Some movies make a difference. Taare Zameen Par does just that with sincerity, simplicity and a profound message. Aamir Khan steps into the director’s chair for the first time only to pass on his perfection in acting to direction. The movie follows the journey of an eight year old child affected by Dyslexia, a term most people are not even familiar with and yet manages to walk us through the complexities of the condition with apt analogies and animation that would evoke empathy for the child no matter how old you are. Sure, this is a movie about a child with a disability, but make no mistake this is no children’s movie, be it concept, story or acting wise.

Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) , a school kid lives in a world of his own filled with colors, fish, spiders all that seem to come alive at random. While his brother makes his parents proud with his high grades, Ishaan seems to be lagging behind. He is different than the other kids and a huge disappointment to his dad (Vipin Sharma) who simply will not be satisfied with anything less than perfection in school and sports. His mother (Tisca Chopra) tries to understand, but she is unable to and is rendered helpless. It is not Ishaan’s fault after all, when he says to his teacher that the words are dancing, they actually are in his rich imaginary universe, except no one is able to understand that. He cannot read, because when he tries the spiders crawl out of the book to scare him. Tata Elxsi does an outstanding job in narrating Ishaan’s imagination through animation.

Being unable to explain himself to his elders, who seem to be angry at him all the time, Ishaan finds a way to express himself through his artwork and what a fabulous job he does. Ishaan is brilliant at using colors and bringing to life anything that his creative brain conjures. But hey, this does not fetch him good grades and a completely frustrated dad decides to ship him away to boarding school while his mother watches, powerless. Feeling lonely and scared, the eight year old slowly falls into depression. The soul-stirring music Maa by Shankar Ehsaan Loy coupled with Prasoon Joshi's lyrics melodiously describe the child’s state of mind. Ishaan’s animation diary depicting the agony of his separation from his parents is a masterpiece in itself.

Enter Ram Niwas Nikhumb (Aamir Khan), the art teacher who would change Ishaan’s life forever. He digs deep into Ishaan only to find that it was the learning disability dyslexia that caused him to reverse alphabets and jumble words. He knows this from his own childhood experience and decides to help the child overcome his shortcomings and focus on his strengths. He starts with the parents, dad in particular. This sequence showcases Aamir Khan’s genius at work. While this easily could have been shot as a preachy, teary scene Aamir takes the road less traveled, and makes it real. When confronted, the father is understandably defensive in the beginning, but then slowly understands the problem. “It is not about feeling sorry for the kid, but acknowledging that some of the greatest inventors and famous personalities have in fact been faced with dyslexia and managed to work around it, with love and support and understanding” Nikhumb explains. Contrasting Nikumbh’s teaching to Ishaan with sowing seeds are some examples of Aamir’s subtle, yet sturdy touches to the movie.

Taare Zameen Par concludes with an Art competition where Ishaan shines through, comes to his own. He basks in the glory of his new found energy, confidence and most of all, himself. He is now leads the entire school and yes, his parents are proud of him.

Accolades to Amol Gupte for weaving such a fine script. The kid-centric music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is apt to the script. Lighting and camera choices by Sethu successfully capture the artistic aesthetics of the director’s vision. Darsheel Safary clearly steals the show with his unparalleled performance. Aamir Khan as a director has managed to extract the best from the child artist and handles the tale with extreme sensitivity. The actor turned director effectively brings forth a lesser known condition, dyslexia into the limelight in the form of a moving tale of a lonely isolated child learning to live and grow in spite of his limitations, packaged in a commercial format. The best part about the movie is the fact that it lingers on, even when the curtains are down. It forces us to think and empathize. What defines success? The rat race in which everyone seems to be in hurry to get to no where and never stop to even enjoy the fruits of their hard work or as Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! Yes, the maverick director makes you wonder, and the show goes on long after it is over.