Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par trailer sparks backlash: Has Bollywood lost its originality?

Dubai: Bollywood’s creative fuel tank is seemingly sputtering — and Aamir Khan’s trailer of Sitaare Zameen Par which dropped recently isn’t exactly helping matters.

In an era where both Bollywood and Hollywood are desperately scrambling to stay relevant, the trailer of Khan’s latest offering feels less like a comeback and more like a creative cop-out.

Marketed as a feel-good sports drama, it turns out to be a near scene-for-scene remake of the 2023 Hollywood film Champions, which itself was borrowed from Spain’s Campeones. And let’s just say, audiences aren’t impressed — they’re exhausted.

For many fans, this wasn’t just disappointing — it felt like a betrayal from an actor once hailed for redefining storytelling standards in Hindi cinema.

The trailer features Khan as a troubled basketball coach sentenced to community service, where he trains a team of young individuals on the autism spectrum.

The premise mirrors Champions so closely that netizens began posting side-by-side comparisons, branding the film “lazy storytelling” masquerading as inspiration.

Despite the quirky tagline — “1 Tingu Basketball coach, 10 toofani sitaare aur unki journey” [roughly translates to 1 short basketball coach, 10 stormy stars and their journey] — critics argue that repackaging is not the same as reinventing.

What makes this backlash sting deeper is the name behind the film. This is the same Aamir Khan who gave us Taare Zameen Par — a deeply original and poignant portrayal of childhood dyslexia that became a cultural milestone. So when someone like Aamir Khan, with his legacy of content-driven cinema, resorts to what appears to be cinematic mimicry, it shakes the very foundation of audience trust. If he is playing it safe, then who in Bollywood will take risks? Where is the hope?

This isn’t an isolated misstep. Bollywood’s growing reliance on international adaptations — official or otherwise — is fast becoming its Achilles’ heel. From thrillers to rom-coms, the industry seems more inclined to repackage foreign ideas than nurture original ones. And while remakes have always existed, the current crop lacks both reinvention and cultural grounding, triggering audience fatigue.

Ultimately, the controversy surrounding Sitaare Zameen Par isn’t just about its copy-paste DNA. It’s about crushed expectations.

If even Bollywood’s most lauded creative minds are chasing shortcuts, who’s left to champion originality in Indian cinema?