Like Stars on Earth (2007)

“Taare Zameen Par”.

Drama, Family |

Taare Zameen Par is a Indian Hindi-language drama film produced and directed by Aamir Khan. The film explores the life and imagination of Ishaan, an 8-year-old dyslexic child. Although he excels in art, his poor academic performance leads his parents to send him to a boarding school. Ishaan’s new art teacher suspects that he is dyslexic and helps him to overcome his disability. Darsheel Safary stars as 8-year-old Ishaan, and Khan plays his art teacher.

Creative director and writer Amole Gupte initially developed the idea with his wife Deepa Bhatia, who served as the film’s editor. Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the film’s score, and Prasoon Joshi wrote the lyrics for many of the songs. Principal photography took place in Mumbai and in Panchgani’s New Era High School, and some of the school’s students make appearances.

Ishaan Awasthi is an 8 year-old boy who hates school and learning, as he finds all the subjects difficult and is frequently belittled and disliked by both his teachers and his classmates. His imagination, creativity and talent for art and painting are often disregarded or unnoticed. His father, Nandkishore Awasthi, is a successful executive who expects his children to excel, and his mother, Maya Awasthi, is a housewife frustrated by her inability to educate Ishaan. Ishaan’s elder brother, Yohaan Awasthi, is an exemplary student and athlete whose merits Ishaan is often ashamed of.

After receiving a particularly poor academic report, Ishaan’s parents sends him to a boarding school. There he rapidly sinks into a state of fear, anxiety and depression, despite being befriended by Rajan Damodharan, a physically disabled boy who is one of the top students in the class. Ishaan is anguished due to missing his parents, the boarding school teachers being even more abusive than the previous school’s, and starting to feel that he genuinely was a failure. Ishaan contemplates suicide, climbing up the fence in a terrace, but Rajan intervenes, saving him.

Directors: Aamir Khan, Amole Gupte (uncredited)

Writers: Amole Gupte

Stars: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma, Sachet Engineer, Tanay Chheda, Girija Oak

Cast:

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	…	Self – 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
Shankar Sachdev	…	Tiwari Sir
M.K. Raina	…	Principal – Boarding School
Gurkirtan	…	Housemaster (as Gurkirtan Chauhan)
Gurdeepak Kaur	…	Housemaster’s Wife
Alorika Chatterjee	…	Science Teacher
Megha Bengali	…	Mrs. Karnik
Munireh Guhilot	…	Dorm Parent
Girish Kumar Menon	…	Rajan’s Father
Vivekanandan	…	Telephone Operator
Madhav Datt	…	Loo Bully
Prashant	…	Musician at Mela
Vitthal	…	Musician at Mela
Jadav	…	Musician at Mela
Ramit Gupta	…	Ranjeet
Arnav Valcha	…	Kabir Johar
Brihan Lamba	…	Arun Poddar
Ricky	…	Munoo Patel
Krishn Gopinath	…	Satyajit Bhatkar
Ayaan	…	Ishaan Awasthi – 10 months
Veer Mohan	…	Ishaan Awasthi – 2 yrs.
Aniket Engineer	…	Young Yohan Awasthi
Abhishek Bachchan	…	Self
Raj Gopal Iyer	…	George Sir
Sanjay Sinha

Sources: imdb & wikipedia