Sitaare Zameen Par review: An Evolving, Inspiring & Life Assuring Gem

Sitaare Zameen Par movie review

Jin ke ghar mein aise bacche hote hai wohh ghar kabhi buda nahi hota, (Houses in which you find such kids, those houses never get old), says the pleasing turban clad manager of the center where Gulshan has to train the especially able team of people in basketball. The Punjabi Sikh manager played by Gurpal Singh further explains the different ‘normal’ of different individuals. The philosophy which supports the ideology - ‘Nobody is perfect, every individual is different’ is the kind of pleasingly touching experience which before this was typical of a Raju Hirani bole toh Rajkumar Hirani’s cinema.

Director R.S. Prasanna (‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’) fame aims to entertain, enlighten and in the process tackle some prejudice in ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ and the result is emotionally uplifting. ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ which is a life assuring result of hard work and believe is a perfect Indian adaptation of the 2018 Spanish sensation ‘Campeones’ (Champions), ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ has the freshness and fizz.

From quirky comedies about male erectile dysfunction like ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ to the inspirational ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ brings other sides of the director together, celebrating individuality, accepting disability as something special and not ‘abnormal’ and questioning the society norms on their attitude towards especially abled individuals, issues of women liberty, choice and empowerment also make their mark.

All of the above is mixed with the rocking relationship between Gulshan and his wife where interestingly Gulshan fails repeatedly as a ‘team’ player.

Like any other well-made uplifting sports drama, ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ follows the standard routes, the protagonist and other important characters experiencing the ‘coming of age’ phenomenon, the process of learning and un learning is as the doctors told but the treatment and the way it comes out on screen with all the emotions and energy is striking.

The chemistry between Gulshan and his team is heartwarming, especially between Ashish Pendse who plays the ‘intelligent’ Sunil Gupta, Aayush Bhansali as the love-struck Lotus, Gopi Krishnan Varma as the animal lover Guddu, the pint-sized Simran Mangeshkar as Golu Khan – the only girl member in the squad. In fact, Gulshan shares emotional moments with everyone – Aroush Datta as Satbir, Vedant Sharmaa as Bantu, Naman Misra as Hargovind, Rishi Shahani as Sharmaji and Rishabh Jain as Raju. Gulshan takes charge of these uncoordinated no-hopers and makes them true heroes, true sportsmen.

The best part about ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ is that the message comes out organically and it goes by the flow, the free flowing nature of R.S. Prasanna’s narration sticks to its subtlety and doesn,t go over dramatic or overboard. The writing by Divy Nidhi Sharma is realistic and the characterizations are apt.

Performances

Fans of Aamir Khan will proudly say ‘it’s an Aamir Khan starrer’ cause the finest and the best from the Khan trinity and beyond as an actor delivers, Aamir as Gulshan is excellent. The actor, filmmaker known to be a guarantor of a film’s quality amongst his audience doesn’t disappoint at all in ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ both as an actor and as a producer.

Coming to team, everybody is special, all ten are outstanding be it

Aroush Datta as Satbir

Gopi Krishnan Varma as Guddu

Vedant Sharmaa as Bantu

Naman Misra as Hargovind

Rishi Shahani as Sharmaji

Rishabh Jain as Raju

Ashish Pendse as Sunil Gupta

Samvit Desai as Kareem Qureshi

Simran Mangeshkar as Golu Khan

Aayush Bhansali as Lotus

Everyone gets scope and everyone is successful in developing the rapport with the audience.

Genelia Deshmukh as Aamir’s wife in the film shares a pleasing chemistry, Genelia as a wife, friend and supporter delivers a fabulous performance.

Supporting cast also contribute marvelously.

Dolly Ahluwalia as Gulshan’s mother is outstanding.

Gurpal Singh is pleasing. 

Brijendra Kala is quirky and does provide some unexpected laughs.

Technicalities

A grade production values. Cinematography by G. Srinivas Reddy is eye pleasing. Editing by Charu Shree Roy is fine. Background by Ram Sampath creates the momentum. Songs by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy enhance the movie watching experience.

‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ review – final words

‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ has all that you expect from a genuine heartwarming sports drama and /or an Aamir Khan starrer – its inspiring, uplifting, entertaining and enlightening.

Going with a well-deserved four stars out of five. 4/5

Produced by Aamir Khan and Aparna Purohit, under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions and distributed by PVR Inox Pictures in India and internationally by AA Films, ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ is running in theatres from 20 June 2025