Taare Zameen Par, reissued as Like Stars on Earth for Disney's international DVD, is a 2007 Indian drama film directed by Aamir Khan. Creative Director and writer Amole Gupte initially developed the idea with his wife Deepa Bhatia, who served as the film's editor. Visual effects were created by Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Labs, and the title animation—the first use of claymation in a Bollywood film—was created by Dhimant Vyas. Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the film's score, and Prasoon Joshi wrote the lyrics for many of the songs. Principal photography took place in Mumbai and in Panchgani's New Era High School, and some of the school's students make appearances.
The film explores the life and imagination of eight-year-old Ishaan (Darsheel Safary). Although he excels in art, his poor academic performance leads his parents to send him to a boarding school. Ishaan's new art teacher (Aamir Khan) suspects that he is dyslexic, and helps him to overcome his disability. The film made its theatrical debut in India on 21 December 2007, and UTV Home Entertainment released a DVD for Indian audiences in 2008. Disney's release of the international edition DVD in 2010 marked the first purchase of distribution rights for an Indian film by a global company.
Taare Zameen Par has received numerous awards, including the Filmfare Best Film Award for 2008 and the 2008 National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare. It was India's official entry for the 2009 Academy Awards Best Foreign Film, and the film's failure to progress to the nominations short list sparked a debate about why no Indian film has ever won an Academy Award. Media outlets made comparisons between Taare Zameen Par and the British drama Slumdog Millionaire, which won several Academy Awards that same year.
Cast:Darsheel Safary as Ishaan Awasthi: In looking for an actor to play the central figure of Ishaan, writer Amole Gupte turned to Shiamak Davar's Summer Funk workshops. Gupte had several boys informally audition by explaining to him how they would react to scripted situations from the film. Of his decision to cast Darsheel Safary, Gupte recalls that "it was a tough call. But Darsheel has the mischief in his eyes to be Ishaan. Everyone just naturally gravitated towards him."
Aamir Khan as Ram Shankar Nikumbh ("Nikumbh Sir"): Gupte, who based the character on his art teacher Ramdas Sampat Nikumbh, initially asked Akshaye Khanna to play the role.
Tisca Chopra as Maya Awasthi ("Maa"): Ishaan's mother, who gave up her career to raise her children. Chopra tended to speak softly during filming and was subsequently required to re-record some scenes using automated dialogue replacement.
Vipin Sharma as Nandkishore Awasthi ("Papa"): Ishaan's "strict, hard, dominating father". Part of the reason for Sharma's casting was his "extremely strong and dominating" face that "exudes harshness." Described by Khan as "naturally polite" and sensitive, Sharma was instructed to lower his voice to sound "harsh" and "dominating".
Girija Oak as Jabeen, Nikumbh's co-worker
Sachet Engineer as Yohaan Awasthi ("Dada"): Ishaan's elder brother.
Tanay Chheda as Rajan Damodran: Ishaan's classmate at New Era High School.
Bugs Bhargava and Shankar Sachdev as Sen Sir and Tiwari Sir: Two teachers at New Era High School, whose attitude towards Ishaan softens as his grades improve and he wins the art contest. The roles are caricatures of teachers in general.
M. K. Raina as the principal of New Era High School.
Lalita Lajmi as herself in a cameo role. It was her first appearance as an actor.
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