Taare zamein par!

Well firstly, it is a good movie. Great acting by the young kid, some good cinematography, great paintings, good story, the maa song really tocuhed me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_21qBZpD7FM
The scene in which he fights with the shower...thats good...reminded me of calvin (from C&H) fighting the monster in his bath tub. Similarly, the one with 3X9 in exam and plut not being a planet anymore ... the spaceman spiff from calvin (if you can see it) ....it was nice to see that.

Clearly it is one of the good movies coming out of commercial bollywood but its not the best movie ever.
Firstly, it is too long..2 hrs 40 mins could have been easily reduced to 2 hrs.
I can easily compare this movie with a movie like freedom writers or dead poet's society (minus ending). But i would still rate these 2 above taare. Why?
1. Aamir khan's role was too coated. His opening scene comes out of nowhere. That 5 min song was the worst part of the movie. once aamir khan steps in, the movie is dominated by him and not by the kid.
2. It was also the case with freedom writers and it is also a case here...... characters are shown in black and white,no shades of grey. All teachers (except aamir) are totally against the boy. there could have been some intermediate people.
3. I may be too scrupulous now but like the questions like "explain the hindi poem" and the answer that he gives... come on he is a class 3 kid. Where is the dot on the board and the time when he makes a glider on water in arts class.... somehow i dont buy it.

Now comes the difficult question... The idea of making a movie is to show the audience an ideal scenario...the idea of an hero, the perfect world. But the trick is to do it as realistically as possible. One of my favourite examples of this thin line is the book as well as the movie " To kill a mocking bird". Characters are ideal, perfect but still they are very realistic. Thats class! Its difficult, i understand. Freedom writers was based on a true story, Dead poet's society's ending was a masterpiece making it much closer to reality (although still an extreme). If you are looking for indian examples, look at Khosla ka ghosla...simple setup, many knows about the housing problem but the solution is althouhgh far-fetched but everything gels. Look at monsoon wedding, water. And i am quoting the recent movies so that comparison is better.

Taare zamein par is a very good attempt. Movies like this will change the future of bollywood. They deserve success. But to call it a "god-level" movie, thats an overstatement.