In Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan finally faces the man in the mirror, as he trades perfection for vulnerability

To watch an Aamir Khan film is to witness a man performing his myth. It is to see him step into what he has always been to the masses: an ideal, rehearsed and refined over time. Like every Bollywood star, he arrives upright, and untouchable. He offers the stage to others, briefly, until the narrative bends again towards him. He looks down, not necessarily with disdain, but with the burden of knowing. He guides, he instructs, he sermonises, as if he alone carries the moral compass. In every film, without fail, he tells the audience what is right, what must be done. As if it is never enough to play the role; he must also shape the world that watches. His myth is not just of craft, but of conscience. He is the perfectionist, the thinking Khan, the one who supposedly feels deeper, thinks wiser, acts better. So to watch him is not just to watch a performance. It is to be addressed. To be measured. To be shown, again and again, what the ideal man looks like.
So, stepping into his latest Sitaare Zameen Par, I carried certain skepticism. The reasons weren't singular. I didn't want to be told, once again, how blind we've all been, how sharply he's always seen. That lesson had already begun long before the opening frame, though those pre-release interviews, swollen with certainty, were hard enough to watch. But deeper than that was memory. It was Taare Zameen Par (Sitaare Zameen Par being its spiritual sequel) where this long performance of moral authorship truly began. To be fair, the film was more than just a sermon; it had heart, depth, tenderness. And yet, it was also the film that first carved out the myth: the image of Aamir Khan not just as an actor, but as a moral architect. In the years that followed, 3 Idiots, PK, Dangal, Secret Superstar, the narratives became increasingly tailored to orbit his image, to elevate it, to consolidate it. The stories moved, but always around him. So the unease was not incidental. It was earned. And the concerns, like the myth itself, had multiplied over time.
And then, to make matters worse, the opening scene of Sitaare Zameen Par plays out with a familiar discomfort. Written and performed in a way that makes you brace for the inevitable, that slow drift into Aamir Khan's familiar air of subtle superiority. He appears as Gulshan, the junior basketball coach, seated off the court, yet unable to stay silent. From the stands, he advises, corrects, guides the head coach, dissecting every misstep, convinced the game is being played all wrong, and that only he knows how to fix it. Did Dangal's second half cross your mind? It should have. That's the point. That's the worry. Awakening again. And as the minutes stretch into hours, those early fears don't dissipate. They sort of grow roots. Because underneath it all, the film reveals itself to be what so many others have been: a simplistic entertainer, occasionally stirring, occasionally funny, but ultimately predictable. Its moving moments are genuine, yes. But also calculated, bracketed by the kind of screenwriting sleight-of-hand you can see long before it arrives. Like every Aamir Khan crowd-pleaser, it soothes the middle-class heart and instructs the middle-class mind.
And yet, what almost lifts the film, what brushes it against something more, is the sight of Aamir Khan beginning, finally, to take apart his own myth. He is no longer the man who knows everything, who cannot be wrong, who carries the moral compass like birth right. He is no longer the invincible one, the conscience in the room, the perfect mind in a world of flawed others. In Sitaare Zameen Par, he is none of these things. And in that choice, the film becomes something else, a deconstruction of everything that made him the middle-class messiah. There's a different kind of pleasure here, not the comfort he usually offers, but a reversal of sorts. After years of being the one who instructs, he is now the one being instructed. After years of touting wisdom, we see him being touted. There's a thrill in that turn. A faint excitement in watching him called out, for being too clever, too self-sure, too wrapped in the illusion of perfection.
Also Read | Sitaare Zameen Par movie review: Aamir Khan delivers fully committed performance in heart-winning comedy
So, in the film, as Gulshan, he is politically incorrect and unrepentantly arrogant. He is rude, self-centred, a man who carries the belief that the world is simply too small for his genius. And so, it's no surprise that over the course of three hours, he becomes the one in need of awakening. One by one, every character holds up a mirror. One by one, they throw him under the bus, not out of cruelty, but because he's earned it. They remind him what it means to be dismissive, to be blind to others' feelings, to think that brilliance excuses disregard. In every sense, the film becomes his journey, of ego unravelling, of self being slowly confronted. And strangely, this is a huge shift. For once, Aamir Khan doesn't hijack the story halfway through; he centers himself from the very beginning. And because of that, it becomes honest. It becomes his. And maybe that's why the performance begins to land, because it isn't designed to awe. He plays a man-child, emotionally immature, socially unaware. His wide-eyed earnestness, his furrowed brow, his awkward charm, they all fit. Because this time, he is the one being corrected. And, thankfully for once, he listens.
Perhaps the film's deepest triumph lies in the realization his character finally reaches: that it is okay not to be right. That you don't have to be the one with all the answers, the intellect, the mastery. That not every battle needs to be won, not every moment needs to be conquered. For so long, in every film where he has championed the different, the misunderstood, the misfit, the arc has still bent towards triumph. Moral victory, yes, but often, unmistakably, material as well. Consider the ending of 3 Idiots. It isn't enough that Rancho finds joy in teaching, in shaping young minds. No, we must also be told that he has become a world-famous scientist, more 'successful' than the classmate who once mocked him. Or even take Taare Zameen Par. It isn't enough that Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) is seen painting, finally at peace with himself. The film must assure us that he has also won the competition.
That's where the pain creeps in. This idea that to be different, to be gentle, to be inward, one must still, eventually, emerge as victor. As if kindness needs a medal. As if sensitivity must be redeemed by success. As if only by winning the cycle race, only by wearing the gold medal, can he earn the title Sikandar. But here, in Sitaare Zameen Par, something softens. For once, we are allowed to imagine a hero who does not need to win to be worthy. Who does not need history to remember him, as long as the present is better for his effort. A hero not made by applause, but by intention. One who learns that trying is triumph. That growth is grace. That perfection is not a crown, but a pursuit.

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