Every Child is Special (Taare Zameen Par)

A Movie Review by: Nadem Dolotallas

Storyline and Plot

The film is about Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), an 8-year-old boy who
is a dyslexia patient and a special child. He finds it hard to suit his world of
colors, kites and animals with that of the others who are more into
studies and homework in his age group. His family, friends and teachers
don't know the symptoms of this illness. With this, Ishaan’s parents
decide to set him off to a boarding school. His life at the boarding school
is no different, he remains the laughing stock of the class, oppressed and
mocked by his teachers. He feels much more dejected, inferior now that
he is away from home, and finds it hard to cope with his inability. Ram
Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) is known as the boarding school's
temporary art teacher. Nikumbh helps them think out of books, beyond
the four walls of the classroom and paint their imaginations, unlike some other teachers who obey
certain norms in teaching students. Every child in class, except Ishaan, responds with tremendous
enthusiasm. To understand Ishaan and his problems, Nikumbh makes an effort. He makes the parents
and other educators of Ishaan understand that he is not odd, but a very unique child with his own
talents. Nikumbh succeeds in improving Ishaan's level of trust with time, patience and treatment. He
helps Ishaan to transcend his incompetence and to rediscover his lost confidence.

Movie Review

 “There is a merciless and competitive world out there. And in this crazy world, everybody wants to grow
to toppers and rankers. Everybody wants a genius for a kid. Doctors, Engineers, MBA. Nothing less is
tolerated. Anything else is blasphemy isn’t it?...”  - Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) (Ishaan’s
teacher)

The film Every Child is Special (Taare Zameen Par) deals with the lack of understanding and acceptance
from parents to their low performing children. The illness of the main character and how he cope up
with it proving others wrong add to our fundamental understanding in the film.

The plot of the film has been well crafted by its director/ producer (Aamir Khan) to make us believe that
each of us has its own pace in life. This film also teaches us, with equal respect and compassion, to treat
every single person in this world, mentally ill or not. It was my second time watching this film but I was
still moved to every moments of how Ishaan grew as an incredible kid, how he was discriminated and
judged by others and how he was fully accepted by everyone. Whereas, in reality, no one cares about
you if you’re not smart or top in the class.
Throughout the film, the leading actors Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), portrayed his role very well.
He represented a lot of children suffering with dyslexia and how can they be special in their own way.
Also, the actor who portray teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) had really done a good job in
inspiring not just Ishaan but also the viewers as well.

As the movie goes on, I realized that there is some part of the film that we should never obey,
particularly those who are already parents and soon to become parents, because of some mistakes they
had done and it which affect the children's minds, we should never shout our child and never do some
harsh against them.

In the end, however, Ishaan learns to love and to trust himself. Too much happiness causes his mother
and father to weep. I can sense Ishaan's love for his parents, and they are very proud of Ishaan.

In the sense that they have their own calling, each child is unique, which may or may not be in line with
what their families want. I highly regard this film for promoting the "disability perspective": that because
of disabilities, there are a lot of special children who have given up trying to fulfill age-appropriate
demands.

Every Child Is Special is a film that can pull the heartstrings and offer hope at the same time that it is not
such a desperate situation to have dyslexia. In this story, friends and support for family, patience, and
love are central themes.

“Life is really not about getting the top grades and

competing with others, don’t try stretching all the
fingers; they might break! Sometimes in life, it is
healthy to be slow and dumb...“– Ram Shankar
Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) (Ishaan’s teacher)