Like Stars on Earth is a very special film. Disney even bought one-third of the distribution rights so it could be released in the US, UK and Australia. The screenplay was written and developed over a span of seven years by Amole Gupte and his wife. Gupte was set to direct the film that was being made by Aamir Khan Productions. After a week of conflicting views as to how the film should be done, Aamir Khan took on the challenge of directing his first and only film to date, as well as co-starring and producing the film.The story is seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy, Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), whose parents don't understand why he constantly misbehaves and does poorly in school. His older brother, Yohan, excels in school and his the top of his class. Ishaan is bullied and gets into a fight. His father, Nandkishore (Vipin Sharma), is losing his patience with him, while his mother, Maya (Tisca Chopra), feels sympathy towards him. Maya gave up her career to raise a family, she's dedicated to helping her husband get to work and her children to school.
In the classroom, Ishaan is called out for not paying attention and is told to read aloud to the class. He tells the teacher the letters are dancing and is kicked out of class. The next day, Ishaan is taken aside for not having his shoes polished. He runs away from school and spends the day exploring the city. He convinces Yohan to forge an absent note to take to school the next day. He does poorly on his math exam and that evening his parents find the note. His parents have a conference with the teachers and principal and his father decides to send him to boarding school.
Ishaan is afraid of the new school and becomes withdrawn and depressed. He is paired up with Rajan (Tanay Chheda), a physically handicapped boy who is top of his class. Ishaan continues to do poorly and doesn't understand his strict teachers. His new art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Aamir Khan), is different than the other teachers. He doesn't believe in discipline. He gives the class an assignment to draw whatever they want. He notices Ishaan leaves his canvas blank, so he asks him his name and Rajan answers for him. Ram speaks with the principal and tells him Ishaan needs a special kind of help or else he will sink. The principal already figured he wouldn't make it to the end of the year and Ram says not to give up on him.
On his off day, Ram visits Ishaan's family to discuss their son. He sees the paintings he's drawn and the flip book he made distancing himself from his family. Ram asks what they think the problem is. Nandkishore says it's his attitude that makes him disobedient and rebellious. Ram explains the patterns of the mistakes he makes in his handwriting and math equations. Nandkishore continues to think he must be stupid and lazy. Ram hands him a box written in Chinese and asks him to read it. He can't read it and Ram tells him he's misbehaving and his attitude is wrong. Ram reveals their son has dyslexia, he doesn't recognize the letters which is why he can't read or write.
The next day in class, Ram flips the book in front of Ishaan to get his attention. He tells the class a story about a boy who couldn't read or write. That boy was Albert Einstein. He goes on listing successful dyslexics including Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Walt Disney. He keeps Ishaan after class and reveals that he too was dyslexic and faced similar challenges at his age. Ram gets permission from the principal to be Ishaan's tutor. Over time, he teaches Ishaan to read and write and his grades vastly improve.
Towards the end of the year, Ram organizes an after-school art competition for the staff and students. The winner will have their artwork displayed on the cover of the yearbook. Ishaan shows up late, but sits down and paints a masterpiece. He shows it to Ram, then sees the portrait of himself drawn by Ram. Ishaan wins the competition and Ram is the runner-up. His parents meet with the teachers and are proud of his transformation. Nandkishore gets emotional and can't thank Ram enough for his help.
The performances in this film are exceptional. Darsheel Safary portrays Ishaan's character using his facial expressions and body language since he doesn't speak much. His imagination runs wild, which is shown through various animated sequences while he's sitting in class. The use of special effects is subtle and unique. Ishaan sees spiders with letters and numbers as bodies crawling towards him. Through his eyes, his nightmares are his reality.
Aamir Khan's role throughout the film I can only imagine as being exhausting. He worked with a classroom of 40 children and taught them how to act. He tells them not to worry about acting, but to act natural, to do what they normally would do. Khan had to work one-on-one with Safary to get the emotional tone required for each scene. His kind and caring persona gave the film a fresh breath of air once he appeared on the screen. There was a feeling of hope, you could feel it through him.
The soundtrack and background music are used to create emotional atmospheres. The scene when Ram introduces himself to the class, he shows them with his costume and song that he's carefree and fun. Having a soundtrack as good as this one gave Khan the freedom to show sides of the characters that wouldn't have worked without the music.
The story of Ishaan rose the awareness of dyslexia greatly, which led parents to meet with their children's teachers about this resolvable issue. This is a film that should be shown in schools, so teachers and students can recognize and relate to kids who might be struggling with dyslexia. Don't let the running time of 165 minutes and subtitles turn you away from this gem of a film. I highly recommend this film to people of all ages and most importantly to parents and teachers.
4/4
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