Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par review: The film tries too hard to inspire but ends up sweet but snoozy

Dubai: In one of the few truly affecting scenes in Sitaare Zameen Par, a bunch of eternally chirpy neuro-divergent kids hand their beloved coach a thank-you card—spelling errors (team is spelt teem) and all.

That moment, brimming with heart and subtlety, felt like a stroke of genius. Unfortunately, that kind of nuance is in short supply elsewhere in this well-meaning but painfully obvious film.

An official adaptation of the Spanish crowd-pleaser Campeones, this one’s got its heart in the right place—but boy, does it wear it like a giant neon badge. Every scene is engineered to tug at your heartstrings, often with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. Children with learning differences are portrayed with such syrupy saintliness that you half-expect them to float out of scenes with a halo and soft background score. Whatever happened to a little realism? Neuro-divergence doesn’t mean perpetual sweetness—it includes frustration, anger, and messy, complicated emotions. Where’s that?

The story follows the familiar Taare Zameen Par template—only this time, Aamir Khan’s sanctimonious saviour routine is aimed at older kids with autism and Down syndrome, whom he reluctantly coaches for a basketball championship. The setup? A penalty for drunk driving. Subtle, this is not.

What unfolds is a vanilla redemption arc we’ve seen before—resistance, breakthrough, cheesy pep talks, repeat. At one point, Khan’s character earnestly tells another coach to never underestimate these kids’ intelligence, but in trying to hammer that point home, the film ends up underestimating its audience’s. Every emotion is spoon-fed, over-explained, and wrung dry of surprise. It’s exhausting.

Yes, the casting is laudable—real neurodivergent actors, no tokenism there. But the film’s pacing and predictability make it a bit of a slog. For a movie about breaking boundaries, it’s oddly content to stay in its comfort zone.

The real emotional meat comes not from the central “coach-meets-kids” arc, but from the subplots—especially the tender moments shared with Khan’s mother (a luminous Dolly Ahluwalia), father (the dependable Brijendra Kala), and wife (Genelia D’Souza, in a refreshingly grounded turn). Sadly, those scenes are few and far between.

Aamir Khan, always charismatic, seems oddly lost here—trapped in a role that oscillates between over-the-top motivational speaker and emotionally stunted man-child with daddy issues. It's earnest, sure. But it's also exhausting.

In all, his film lacks nuance; his acting turn is obvious and one-note, leaving no room for subtext. Aamir is screaming inclusion in every scene, but the sermon’s too loud and the script too soft. A little less halo, a little more honesty would've gone a long way.