Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“That was such a clean film with a good message, right?” my grandfather rhetorically told me as we exited the theatre after watching Sitaare Zameen Par. And well, that’s one way to sum up the Aamir Khan movie: an entertaining film you can watch with the entire family (I’d say the kids need to be over 10) without worrying about awkward or uncomfortable scenes and moments.
Directed by Prasanna RS and written by Divy Nidhi Sharma, “Sitaare Zameen Par” is an Indian adaptation of the Spanish hit film Campeones. The Bollywood remake stars Aamir Khan as Gulshan, a disgraced basketball coach ordered to train a group of special-needs children for three months. This is his “punishment” for driving under the influence of alcohol and hitting a police car.
“Sitaare Zameen Par” introduces Gulshan as the assistant coach of the Delhi basketball team, often mocked as ‘tingu’ (a Hindi slang that means ‘shorty’), due to his short height. After a fight with the head-coach, a drunk Gulshan comically hits a police car, while the song ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ plays in the background. You know, the iconic song from ‘Delhi Belly’, which was produced by Aamir Khan.
So, Aamir’s Gulshan starts off as a typical arrogant, egoistic, outspoken Delhi jerk who calls kids with Down syndrome or any other mental health problems “mental” or “mad.” Both his personal and professional lives are in shambles: he’s temporarily staying with his mother (Dolly Ahluwalia) while constantly clashing with his wife Suneeta (Genelia D’Souza), who runs a boutique.
But once Gulshan meets the team he is supposed to coach, it is Gulshan who gets schooled by the kids on compassion, love, empathy, and athletic spirit. Gulshan’s first instinct is to find a way out of the three-month ordeal, but once the kids are enrolled in a national basketball championship, Gulshan does his best to train them and finds himself often surprised by their spirit.
The “Sitaare Zameen Par” – aka the special kids – are:
- Sunil (Ashish Pendse), who loves to track flights and works as a parking lot attendant.
- Guddu (Gopi Krishnan Varma), a smelly kid with an intense passion for pets and animals.
- Sharmaji (Rishi Shahani), a bespectacled old soul who works at a café.
- Kareem (Samvit Desai), slow and independent, living in a hostel, supporting himself by working at a hotel.
- Lotus (Aayush Bhansali), passionate about hair dyes and obsessed with his girlfriend.
- Satbir (Aroush Datta), whose mum cannot recognize him if he isn’t wearing red.
- Rishabh Jain, a Delhi boy who brings Goa vibes to the team.
- Bantu (Vedant Sharmaa), umm, he loves to dig his ears.
- Golu (Simran Mangeshkar), the only girl in the group who chooses violence to solve things.
- Hargovind (Naman Misra), the tallest in the team, who can play like a true champ.
Bollywood fans will find plenty of easter eggs referencing the actor’s old projects throughout the runtime of Sitaare Zameen Par. For instance, the song “Papa Kehte Hain Bada Naam Karega“, which remains a beloved Bollywood classic from Aamir’s debut film ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’, gets a modern comic twist in the new original track “Good for Nothing” by Amitabh Bhattacharya, whose lyrics go, “Papa kehte the aisa kaam karega, bada hoke mujhko tu badnaam karega.”
Much like Aamir’s 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par, this 2025 film tackles stereotypes and ignorance around children with special needs. “Everybody’s normal is different,” says Kartar Paaji (Gurpal Singh), the sports complex in-charge, when Gulshan questions the kids’ normalcy. The point lands comically when Kartar asks how much sugar Gulshan wants in his tea. “Normal amount,” he replies, only for Kartar to ask, “Your normal or mine?” Turns out, Gulshan’s “normal” is six spoons!
All the new actors in the basketball team are endearing, each getting a quick little intro to make their characters stick. Thankfully, except for one or two overstretched sequences here and there, “Sitaare Zameen Par” rarely get preachy, and maintains a comedic, light-hearted tone throughout its 2 hour 30 minute length. The film works due to Aamir’s willingness to be poked fun at and play second-fiddle to the younger cast. There are moments when his trademark stiffness creeps in, but he ultimately pulls it off, especially when it comes to the emotional climax. But the climax isn’t your regular tear-jerker, as one would expect from such a script, instead, it focuses on finding joys in small victories.
Aamir Khan’s Gulshan is ultimately humbled by his basketball squad, who teach him to love, laugh, and find joy in life’s simplest moments. “Sitaare Zameen Par” gently reminds us that Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar is just one way to look at life, sometimes, just showing up with heart is enough to win.
“Sitaare Zameen Par” is playing in theaters.
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