Sitaare Zameen Par REVIEW: Aamir Khan’s ‘Normal’ Performance Dulls The Shine Of The ‘Sitaares’

Film:
Sitaare Zameen Par

Director: R S Prasanna

Writer: Divy Nidhi Sharma

Cast: Aamir Khan, Genelia Deshmukh, Dolly Ahluwalia, Brijendra Kala, Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, Simran Mangeshkar

Run Time: 2 hours, 38 minutes

Platform: In Theatres

Sitaare Zameen Par Review

Sab ka apna apna normal hota hai, aapka normal aapka, unka normal unka – this one line beautifully sums up R S Prasanna’s Sitaare Zameen Par starring Aamir Khan in the lead, alongside Genelia Deshmukh and 10 bright and shining stars. Inspired by the 2018 Spanish film Champions (also remade in Arabic, English and German), SZP begins when junior basketball coach Gulshan Arora – a good coach, but not an evolved human being, gets suspended from his job owing to disciplinary issues. After causing vehicular damage while driving under the influence thereafter, he is given social work and is appointed to train a basketball team of neurodivergent adults. In the beginning, he struggles immensely to adjust to the kids and understand their quirks, especially as he doesn’t want any of his own.

However, over the course of the three months that he trains his teams to make it to the finals of the National Basketball Championship, the kids – Sunil (Ashish Pendse), Satbir (Aroush Datta), Lotus (Aayush Bhansali), Sharma Ji (Rishi Shahani), Guddu (GopiKrishnan K Verma), Raju (Rishabh Jain), Bantu (Vedant Sharma), Golu (Simran Mangeshkar), Kareem (Samvit Desai) and Hargovind (Naman Misra), eventually teach him how to be empathetic and even overcome his fears. Aside from prepping the ‘sitaares’ for the upcoming tournament, Gulshan is also at odds with his wife (played by Genelia) as she wants a kids and Arora – due to childhood trauma, wants to skip being a father totally.

What Works

The impeccable casting of the 10 neurodivergent children is spot-on. The film’s strength lies in its relatability as the film’s emotional undercurrents resonates well with today’s society.

What Doesn’t Work

Aamir Khan. Yes, Mr Perfectionist – in his bid to narrate a beautiful story about inclusivity, has overdone the acting; especially his eyebrows. It’s lengthy and the BGM too is loud and unneeded at times.

Technical Analysis

Story & Screenplay

Inspired by the 2018 Spanish film Champions, Sitaara Zameen Par is written by Divy Nidhi Sharma and very similar to the original source material. The premise and scenes are the same with very little scope for improvisation. In fact, it would be better to say it’s a remake with a touch of desi flavour instead of calling it an inspiration.

Editing

Edited by Charu Shree Roy, the runtime of 158 minutes is way, way to long. The stretched screenplay – which should have been cut down a bit at the very least on the edit table, will make you loose interest despite the touching performances on screen and the characters’ emotional stories.

Music

A Bollywood movie without music is incomplete and music trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy have delivered. While the songs aren’t something that will remain with u long after the film’s end credit roll – like Taare Zameen Par’s songs, they do add to the narrative and experience of watching Sitaare Zameen Par on the big screen. However, the background score by Ram Sampath is loud and unneeded at times.

Sitaare Zameen Par Acting

Aamir Khan is the star of this film. Unlike TZP where Darsheel Safary’s Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi was the main focus, here the focus is on Gulshan more than the 10 kids.

The acting by all the ‘sitaares’ or SZP is beautiful. Genelia Deshmukh as Suneeta showcases a range of emotions over the span of 158 minutes and wins us over with her being just how she is IRL.

Gurpal Singh as Kartar Paaji bring depth to the film, similar to what Aamir’s Ram Shankar Nikumbh brought to Taare Zameen Par. Dolly Ahluwalia as Preeto is a force to be reckoned with despite her limited screentime. Brijendra Kala as Daulat ji, the Arora’s family friend add a bit of comic relief.

Conclusion

Unlike its predecessor, Sitaare Zameen Par doesn’t not move you the way Taare Zameen Par did despite being sweet, funny and having a touching message. The 10 ‘sitaares’ shine bright

Hope our Sitaare Zameen Par review helps you in making a sound decision whether the Aamir Khan-led emotional, sports drama is worth a watch in theatres.

Watch the trailer of Sitaare Zameen Par here:

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Grinell Jacinto

With nearly 10 years of experience, Grinell Esther Jacinto is the Desk Head of Bollywood Bubble. Her interests lie in everything that is kaleshi and she loves to dig deeper into the lives of B-town actors. She has a problem though – she loves horror films but will have chills the minute the theatres lights dims. She’s previously worked with Koimoi, UrbanAsian and SpotboyE.