What a splendid way to usher in the New Year? Crouched on the couch snuggling upto Husby while catching up with the most awaited movie of the year - Taare Zameen Par.
Being an Aamir Khan venture, no doubt we expected it to be good. But after Rang De Basanti, how much better can Aamir get? On that note, I started on. But how wrong could one possibly get. With the exception of Mela and Mangal Pandey, the perfectionist has always reached new milestones and newer heights.
But this time he excelled way beyond. He did not appeal to the mere senses. Rather this time his movie stirs the soul from within. Taare Zameen Par is something far more than "just another Aamir flick". It is a mirror. And when the world sneaks a peek into it, it sees a very ugly picture. A world wherein the ones we punish are not criminals, they are not strangers, they are our kids.
The kids that came into this world as a symbol of the love we share with our spouses. The kids we pampered till they were of three years of age. Molly-coddled them, attended to them hand and foot, giving in to their every whim and fancy. Fulfilling their stated, implied and sometimes even imagined needs.
What changes after that? Do parents stop loving their kids any less once they are in the schools? No, it’s a mere insecurity on the part of the parent. Their desire to secure the kids future. As Aamir Khan says in the movie,
"It’s a cold world out there. And everyone wants to breed toppers and rankers in their homes so that they can combat the world".
But at what cost? Each one of us can’t be on the top. Someone of us doesn’t have the capable to be able to recite the mathematic tables ad verbatim. Is that a reason to stop loving the child? Is that a reason to keep on harping about how useless, lazy and good for nothing he or she is?
Kids do have a very strong inclination towards the "vocation" that is best suited to their minds. Some have a very strong sense of shapes and this they exhibit while playing with clay and that non-toxic dough. Some love their cricket sets, their musical instruments, and their paint brushes. Every one of the kids born cannot go into the IITs or the IIMs. And how boring lives would be if they did? Imagine India without PT Usha, MS Dhoni, Sania Mirza, Zakir Hussain, Abhishek Bachan, Aishwarya Rai. How many of the IITians and IIM grads are as famous as these? And how many of them really represent India or are able to represent Indian overseas as any of these people? If Sania's parents wanted to her to be a doctor, what would the state of Indian tennis. Lost in obscurity, isn’t it?
Yes, the Indian middle class cannot dream lofty dreams but then at the same time, if your kid is not cut out for academics, what can you do? More often than not, we treat our kids as manifestations of our unfulfilled ambitions.
"I always wanted to be a software engineer, but I had to become a doctor as my dad wanted me to. Now this is my turn, my son will be a software engineer. What if all he wants to do is go ahead and expand my clinic. That is not what I think I want to make him."
You never saw eye to eye with your dad as he made you do something you never found interesting. And now as a dad, you repeat the same mistakes. How sad is that?
Being an Aamir Khan venture, no doubt we expected it to be good. But after Rang De Basanti, how much better can Aamir get? On that note, I started on. But how wrong could one possibly get. With the exception of Mela and Mangal Pandey, the perfectionist has always reached new milestones and newer heights.
But this time he excelled way beyond. He did not appeal to the mere senses. Rather this time his movie stirs the soul from within. Taare Zameen Par is something far more than "just another Aamir flick". It is a mirror. And when the world sneaks a peek into it, it sees a very ugly picture. A world wherein the ones we punish are not criminals, they are not strangers, they are our kids.
The kids that came into this world as a symbol of the love we share with our spouses. The kids we pampered till they were of three years of age. Molly-coddled them, attended to them hand and foot, giving in to their every whim and fancy. Fulfilling their stated, implied and sometimes even imagined needs.
What changes after that? Do parents stop loving their kids any less once they are in the schools? No, it’s a mere insecurity on the part of the parent. Their desire to secure the kids future. As Aamir Khan says in the movie,
"It’s a cold world out there. And everyone wants to breed toppers and rankers in their homes so that they can combat the world".
But at what cost? Each one of us can’t be on the top. Someone of us doesn’t have the capable to be able to recite the mathematic tables ad verbatim. Is that a reason to stop loving the child? Is that a reason to keep on harping about how useless, lazy and good for nothing he or she is?
Kids do have a very strong inclination towards the "vocation" that is best suited to their minds. Some have a very strong sense of shapes and this they exhibit while playing with clay and that non-toxic dough. Some love their cricket sets, their musical instruments, and their paint brushes. Every one of the kids born cannot go into the IITs or the IIMs. And how boring lives would be if they did? Imagine India without PT Usha, MS Dhoni, Sania Mirza, Zakir Hussain, Abhishek Bachan, Aishwarya Rai. How many of the IITians and IIM grads are as famous as these? And how many of them really represent India or are able to represent Indian overseas as any of these people? If Sania's parents wanted to her to be a doctor, what would the state of Indian tennis. Lost in obscurity, isn’t it?
Yes, the Indian middle class cannot dream lofty dreams but then at the same time, if your kid is not cut out for academics, what can you do? More often than not, we treat our kids as manifestations of our unfulfilled ambitions.
"I always wanted to be a software engineer, but I had to become a doctor as my dad wanted me to. Now this is my turn, my son will be a software engineer. What if all he wants to do is go ahead and expand my clinic. That is not what I think I want to make him."
You never saw eye to eye with your dad as he made you do something you never found interesting. And now as a dad, you repeat the same mistakes. How sad is that?
My heart turned inside out when I heard these lyrics from the movie -
"Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe
Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Bhej Na Itna Door Mujkko Tu
Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa
Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin
Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa
Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin
Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa"
How heart wrenching? What kind of parents would want to harm the psyche of their kids in this manner? Answer: Almost everyone.
What makes the normally sane people behave in such an irrational manner while dealing with their kids? And how justified is it? We normally analyse the minute nuances of what are the hidden meanings in most of conversations we carry out - with our spouses, our managers, our friends, our crushes. Why don’t we try to understand our kids? A little bit of affection, a little bit of care. Is that too much to ask for? These are the questions the parents need to ask their kids and themselves and most importantly to the kid INSIDE them which refuse to listen to the most obvious telltale signs.
This movie asks the parents to grow up before they expect the kids to. And in reality that is what the parents need to do. GROW UP. Ending the post with my favorite dialogue from the movie -
“If all you want to do with your kids is to make them run races, then breed race horses damn it. Why give birth to kids?"
"Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe
Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Bhej Na Itna Door Mujkko Tu
Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa
Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin
Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa
Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin
Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa"
How heart wrenching? What kind of parents would want to harm the psyche of their kids in this manner? Answer: Almost everyone.
What makes the normally sane people behave in such an irrational manner while dealing with their kids? And how justified is it? We normally analyse the minute nuances of what are the hidden meanings in most of conversations we carry out - with our spouses, our managers, our friends, our crushes. Why don’t we try to understand our kids? A little bit of affection, a little bit of care. Is that too much to ask for? These are the questions the parents need to ask their kids and themselves and most importantly to the kid INSIDE them which refuse to listen to the most obvious telltale signs.
This movie asks the parents to grow up before they expect the kids to. And in reality that is what the parents need to do. GROW UP. Ending the post with my favorite dialogue from the movie -
“If all you want to do with your kids is to make them run races, then breed race horses damn it. Why give birth to kids?"
4 comments:
Splendid. Your post was another short journey through the movie and loved reading it as much as I loved watching the movie.
Btw, iitians are no "race horses". lol.
Thanks for the generous praise Ravemz.
And insofar as IITians are concerned, race horses they maybe not... But parents consider getting into those instis eqvt of rearing a derby, aint it?
By the way, long time no see!!! Happy 2008...
Thats Cool... I generally dont write Movie reviews .... But I wrote the review to this movie, & like u i also had posted the same picture:))
@Waves - Yeah, been a path breaking movie in ways more than one. Hey, btw do you know the man himself is a blogger. Here he is - http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog.htm
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