. I went in with huge expectations, and this movie exceeded them.

Some reviews have complained about situations in the movie being too simple or repetitive in parts, but I have absolutely no problems with that. This is no thriller. You know what's going to happen, but you are looking forward to it too.

The songs might not be great hits, but they gel really well with the movie. They are beautifully worded, and capture the emotions of the characters perfectly.

When the end credits started rolling, most people started walking towards the exit, but even when they had almost stopped rolling, most of them were still standing near the exit, watching the images in the end credits.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (India)

Also Known As:

Taare Zameen Par

Filming Locations:

Panchgani, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$352,568, 23 December 2007

Gross USA:

$1,223,869

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,897,373

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