The Significance of Films like 'Sitaare Zameen Par'

Last week I watched the movie Sitaree Zameen par, I was excited from the time I had seen the trailer. The movie looked fresh and had a comic twist to a very serious matter that it was highlighting. Because the movie came from the think tank of Aamir Khan, the expectations were naturally high. He has given us many gems in the past that changed the whole perspective of many generations together.

Few months back, there was an uproar on social media over a movie showcasing the main lead of the movie treating the female lead very badly and that it was shown in a non-apologetic way which caused discomfort among many women. The director of the movie defending this movie even further by making disgusting misogynistic comments did not help. His point was the movie should be watched like movie and not use too much brain into it. He said that there are many crimes happening in India and movies do not influence people's behaviour anymore.

Listening to his statements, I went into a thinking spiral. I was six years old when I watched a major movie called "Hum aapke hai kaun". It was a huge rage in 1994, and I remember appreciating the sisterhood and realized how important having a family was. I am sure, I was the not the one who was feeling this. If you are born and raised in India, no matter which religion/culture you belong to, there are always two other religions that unite all the other religions. That is the religion of "Cricket" and "Cinemas". If you are an Indian, you know the kind of influence these two religions impact your life, especially cinema. Hence bluntly stating that cinema do not influence the society is a tone deaf statement to make. Touch some grass old man.

The thing is, when you have a powerful medium like the movie that would represent neurodivergent individuals in the mainstream cinema, I was so excited. You have a cinematic genius like Aamir who chose to tell their stories and struggles, which mind you never saw any representation in cinema till date. We saw them here and there in some odd movies, with stereotypical representation mostly shown with pity. This was same Aamir Khan who gave a gem of a movie like "3 Idiots" which changed the whole perspective of looking at professional courses differently in India and across the world (I can't forgive some "jokes" made in the movie). With my expectations, sky high, I was waiting to come out all teary eyed and my hearted soaked in sweetness. (Yes, I cry at the movies).

Then what happened? Why was I having mixed feelings? Because the whole critics group and the internet is going gaga over the movie, am I expected to praise it too? Am I under pressure to really like it and ignore the concerns I had while watching he movie? Honestly, the movie is not bad, it very nice. In fact, the movie did touch my heart, and I did see people standing and clapping during some scenes, but that's it. It had its moments here and there, but the movie did not deep dive as it had promised.

Let's start. Skip the blog from here, if you have not watched the movie. The movie shows lives of different neurodivergent individuals for starters, neurodivergent individuals are those people, whose brains are wired a little differently than others. Like, if you are born with a squint eye, everyone accepts you, the way you are because it is physical and it is visible, similarly when people's brain functions differently they are tagged with different names because it is not physical or visible and does not fit into stereotypical "normal" category.

The film shows the journey of different people who have different conditions like invisible autism, down's syndrome and many others. Like they have not named in the movie, I will also choose to skip the other names (I wish they mentioned). The movie depicts the adult life of all these individuals. Now, here is my biggest problem. About 99.9% of these kids are raised in a lot of love, protection and care by the families that are raising them, but they do have their moments of frustration, helplessness and societal challenges that the film not only skips to show, but it does also not even scratch the surface. It fails to show how parents even after struggling endlessly come a point of acceptance and shift their focus on well being of the child. The parents and family are the unsung heroes and backbone of these individuals.

They also did not touch upon how these individuals become independent. How did they learn to cross the road? How did they learn about money management? Which school did they go to? Were they allowed to graduate? Do we have an education system that promotes inclusiveness? Do schools and colleges accept these children and adults without subtly being judgmental and non-co-operative? Only sporting action was focused upon, which according to me was the least of their day-to-day concerns.

The power of cinema is huge. The impact is monumental. The audio-visual medium has an unimaginable reach. I am happy that this topic is at least discussed in mainstream conversation. I felt this community deserved a little bit more. They deserved to be shown with much more reality. I loved the movie, but I felt it could have done so much more. It could have been a mirror to our society that hesitates to discuss such topics.

On a lighter note, my husband was shocked that I went completely silent after we walked out the movie theatre. He asked me the reason for my silence, I said I expected a little more from the movie. He said the makers must have feared that it would look like documentary hence they might have made it more humorous. I did feel he was right, but then again, not every day such movies are made, not every day these topics are discussed, not often such stories are told. They deserve to be told. We need to be more aware. Society moving towards inclusivity needs such catalysts.

I did take my son to the movie, did a full-blown analysis of what he picked up from the movie, fully satisfied when he said "We must never underestimate anyone, no matter who they are or how they look or behave. Treat everyone with respect and equally". God, I had tears in my eyes because the lakhs of money spent on popcorn and chaats were totally worth it.

Share your thoughts below if you wish to

with Love

Pooja