Like Stars on Earth

Year 2007
Genre: Coming-of-Age Drama
Directed: Aamir Khan
Stars: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tanay Chheda, Sachet Engineer, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma, Lalitha Lajmi, Ravi Khanvilkar, Pratima Kulkarni
Production: Aamir Khan Productions

I am lucky enough to count the number of teachers that, at various points have inspired me on two hands. Most people only have the luxury of coming across one particularly gifted instructor and even then, the possibility of a sincere and lasting connection is limited due to large class sizes, lack of resources and/or lack of school-wide support. Even though I never suffered from dyslexia or any other serious conditions or disorders, I immediately connected with our young hero Ishaan (Safary) and sympathized with his struggles as a young student unable to thrive in an academic setting.

Due to poor reading, writing and math skills, Ishaan risks being left behind by his fellow classmates. His teachers think the daydreaming youngster is being disobedient, his stringent father (Sharma) thinks he's lazy, his mother (Chopra) and overachieving brother (Engineer) are caught in between trying and failing to understand the boy. Forced out of his neighborhood school, Ishaan is enrolled mid-semester into a strict boarding school where teachers take little notice of the child's growing anxieties. His only solace is painting; a talent he's rapidly losing interest in. After all, "what good can come of it," says his father.

It is only by the half-way mark of the film we meet Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Khan), a substitute art teacher who coaxes Ishaan out of his shell. Even then Ishaan doesn't gravitate towards Ram's extroverted shenanigans as you would expect; rather he sits by the sidelines and pensively watches as any child who has been discouraged by kids and adults like. By this point, Ishaan is beyond a one-dimensional stand-in but a fully fleshed out character we pin our hopes and dreams on. The viewer begs the film to give us absolution thus allowing the broad but benevolent humor provided by Aamir Khan to sneak in.

Despite a rather paint-by-numbers plot about a unique teacher-student relationship, the movie is anything but banal. Constant abuses by parents, teachers and fellow students are overwhelmed by Ishaan's elaborate flights of fancy which flash with bright colors and wild originality. His inner-monologue is cheery even when his reality is dour. His relationship with Ram develops slowly and naturally allowing the breathing room absent from similar films such as The Dead Poets Society (1989). Then there's the rhythm of the film which ebbs and flows with the songs which are purposed as glorified montages rather than outright musical numbers. It's a Bollywood film with a surprising amount of restraint.

Pictured: UNICEF Child Nutrition Ambassador

Yet, while the film restrains some of the florid schmaltz so common in Indian cinema, there is still a lot of it going on. Many may be turned off by Aamir Khan fake playing with a gaggle of mentally disabled children; or inadvertently giggle when he turns around dramatically to see Ishaan smile for the first time. From what I know about Khan however, I at least know his intentions are sincere, thus I can't fault him too much for leaning on culturally acceptable melodrama.

Told with imagination, beauty and sincerity, Like Stars on Earth is a brilliant companion piece to 3 Idiots (2009), a film with similar attitudes towards creative invention and holistic education. I suppose it's not too much of a spoiler to tell you Ishaan suffers from un-diagnosed dyslexia. A condition that Ram cannot only recognize in the boy but has suffered from it himself. Isn't that ultimately what differentiates a good teacher from a great one? A teacher who not only conjures curious spirit, but helps because he or she has the ability to put themselves in the student's shoes.

Final Grade: A-