Cast: Aamir Khan, Genelia Deshmukh, Gurpal Singh
Director: R.S. Prasanna
Platform: In cinemas from 20 June
Rating out 5: ★★★
I count myself among the devoted: a fan of Aamir Khan, the man who has navigated Indian cinema’s tricky currents from blockbusters to socially burning platforms, and I admire his unrelenting sense of purpose. Whether it was Taare Zameen Par shining a light on learning differences, Dangal reimagining gender norms through sport, or Talaash sketching guilt and grief with an adult’s hand, he’s always leaned into films that carry deep social lessons. He puts the “conscience” in celebrity, forgoing mere shimmer for a moral agenda. So when Sitaare Zameen Par hit the screens, I leaned forward expectantly, hopeful for that classic Aamir spark.
What came instead was a warm, polished, often satisfying film but one that ultimately feels like a gentle echo of something we’ve seen before.
Borrowing heavily, actually, officially, from the 2018 Spanish crowd‑pleaser Champions, and following the spiritual thread of Taare Zameen Par, Sitaare Zameen Par tells the story of Gulshan (Aamir), a burnt‑out basketball coach sentenced to community service after a drunk‑driving conviction. His task: mould a rag‑tag team of mildly to moderately neurodivergent adults; with Down’s syndrome, Asperger’s & autism into a functioning basketball unit. That’s the pitch: unkempt coach, unwanted punishment, and eventual redemption through inclusivity. Cue the parents who want babies (Genelia D’Souza provides this subplot) and a snarky coach who learns empathy. Aamir’s penchant for “hero‑with‑flaws” is in full swing, he’s rude, obstinate, politically incorrect, and quite unforgivably so in early scenes. You can sense the film before it starts – he’ll soften, find warmth, and nudge others to do the same.
Aamir, once again, is the spine of the picture: his transformation from a curmudgeon to someone better is steady if unsurprising. In true Aamir form, he walks a thin line, if he tips too far into moralism, the film might collapse under its own weight. Thankfully he stays rooted in realness. When Gulshan mocks the kids, it stings; when he learns from them, it redeems.
Genelia has little to do except be a moral compass for Aamir’s character, but she does it
with restraint, no melodrama. The real heroes here are our ten basketball players, their debut roles and Gurpal Singh, who bring decorum, charm, humour and occasional pathos. Their performances are solid, unforced: stop‑motion humanity, in a sense. Gurpal Singh in particular emerges as something of a co‑hero.
R.S. Prasanna directs and keeps the tone warm and crowd‑friendly. The laughs come easy, the tears well up gently, but the film never crosses into overly dramatic malaise, yet it stays a few steps from boldness: the dialogue leans into clichés (“sab ka apna normal hota hai”), the arcs trace familiar spiritual beats, the lives are lightly sketched rather than deeply etched
Show me a coach‑redemption film with disabilities and politics and I’ll show you The Blind Side but India‑style. There’s intelligence in the inclusivity of neurodiversity, laughter, play, personal growth but one can’t ignore the narrative scaffolding that’s been in place for a decade. Aamir’s insistence on a theatrical-only release (he turned down a ₹120 crore OTT offer ) shows involvement beyond acting, but doesn’t rescue the film from being just well‑made rather than well‑remembered.
Running nearly two hours forty, the film rarely drags; editing is fluid. Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy’s songs are serviceable, never deaf‑offering, but never thrilling. The cinematography doesn’t try to stylise as in it’s functional, cheerful, but visually forgettable. You leave not humming themes, but with an aftertaste of something pleasant, not piercing.
This is the emotional territory Aamir owns, mastered decades ago. We’ve seen the gawky coach learn humility; we’ve cried at innocence, bathed in sincere laughter at the inclusion. The convert‑on‑screen motif works because films like Aamir Khan’s own Taare Zameen Par cleared the path., But does it do it again? We nod, we applaud, we wipe a tear, yet we’re vaguely aware we’ve seen the montage light before. That said, audiences, and critics, have found real warmth here.
Three stars. Not for lack of heart, but for lack of risk. Sitaare Zameen Par is a solid Aamir Khan movie: socially aware, performance‑anchored, crowd‑clever. But it doesn’t progress expectation with invention. Call it heartwarming and safe, powerful and predictable, sometimes films need to be both. Aamir has built a career fusing social purpose with cinema’s joy and while this one rarely dazzles, it doesn’t disappoint either.
To Aamir, a salute. You still chase two rabbits at once: box office acceptance and conscience cinema. That’s rare in our noisy industry, and your track record including Dangal, Ghajini, Taare Zameen Par speaks for itself. Sitaare Zameen Par may not reach those past peaks, but it reminds us, yet again, that mainstream Bollywood can aspire to more than song‑and‑dance spectacle. It can provoke, educate, warm the heart all while earning. That matters.
