Why Sitaare Zameen Par Was ‘Indianised’

‘What
is
fascinating
about
Aamir
sir
is
that
the
audience
in
him
is
still
alive
and
throbbing.’
‘He
still
cries.
He
still
laughs.’

Eighteen
years
after
his
directorial
debut



Taare
Zameen
Par,
Aamir
Khan
returns
with
its
‘spiritual
sequel’
called

Sitaare
Zameen
Par.

This
time,
he
deals
with
yet
another
less-known
medical
condition
—
neurodivergence.

But
Aamir
doesn’t
direct
this
time.

This
time,

R
S
Prasanna,
who
directed
the
Tamil
film

Kalyana
Samayal
Saadham
and
its
Hindi
remake

Shubh
Mangal
Saavdhan,
takes
over
the
directorial
reins.

“When
this
story
was
offered
to
me,
it
was
so
exciting,”
Prasanna
tells


Rediff‘s

Patcy
N.
“I
saw
a
quintessential
Aamir
Khan
film.”

Taare
Zameen
Par
was
a
huge
hit
and
widely
appreciated.
Does
that
put
pressure
on
you?

Every
movie
puts
pressure
on
a
filmmaker,
pressure
of
telling
a
story
from
the
heart.

When
I’m
writing
dialogues
or
a
scene,
I
am
always
scared.
What
if
I
am
the
only
person
who
finds
this
interesting?

Does
my
wife
find
it
interesting
too?

Are
my
kids
okay
with
it?

Pressure
is
the
long-term
friend
of
every
filmmaker.

When
there
is
a
legacy
like

Taare
Zameen
Par,
there
are
certainly
butterflies
in
the
stomach.

But
I
had
the
legacy
himself
next
to
me,
Aamir
Khan,
and
he
makes
his
directors
very
comfortable.

I
am
a
huge
fan
of

Taare
Zameen
Par.

I
remember
he
came
down
to
Chennai
to
receive
the
Best
Debut
Director
Award.
He
rarely
accepts
awards,
right?

That
was
the
Gollapudi
Srinivas
Memorial
Award
and
K
Balachander
gave
it
to
him.

There
was
a
huge
crowd
in
the
auditorium
and
I
couldn’t
get
an
entry.

I
was
part
of
the
crowd
outside
the
auditorium.

When
Aamir
sir
come
out
to
interact
with
fans,
he
was
so
humble.

Recently,
I
told
Aamir
sir
I
was
that
kid
who
saw
you
from
a
distance,
thank
you
for
letting
me
into
your
world.

How
did
you
approach
Aamir
for

Sitaare
Zameen
Par?

I
had
a
10-year
plan,
that
hopefully,
in
my
seventh
or
eighth
film,
I’ll
muster
up
the
courage
to
pitch
something
to
Aamir
sir.

Who
doesn’t
want
to
work
with
him?

When
this
story
was
offered
to
me,
it
was
so
exciting.

I
saw
a
quintessential
Aamir
Khan
film.

Only
he
has
the
ability
to
play
this
role.

I
felt
he
would
also
be
the
best
producer
to
help
and
guide
me.

Sitaare
looks
like

Lagaan
and

Chak
De!
India
where
a
group
of
underdogs
rise
and
win
via
a
sport.
Such
movies
have
worked
in
the
past.
Did
Aamir
choose
this
genre
because
it
was
a
sure
shot
win
after
his
last
debacle,

Laal
Singh
Chaddha?

Aamir
sir
follows
his
heart.

I
have
asked
him
how
he
chooses
his
films.
He
has
the
same
answer:
He
follows
his
heart.

What
is
fascinating
about
Aamir
sir
is
that
the
audience
in
him
is
still
alive
and
throbbing.

He
still
cries.
He
still
laughs.

For
most
people,
it’s
very
difficult
to
keep
their
knowledge
of
the
craft
aside
while
watching
a
movie.

Aamir
sir
still
has
the
ability
to
be
an
audience
while
watching
a
movie.

Sitaare
is
a
remake
of
the
Spanish
film

Champions,
which
was
inspired
from
true
events.
Did
you
watch
the
movie
to
understand
it
better?

My
first
movie
in
Hindi,

Shubh
Mangal
Saavdhan,
is
an
adaptation
of
my
own
film,

Kalyan
Samyal
Saavdhan.

It’s
very
important
to
know
why
we
are
adapting
something.

If
there
is
an
opportunity
to
tell
a
story,
one
needs
to
be
excited
by
that
story.

I
wanted
my
father,
mother
and
my
family
to
see
this
film,
but
they
will
not,
unless
I
Indianise
it.

It’s
a
universal
story.

I
wanted
people
to
enjoy
this
in
an
Indian
context.

Apart
from
that,
which
other
movie
would
give
us
an
opportunity
to
work
with
80
to
90
percent
neurodivergent
actors?

How
could
I
let
go
of
this
opportunity?

I
couldn’t.

=

How
difficult
was
it
to
work
with
actors
with
special
needs?
Is
it
true
you
auditioned
2,500
actors?

We
had
a
lovely
casting
process
for
over
10
months.

Aamir
sir
and
I
were
helped
by
casting
directors,
Tess
Joseph
and
Anmol
Ahuja.

We
put
a
process
in
place
where
we
reached
out
to
organisations
and
asked
for
entries
because
we
were
looking
at
people
with
enthusiasm
and
a
desire
to
act.

We
were
not
looking
at
professional
actors.

Some
of
them
have
done
movies,
like
Gopi
Krishna
Varma,
but
we
were
looking
at
real
people
who
love
to
act.

I
always
wanted
to
be
an
actor
when
I
was
a
kid.
Then
I
realised
there
is
something
called
direction
and
writing.

When
I
made
short
films
in
college
with
a
mini
camera,
my
actors
were
amateurs.
They
were
my
friends,
my
family.

I
am
not
averse
to
working
with
new
talent.

What
was
it
like
shooting
with
them?

They
shocked
us
with
their
stamina.

After
lunch,
we
would
have
a
dance
party
to
get
our
energies
up.

What
I
really
admire
is
that
they
just
don’t
give
up.

They
are
perfectionists,
just
like
Aamir
Khan.

We
would
get
our
day’s
work
done
on
time,
we
didn’t
lose
any
time
because
of
them.

An
inclusive
work
environment
is
beautiful
because
there
is
an
increase
in
productivity.
You’re
working
without
egos
and
there’s
a
lot
of
empathy
and
kindness.

What
made
you
think
about
making
a
film
on
neurodivergence?

When
we
were
expecting
our
first
child,
we
had
to
do
a
(Down’s
Syndrome)
test
for
the
baby
to
check
the
parameters.

I
did
not
know
much
about
neurodivergence,
and
that
made
me
question
a
lot
of
things.

One
night,
I
remember
asking
my
wife
Meena
if
I
was
wrong
in
praying
for
a
healthy
child.
Was
I
wrong
in
praying
that
my
child
ought
to
be
this
way
and
not
that?

We
were
having
this
conversation
and
then
I
think
the
night
ended
with
us
saying
that
whatever
God
chooses
to
send,
that
would
be
our
child.

A
lot
of
people
and
counsellors
educated
us.

We
researched
online.

There
are
so
many
of
these

Sitaare
who
are
achievers
in
life.

When
the
discussion
about
this
film
happened,
this
thought
was
in
my
mind.

When
Aamir
sir
asked
me,
why
would
you
want
to
do
this
film?

I
told
him
that
what
if
a
guy
like
Gulshan
(played
by
Aamir)
is
not
aware
of
these
things?
Who
will
teach
him?

Suddenly,
it
all
came
together.

I
talked
to
Samvit
Desai’s
(who
plays
one
of
the
Sitaare)
parents,
and
they
told
me
so
many
stories
about
how
they
felt.

There
are
good
resources
nowadays
and
so
much
more
awareness.

Taare
Zameen
Par
had
a
huge
impact
on
the
special
needs
community,
so
they
were
very
excited
when
we
went
to
them
with
this
movie.

How
was
it
working
with
Aamir
Khan?
Did
he
give
ideas
and
tell
you
what
to
do
or
not
do,
or
did
he
give
you
a
free
hand?

I
have
been
asked
this
in
every
interview.
I
shared
this
with
Aamir
sir
two
days
ago
and
we
had
a
laugh
over
it.

Aamir
sir
is
an
absolute
delight
to
work
with.

He
respects
every
single
department,
be
it
the
director,
the
assistant
directors
or
the
costume
department.

He
empowers
filmmaking
in
all
the
departments.

He
will
not
overstep
or
to
tell
you
to
do
this
and
that.

He
empowers
young
people.

Remember,
he
worked
with
me,
who
has
not
done
any
big
film
before

Shubh
Mangal
Saavdaan.

He
constantly
takes
chances
on
directors
who
may
not
have
done
big
films
before.

He
is
very
addictive.
He
spoils
his
directors.

How
did
you
get
into
the
movies?

I
come
from
a
middle
class
family
in
Chennai,
which
had
nothing
to
do
with
movies.

Let
me
correct
myself.
We
have
everything
to
do
with
movies
because
we
are
the
audience.

My
father
is
a
huge
film
buff.

One
of
the
films
he
took
me
to
was
Kamal
Haasan’s

Guna.
It’s
a
classic.
He
is
a
neurodivergent
protagonist.

I
remember
watching

Koshish,
Jaya
Bachchan
and
Sanjeev
Kumar’s
classic,
where
we
had
special
needs
people.

Then,
there
was
Kamal
Haasan’s

Sadma.

I
come
from
a
family
who
was
hugely
supportive
of
my
filmmaking
aspirations.

My
father
was
very
clear
that
whatever
you
do,
just
get
your
engineering
degree,
so
you
will
have
a
job.

My
lovely
wife
and
two
children
keep
me
grounded
and
also
keep
my
passion
for
cinema
alive.