A heartfelt exploration of neurodiversity

Movie review: Sitaare Zameen Par 

Cast: Aamir Khan, Genelia Deshmukh and Dolly Ahluwalia Tewari

Director: RS Prasanna

Rating: 7/10 

IN SITAARE Zameen Par, Aamir Khan returns to his well worn comfort zone, the socially conscious feel good movie with a side of emotional reformation. He is no stranger to the social issue drama, softened with sentiment and served with a smile. A spiritual sequel to Taare Zameen Par and an Indian adaptation of Spain’s Champeones, this version swaps dyslexia for neurodivergence and art class for the basketball court.

But while its heart is in the right place, its game plan feels decidedly secondhand. The story follows Gulshan Arora (Aamir Khan), a hot headed basketball coach sentenced to coach a team of neurodivergent players as part of court mandated community service. The setup is textbook. Predictably, what begins as a reluctant chore turns into a redemptive journey of empathy and self awareness.

We've seen this arc before, grizzled cynic meets underdog misfits and emerges a better man, but director RS Prasanna infuses just enough levity to keep the formula from feeling stale. Prasanna avoids emotional overkill, opting instead for measured optimism. The film does not drown in pity, rather, it floats in gentle advocacy. What distinguishes the movie is not its plot (which, frankly, feels more control paste than adaptation), but its cast.

The neurodivergent actors bring unfiltered charm and authenticity, anchoring the film with genuine emotion and zero artifice. lending its most honest moments. Their presence elevates a conventional plot into something more resonant. Here, disability is not romanticized or pitied, it simply exists, fully and confidently. Instead, it nudges viewers toward a shift in perspective.

These are people with agency, humour, and skill.Khan, for his part, gives a more restrained performance than in Laal Singh Chaddha, though he still relies on his full arsenal of "emotive face acting". Think emoji theatre, earnest, exaggerated, raised eyebrows and occasionally endearing.

Genelia Deshmukh adds softness as Gulshan’s patient wife and exudes grace in a role written as emotional scaffolding. Dolly Ahluwalia, in limited screen time, steals scenes with her razor sharp comic timing.The film flirts with deeper emotional and societal themes, parental trauma, ableism, masculinity, but never quite commits to exploring them. It simplifies complexities in the name of optimism, wrapping real challenges in pastel hues and musical interludes.

Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s soundtrack, while competent, doesn’t haunt or linger. Still, Sitaare Zameen Par has its moments. It makes you smile. It asks you to care. And it does so without descending into maudlin sermonizing. It speaks with sincerity, even if it repeats familiar lines. But sometimes, especially in our increasingly cynical world, a sincere message wrapped in cinematic sugar isn’t such a bad thing.

Sitaare Zameen Par is not transcendent, but tender. It may not move mountains, but gently shifts perspectives. Sometimes, that’s enough. The movie is now showing at a cinema screen near you.

Keshav Dass is a presenter on Lotus FM and hosts The Night Café, Monday to Thursday, 9pm to midnight

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