Taare Zameen Par Film Review

Taare Zameen Par, redistributed by Disney as Like Stars on Earth is a 2007 Indian drama film produced and directed by Aamir Khan. The story was developed by Creative Director, Amole Gupte, with his wife Deepa Bhatia that started as a shorty story that grown into a screenplay for over seven years. According to an interview in The Hindu newspaper, Deep Bhatia stated that Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa was their original inspiration. Akira performed poorly in shool but, his skills began to flourish after meeting a keen art teacher. This gave birth to the story of “a child who did not fit into the school stream” named Ishaan Nandkishore.

Ishaan is an 8 years old dyslexic child that was sent by his parents to a boarding school because he is on the verge of repeating 3rd grade for the second time. Like in Akira’s life, Ishaan met Ram Shankar Nikumbh, his new art teacher that suspected Ishaan’s dyslexic nature despite the unawareness of Ishaan’s parents. Through immeasurable amount of effort Nikumbh helped Ishaan to overcome his disability. The movie became a road towards a better understanding of students who can’t adapt to the conventional education system because of mental illness.

The movie revolved with Ishaan’s mental problem called dyslexia which remained unnoticed by Ishaan’s family until, Nakumbh’s discovery . In the Philippines, 10 to 15 percent of children experience mental health conditions. According to Cristina Rowena S. Padilla, a reading specialist and part-time faculty at the Child Development and Special Education Department of the College of Education in Miriam College, Quezon City, about 5 percent of any age group would have dyslexia or other forms of learning disability. This is why consciousness about these is a must especially, with the stigma in the Philippine society.

Multiple articles and researches have stated that Philippines have a rampant case of social stigma in the Philippines where insensitive and discriminatory attitudes are evident in schools and workplaces. The stigma associated with mental illness in the Philippines hinders the early intervention that is key to improving the lives of affected Filipino children, according to a developmental pediatrician, Dr. Rochelle Pacifico.

Dr. Pacifico further explained that proper mental health treatment is hindered by a huge wall of denial among family members of the mentally ill person, blocking the opportunities that could have maximized their potential and improved their state. This is the same with Ishaan’s father, Nandkishore Awasthi, who dismissed Nakumbh’s statement about Ishaan’s dyslexia as laziness. In addition, a study in 2012 showed that neglect ranked first among the variables that directly contribute to the risk of long – term physical and mental health, Dr. Pacifico said.