Bollywood Adda

by indiafm.com

"Sometimes, you cut out 30 seconds and physically you may have lost only 30 seconds but in headspace as an audience you quicken the pace of the film much more than those 30 seconds," says Aamir Khan while giving explanations for the seven deleted scenes of Taare Zameen Par which are one of the highlights of the recently released DVD of this widely acclaimed film. Aamir's analysis and reasons for deleting the scenes displays a keen mind that's hugely involved in whatever he does. We bring you our interpretation of these scenes.

Loo Bully



It is a scene just after the Maths Test where bindaas Ishaan is extremely pleased with himself for cracking the 3 multiplied by 9 as 3. In his own world, he felt as he was the 'captain' of the ship and that's where his indomitable spirit (which later gets crushed) emanates from. At the school water cooler, a fifth standard student rags him for being a 'duffer'. Ishaan rather than being bogged down shows the bully a trick that he had picked up from his day-out-in-the-city. When the bully gets tricked, Ishaan has a hearty laugh. All's well in his perfect world. A funny montage of a scene that's realistic and ironical in spite of being humorous.

Ishaan watches TV



When mother realizes that Ishaan has been making all sorts of mistakes in his homework she yells at him. The scene that followed was Ishaan surfing TV in an agitated frame of mind. He is flipping through several channels but stops at a channel that's showing a drummer playing on frantically. The fast-n-furious drums and trumpets blowing fervently find identification with young Ishaan's mind that's getting affected by constant hammering that he isn't doing something right. Darsheel's expressions are a brilliant mix of amusement, anger, and pain.

Ishaan cries



It's a black Diwali for Ishaan, as he shall be shifted to a boarding school very soon. In this scene, Ishaan valiantly cries while his elder brother tries to calm him down. While the entire world is celebrating with crackers, Ishaan stares at a black hole ahead. A poignant scene that forces you to empathize with a little boy's plight who's grossly misunderstood.

High Jump



Many of you guys may not be aware but the original title of Taare Zameen Par was High Jump. Aamir explains how the initial script had an ending where after winning the Art Mela an image emerges from Ishaan and jumps over a pole symbolizing the eradication of his fear of heights. Khan had reworked the scene with writer Amole Gupte to its ending that we finally saw. It was in this context that the scene where Ishaan is afraid during high jump practice was deleted at the editing table as according to Aamir it didn't have a context in the story any more. An interesting story that co-relates a hale and hearty Ishaan with naturally cripple Rajan.

Family at restaurant



Ishaan had a tough time in the boarding school in Panchgani. When his family gathers around him there, he's a lost soul, aloof, quiet and dejected. In this deleted scene, Ishaan's family is having dinner during their visit. Ishaan isn't eating in spite of constant urging by his mother. Father still feels it is another attention-seeking gimmick on the part of his duffer son. The silence is deafening.

Nikumbh's house



It's a scene that shows Nikumbh sir's house, his ornate paintings, parent's photograph (most probably) with Sufi music playing in the background. It was good that this scene was deleted as it shows humble teacher's house to be spacious, white tiled with a designer laptop for company. When so much effort was paid to showcase this brilliant film keeping the contextual elements in place, this scene stood out as a bit of an oddity. It was in the best interests of the film that it was removed.

Ranjeet bullies Ishaan



Now, this is a scene, which is there in the film where Ranjeet the bully beats up Ishaan for not throwing the ball in the right direction. Aamir shows another take of this shot where Darsheel while shooting for this particular scene used to sneeze which Khan found funny. But in the final context of the film he retained the shot without sneezes. It makes for interesting viewing nevertheless.