“EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL: A MOVIE REVIEW”

This movie was presented and recommended to be viewed by our SPED

coordinator so we can have a better understanding and have an array of knowledge in
teaching in a Special Education Integrated School. Every Child Is Special is a Hindi
drama film released in 2007 (Taare Zameen Par, interpretation: Stars On Earth)
released and directed by Aamir Khan. From start to finish, the movie caught my
attention, and the musical portions included in my fascination. This is a heart-touching
movie that will make you realized that indeed “every child is special”.

CAST

Ishaan Nandkishore Awashti- is an eight year old boy who always day

dreaming and dislikes school and fails every test and exam.
Ran Shankar Nikumbh- is an art teacher who voluntarily taught Ishaan to read
and right.
Maya Awashti - is Ishaans mother who gave up her career to raise her children.
 Nandkishore Awashti- Ishaan's strict, hard, dominating father.
Yohaan Awashti- who is Ishaan's elder brother.

Plot

Each and every Child Is Special is an eye opener regarding worth and
significance of each child. The story refers to an issue that is real as it usually
unrecognized-Dyslexia.

Every Child is Special is a Hindi films directed by Amir Khan .The story is about
an 8-year-old boy named Ishaan who cannot cope with the academic demands in
school. He once complained that The letters are dancing!” when he was asked to read.
Teacher threw him out of the class and the students who passed by the hall mocked
him for being punished. Moreover, Ishaanreversed letters when he wrote and
demonstrated a poor understanding of mathematical concepts. Sometimes if he
commits mistakes everybody laughs at him or will shout on him just like what his father
or even his mother did. He always find ways to laugh after evrybody laugh bout what his
doing. He was at the risk of repeating a grade level again because of his poor scholastic
performance. Too often, he may be caught by his teacher daydreaming and getting low
grades.

Ishaan began to evade homework and cutting classes because of his

discouragement over his failings. Sometimes his father shouts and doing harsh against
Ishaan. When his teachers advised his parents to avail of special education services,
his family decided to send him to a boarding school instead in the hopes that the highly
structured environment will straighten out his “behavioral problems”. But the academic
status of Ishaan was not improve. Alternatively, he became withdrawn and lonely, far
from the Ishaan who was active and fun-loving.

Ishaan continued struggling with the same problems in his new school. When he
was finally on the brink of suicide, Then came an alternative art teacher Ram Nikumbh
discovered that he had dyslexia and consequently turned his life around. Ram Nikumbh
change the best way Ishaan would act towards school and figure out how to appreciate
himself even more, his art teacher who pay attention to Ishaan and to understand
Ishaan whom his parents never finds what ishaan is.

Towards the end of the school year Nikumbh organises an art fair for the staff
and students. The competition is judged by artist Lalita Laimi, who portrays herself in
the film. Ishaan, with his strikingly creative style, is declared the winner and Nikumbh,
who paints Ishaan's portrait, the runner-up. When Ishaan's parents meet his teachers
on the last day of school they are left speechless by the transformation they see in him.
Overcome with emotion, Ishaan's father thanks Nikumbh. As Ishaan is getting into the
car to leave with his parents, he turns around and runs toward Nikumbh. The film ends
with a freeze frame shot of Nikumbh tossing Ishaan into the air.

MOVIE REVIEW

Every Child Is Special is a movie that can tug the heartstrings and at the same
time bring hope that having dyslexia is not really a desperate situation. It tells in regards
to boy, Ishaan Awasthi, who was simply always getting in trouble at school for
misbehaving and out of focus from his instructional classes. His father, Nandkishore
Awasthi , is a successful executive who expects his children to excel. His mother,
housewife Maya Awasthi, is frustrated by her inability to educate her son. An alternative
art teacher Ram Nikumbh who discovered that Ishaan had dyslexia and consequently
turned his life around and change the best way Ishaan would act towards school and
figure out how to appreciate himself even more, his art teacher who pay attention to
Ishaan and to understand Ishaan.

Ishaan is a boy who cannot cope with the academic demand in school
Because of his poor understanding in every lesson his teacher decided to talk to his
parents. His father decided to send ishaan in a boarding school but the academic status
of Ishaan does not improved. Ishaan became lonely .There was once an alternative art
Every Child Is Special is a Hindi drama film released in 2007 (Taare Zameen Par,
interpretation: Stars On Earth) released and directed by Aamir Khan. From start to
finish, the movie caught my attention, and the musical portions included in my
fascination. Each and every Child Is Special is one heart-touching movie.
 teacher named Nikumbh who voluntarily teach Ishaan to right and read even to
be the best way would act towards school and find out how to appreciate himself even
more. In a competition in arts Ishaan,screative styl is declared the winner . Finally
Ishaan's father is proud of what Ishaan did even in a simple way ,not from his father will
but from Ishaan's will.

The part that touch my heart most was when his father decided to send him to a
boarding school his mother that time trying to please Ishaan's father to never send
Ishaan to a boarding school because his mother knows that Ishaan can’t stand by
herself alone, Ishaan also please his father like a child crying because he will be far
away from his mother, brother even to his father. They send Ishaan to a boarding
school as they arrive his mother and brother never stop crying like they lost their only
fun loving brother and son.

There are some part of the movie that we should never follow, specially those
who is already parents and soon to become parents we should never shout our child
and never do some harsh against them because of some mistakes they had done
because it may affects the mind of the children healed in smooth Just like what Ishaans
father did to him he sometimes shout to Ishaan and do some harsh against Ishaan.
Everything held in smooth ways we don’t need to do harsh way to correct mistakes.

My favorite and the best part of this movie is when Ishaan learn to love and trust
his self. His mother and father are crying because of too much happiness. I can feel the
love of his parents to Ishaan and they are very proud of Ishaan.

CONCLUSION

Adults should not demand that their kids top all their subjects so that they can
live out the unfulfilled ambitions of their parents. Each child is special in the sense that
they have their own calling, which may or may not be in line with what their families
want. Moreover, as an OT, I highly regard this movie for advocating the “disability
perspective”: that there are a lot of special children who have given up trying to meet
age-appropriate demands because of disabilities. Every Child Is Special is a movie that
can tug the heartstrings and at the same time bring hope that having dyslexia is not
really a desperate situation. Friends and family support, patience, and love are central
themes in this story.
RECOMMENDATION

I highly regard this movie to everybody to realize that it is the parents and the
caregiver who will distribute much to the development of their children. Every Child Is
Special is a movie that can tug the heartstrings. Do watch this movie I assure you the
BEST!
 From the title itself, the film is hoping to say that every child has a gift, but only
those who care enough can see it.

There was this part in the movie when the art teacher was substituted by
another. His name was Ram Nikumbh. He introduced himself to class not by the mere
hi-my-name-is-Sr-Ram-and-I’ll-be-your-substitute-teacher-in-Arts but by singing a jolly
song about spreading one’s wings & fulfilling one’s dreams.

Seeing this segment made me jealous for I miss the cheerful laughs I had when I
was a child. What I possess now were piles of home works and projects to accomplish.
Talk about pressure. I barely had fun because of these things.

Ishaan Awasthi, the protagonist of the movie, was looked down by his parents,
teachers and friends. Believing that he was dumb, they didn’t know that he has dyslexia.

But one person was there for him. He was taught how to read, write and pursue
his talent on being an artist. That person was Ram Nikumbh. I was deeply moved by the
way Nikumbh would tell Ishaan’s father about his so-called-concerns for his son. One
can’t show that he cares for his child through reading dyslexia online.

It’s sad to hear that parents would always want their children to become
geniuses. They force their own desires onto the fragile minds of children. Whether they
wanted us to read at six months old or play the piano at the age of three, learning will
come at our own pace. Sooner or later, we will all learn. As mentioned by Nikumbh.

I then commit myself to hug a kid today. For every child, no matter how small,
is special.

I believe not everybody has seen the beautiful Indian movie "Taare Zameen Par", which
has been given the English name "Every Child is Special". The movie is about Ishaan, a boy
with dislexia, who has been sent to a boarding school, because his family believes that he is just
too lazy. There he meets Ram, a very special Art teacher, who changes the path of his life.

Here we see Ishaan in one of his art classes at his new boarding school. His teacher
Ram noticed that Ishaan is a student with dyslexia after having seen his notebooks and
talked to his family. He then prepared this pedagogical intervention with the whole group to
foster.

Ram involves his class by telling a very well crafted story, full of rhymes, humour, and
surprise, in which he presented the difficulties some students had while reading and writing. To
the surprise of students, he revealed that these struggling students were Einstein, Leonardo da
Vinci, and Picasso, among others. By involving students in his narrative, Ram dismantled the
mental concept that struggling students are helpless and doomed in life. Quite on the
contrary, the teacher emphasized that their schools were limited and that they could not see
how these gifted students could see the world differently. He also explicitly taught the values
of  perseverence and resilience when he emphasizing that there was not only inspiration, but
mainly a lot of transpiration involved in reaching success.

Well, you probably knew his teacher Ram would say he had dislexya too, didn't
you? This moment of disclosure is a beautiful one, mainly because the teacher gains rapport
by verbalizing what his father thought of him.  

Ram then allows Ishaan to have success by offering an outdoor activity in which he could
use his spatial and creative skills. 

n this classic teacher movie sequence, we have Ishaan gaining self-esteem and
progressing due to the work of Ram. Ram used a sensorial diversified approach that made
reading and writing active and concrete by the use of writing sand, clay, chalk, touch, and
movement.

As one commom comorbity of dyslexia is ADHD, Ram provided headphones and electronic

games for Ishaan to concentrate himself. Ishaan had the double task of learning to read and
write in both Hindi and English, with their two very different alphabets!

The scene in which both are admiring Van Gogh's painting is priceless. Both admire each other
so much!

Movie Cast and their Characters:

Darsheel Safary - He played the role of Ishaan Awasthi.

Aamir Khan - Ram Shankar Nikumbh, Ishaan's Art Teacher.
Tisca Chopra - Maya Awasthi, Ishaan's mother.
Vipin Sharma - Nandkishore Awasthi, Ishaan's strict father.
Sachet Engineer - Yohaan Awasthi, Ishaan's elder brother.
Bugs Bhargava and Shankar Sachdev - Sen Sir and Tiwari Sir, respectively. Teachers at New
Era High School whose attitudes changed towards Ishaan when he is already accumulating
high grades.
 Movie Summary
Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi
(Darsheel Safary) is an eight-year-old
boy who dislikes school and fails
every test or exam. He finds all
subjects difficult, and is belittled by
his teachers and classmates. But
Ishaan's internal world is rich with
wonders that he is unable to convey
to others, magical lands filled with
colour and animated animals. He is
an artist whose talent is
unrecognized.

Ishaan's father, Nandkishore Awasthi

(Vipin Sharma), is a successful executive
who expects his children to excel. His
mother, housewife Maya Awasthi (Tisca
Chopra), is frustrated by her inability to
educate her son. Ishaan's elder brother,
Yohaan (Sachet Engineer), is an exemplary
scholar and athlete, which Ishaan is
frequently reminded of.

After receiving a particularly poor

academic report, Ishaan's parents send him
to a boarding school. There he sinks into a state of fear and depression, despite being
befriended by Rajan (Tanay Chheda), physically disabled and one of the top students in
his class.

Ishaan's situation changes when a new art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh
(Aamir Khan), joins the school's faculty. An instructor at the Tulips School for young
children with developmental
disabilities, Nikumbh's teaching
style is markedly different from that
of his strict predecessor, and he
quickly observes that Ishaan is
unhappy and contributes little to
class activities.

He reviews Ishaan's work and

concludes that his academic
shortcomings are indicative of
dyslexia. On his day off, Nikumbh visits
Ishaan's parents and asks if he can see
more of their son's work.

He is stunned by the
sophistication of one of Ishaan's
paintings, and tells his parents that
Ishaan is a bright child who processes
information differently from other
children in his class, but Ishaan's father
is suspicious that the explanation is
simply an excuse for his son's poor
performance.

Nikumbh demands that he read

some Japanese text on a box and
berates him when he cannot, giving him a glimpse into Ishaan's experience of school.
Nikumbh describes dyslexia to them and explains that it is not a sign of low intelligence.
He tells them he can provide extra tutoring that will help Ishaan, highlighting the boy's
artistic ability evident in his many paintings and other creative works.
 Nikumbh subsequently brings up the topic of dyslexia in class, and offers a list of
famous people who were dyslexic. As the students are leaving the classroom, Nikumbh
asks Ishaan to remain behind
and reveals to him that he
too experienced the same
difficulties with dyslexia.
Nikumbh then visits the
school's principal and obtains
his permission to become
Ishaan's tutor. He attempts to
improve Ishaan's reading
and writing by using remedial
techniques developed by
dyslexia specialists; Ishaan
soon develops an interest in
language and mathematics,
and his grades improve.

Towards the end of the school year Nikumbh organises an art fair for the staff
and students. The competition is judged by artist Lalita Lajmi. Ishaan, with his strikingly
creative style, is declared the winner and Nikumbh, who paints Ishaan's portrait, the
runner-up.

The principal
announces that Nikumbh has
been hired as the school's
permanent art teacher.
When Ishaan's parents meet
his teachers on the last day
of school they are left
speechless by the
transformation they see in
him. Overcome with emotion,
Ishaan's father thanks
Nikumbh. As Ishaan is getting into the car to leave with his parents, he turns around and
runs toward Nikumbh.

The film ends with a freeze frame shot of Nikumbh tossing Ishaan into the air.