Mayur Sanap wishes there was more to this feel-good exercise that never reaches the dramatic heights it is aiming for.
There’s an innate niceness to Sitaare Zameen Par.
As the tale of the underdog, it is one of those films that aim to leave you feeling happy and hopeful, much-needed sentiments in today’s world.
The Aamir Khan vehicle is an easybreezy crowd-pleaser that bats for compassion and inclusivity, while avoiding any trappings of a flashy star spectacle. And that’s an impressive feat in itself.
As a faithful remake of the 2018 Spanish hit Campeones, Sitaare Zameen Par follows the familiar framework of rise-and-grind where all the typical tropes and feels are present to bring that classic underdog sports story vibe.
The added layer comes with the exploration of themes like love and compassion, and what it is like living in the modern world with a disability.
However, instead of really digging deep and creating an emotionally compelling drama, Sitaare goes for easy sentimentality where the button-pushing is consistent, but the emotional pay-off is far less impactful than expected despite having its big, gooey heart in the right place.
Aamir Khan plays Gulshan, an assistant basketball coach, who is frequently joked about his ego being bigger than his height. It’s a problem his wife Suneeta (Genelia Deshmukh) and mother (Dolly Ahluwalia) are used to dealing with.
After his misbehaviour with head coach (Deepraj Rana), Gulshan is suspended from the team.
A further misstep happens when he is caught driving in a drunken state that gets him into legal trouble.
Instead of jail, the court orders him to work as a coach for Sitaare, a basketball team for players with learning disabilities.
Gulshan gets three months to prepare the team for a tournament.
This is the kind of formulaic film that plays out exactly the way you would expect from the trailer. The plot is super simple, but feels disappointingly middling without any surprises in its execution.
Director R S Prasanna and Writer Divy Nidhi Sharma go after the straight-forward definition of heart-warming fun as they stick to their set formula without any meaningful upgrade on the original plot.
There are certain scenes that push too hard on sentimentality, like a plot thread involving Gulshan and Suneeta’s disagreement on having a child.
We learn that Gulshan is going through abandonment issues that stem from his traumatic experiences in childhood.
This is where Dolly Ahuwalia’s character could have been instrumental to the story, but her loud Punjabi mother is relegated to easy laughs.
Even the scenes between Aamir and Genelia play out with such synthetic and awkward chemistry that it becomes hard to buy them as a couple that has been together for years.
The wonderful cast of children gets the most short-changed by the pedestrian writing — Rishi Shahani as the playful Sharmaji, Ashish Pendse as the jovial Sunil, Naman Mishra as the emotionally-reserved Hargovind , Ayush Bhansali as the flamboyant Lotus, Samvit Desai as the persistent Kareem, Gopi Krishna Varma as the tender-hearted Guddu, Vedant Sharma as the shy Bantu, Aroush Datta as the forthright Satbir, Rishabh Jain as the lively Raju, and Simran Mangeshkar as the sassy Golu. The gang is genuinely likeable and makes you feel all fuzzy and warm inside with their effortless charm.
The on-screen dynamic they share with Aamir is a game winner from the get-go, but the wholesomeness of their characters is reduced to a single-line description, further accentuated by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music that feels perfunctory.
Without their properly defined personalities, the emotional stakes remain bare minimum for the entire 158 minutes of the runtime.
But at least, the film is not preachy about bringing awareness to their hardships as it maintains a simple and optimistic attitude.
Aamir brings appreciable doses of humour to the film, while flexing his dramatic chops as well. The rest of the well-meaning cast is never over-shadowed by his presence.
Unlike Ram Shankar Nikumbh of Taare Zameen Par, his coach here is not easy to root for at the outset. But Gulshan’s honesty becomes more apparent with his willingness to learn and grow.
By the time the film wraps up, one wishes there was more to this feel-good exercise that never reaches the dramatic heights it is aiming for.
Sitaare Zameen Par Review Rediff Rating:
