Friday, January 04, 2008

solomon island story is fake?

After that awful movie review to close the last year, I am really happy that this year is starting off with a movie such as Taare Zameen Par. I actually watched it before 31st, but this is what's going to impact the rest of my year. The movies that are gonna come next are gonna be invariably compared to this one. And the opinion of that movie is gonna be affected by the same thing. 

This movie is brilliant in every way! Remember I was pissed about the child actor performance in the last movie? In this one, within 10 minutes of the movie, I was like "give this kid every friggin award in the world!" Darsheel kinda looks like my cousin sagar... ahem... yeah, I had to mention that. His is the part that could make or break the movie. And for that, i must congratulate the person in charge of the casting. But I can't say I'm equally happy about his brother. LOL. I started hating his guts the moment he comes in the house saying "sab subjects mein FIRST MOM!.." ("I'm first in every subject! mom!") Or maybe its just my eternal hatred for geeks! Or bullys... the kid who gets into a fight with Ishaan.. He keeps repeating the same thing... Ah! who cares. he was there for hardly a minute. 

I could really relate to the story and the character. Infact, I couldn't have stopped laughing if my dad accidentally hit mom while threatening me. That scene was Hilarious! The immediate laugh was perfectly timed. But wait, there's a moment... if you have the movie, watch the scene before he swings... The mom looks at his hand for a split second with a scared look. Hilarious I say! I used to just sit with my glass of milk for really really long and just not drink it. I would be getting ready for school, put on one sock, and just forget everything and sit with the other in my hand until mom prompts "Kiska intezaar kar raha hai? Kya soch raha hai? Moja pehnu ke nahi pehnu?"(What are you contemplating? 'whether to wear the sock or not' ? ) I was always and I stress ALWAYS, looking outside the classroom. LOL...Doing animal noises... ahem.. lets not get into how bad a student I really was.

The special effects meant to show the things he imagines like in the song Lage raho and Bheja Kum are really amazing. Even the animation in the title and when he's doing the math test are really well done. I wasn't really expecting to see those things in the movie. They were a pleasant surprise. The alphabet spider that he smashes leaves behind white goo like a real one would. The animation is very lively and expressive. Which is also because of the awesome voiceover by Darsheel. 

The teachers are really well portrayed. They are very believable. Infact, so believable, that I could even name what film teachers look like which real teacher I've had. The habits, the traits of the teachers' personalities are not just stereotypical, but real. Even the parents, and their mentality of saying whatever the teachers say too far is sadly, true. If only parents would not start yelling "so you're saying my child is a RETARD!" at every little thing, the situation would be much better off....for everyone. Even my dad would threaten me that he'd send me to a boarding school if I didn't study/behave.... Oh! there I go again, comparing myself to the movie... I think that's because a big part of the movie plays on making you feel the kid's plight, making you feel as if you're in his place, see the things going on from his perspective... And it wouldn't have been this way had it not been for the amazing direction.

One thing that bugged me was the story of solomon islands. I paused the movie where he mentioned that, and went googling for that. I tried every possible search term. Even researched over dyslexia. But nothing! Its not so much that they lied in the movie... Its that if someone were to tell me something like that, I would not immediately believe it or even consider his point.. I would ask for proof that this thing is real. I would not fall for it like Ishaan's dad did. But I say, it is possible that the trees die out from the 'bad sound/noise'. (The movie mentions that to clear a land for farming, the tribals would just gather around a tree/forest and curse it, say bad demeaning words to it and eventually, the tree would wither away) I had learned in moral science (those not familiar with the indian education system will find this weird) class that, plants that are exposed to sweet music grow better than the plants that are kept in silence. I even remember that little illustration in the book of a flower gyrating to music playing on a walkman... So I guess the opposite would work too...

The other problem I had with the movie was I wished it didn't end. I wanted it to go on and on. I was enjoying it SO much that I didn't want to go back to my boring lonely pathetic life. But there are many other real reasons to keep the movie going.... We didn't really see Ishaan's progress in tests, exams, and his graduation from being a sad loner to a friendly outgoing kid. I didn't think Amir Khan got enough credit for what he did. There could have been more instances of the dad or mom talking to Amir khan, and...I don't know... talk about dyslexia or something... like say... Ishaan's progress! I wonder what kind of parents are they who never come up to check on the condition of their kid throughout the semester.. only come at the end! Plus, the movie wasn't 3 hour long.. which usually is the length of hindi movies.... hehe..

Anyways, I feel everyone should watch this movie. If you can't understand hindi, get it with SUBTITLES! Don't get a dubbed version. Because the original voice and the emotion in the voice is really crucial, and the dubbed voice may not be able to carry that across. On a lighter note, I feel that now on, every kid will start trying to take advantage of this knowledge of a 'learning disability'... Kids will just start saying "teacher the words are dancing" or start writing invertes S and expect to be let go. Yeah.. kinda like that episode of south park... LOL. Anyways. Have a positive outlook and always look up in the new year!

28 comments:

befuddled dudette said...

no the story is not fake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007_June_29#yelling_at_trees_in_the_soloman_islands

there are a lot of things that happen in this world and they remain unexplained.
Some people belive it,some don't.There are legends like this all over the world that modern science couldnt fathom.Ancient sciences that have got extinct(like making of pyramids,to sun dials in machu pichu,extreme enginerring in indus valley civilisation)leaves many question to answer.Soloman Islanders have inhabited in those Islands for thousands of years.They can very likely have great knowledge of flora and fauna there and do practices unexplainable by modern sciences.

J.C Bose had invented crescograph to show clearly that plants have life and can respond to stimuli in seconds in cellular level(meanning they have senses very much!).Though changes visible to human eye occur after a much longer span of time.
http://www.edsanders.com/bose/

balizee said...

films like these are to be shown to the whole world.... Taare Zameen par. Ultimate story.. Aamir my goodness.. there is one law "all or none law" in medicine.. he fits into that (no words about his performance)i am bedazzled by his performance... i know some people will not be able to understand the content but i am sorry for them it is a real time movie for parents of today .. who have no times for kids.
HE (AAMIR) has given a message to all parents who are aspiring about their kids to do the best.

owe my thanks from heart of hearts to Aamir Khan

Acting is not to earn money, fame one has to touch human lives like he has done
I think he is also workin on the plight of Indian farmers

all the best to him

Nishant Vora said...

Awesome review! It was good to read that u share a lot of similarities from the film in ur real life as well.. I hope u enjoyed the music equally as well, since u've not mentioned anythin bout it in the post.
Even I'm a die-hard TZP addict, working on a site dedicated to Darsheel, and still waiting for the moment I get out of my laziness to post my review bout the movie on my blog :p.. Ciao~

Yash said...

Oh, I loved the music too. except for the bum bum bole song. The songs make me cry or atleast get very emotional every time i listen to them

Unknown said...

I do accept the review except some points........like students will now start doing the same and all. plus the story of solomon islands is not fake.... but his life is similar in many ways to yours and many others......... Darsheel is freaking awesome!!! It is a good thing that they portrayed learning to be just like a talent(like art).... this movie was really wanted and all the credit goes to amol gupte and aamir......best movie in years.....

Yash said...

Harsh, I said, "On a lighter note, I feel that now on, every kid will start trying to take advantage of this knowledge of a 'learning disability'... Kids will just start saying "teacher the words are dancing" or start writing invertes S and expect to be let go. Yeah.. kinda like that episode of south park... LOL."

how is that review of the movie?

and, amol gupte and aamir khan don't deserve 'ALL' the credit. what is it with you? you can't see all the other people who put effort into this or you just refuse to acknowledge it?

Unknown said...

Nice review!!! I saw the movie today, gave a search on yelling at trees in solomon island, this is where i landed.

Unknown said...

Hey guys check this out (Solomon islands) http://www.hootforjudge.com/codeofcow.html

Unknown said...

and these too...
http://www.xtec.es/~vjimenez/Proves%20Logse/1996-1997/sept97.pdf
http://www.whereincity.com/articles/factual/6375.html
http://www.oakgrovebaptist.com/clientimages/22692/sermon_notes/rahabandjericho18march07ser.pdf

all of them have similar phrases(wordings) so i guess it must have been copied......but they're worth reading!

Dee said...

i saw the movie for the third time right now. i googled the solomon tree story and this is where i landed. good review.
i felt that it was an excellent movie. Darsheel Safari deserves all the awards he can get for his superb acting. the songs were brilliant too... i got tears in my eyes EVERY time i listened to 'tuje sub hai pata meri maan'.
its really emotional and you can relate to the story.
it ROCKED!!

Yash said...

hi, Hiba, yours is the first comment that I REALLY REALLY felt like replying to. Because all the people were mainly concerned with the solomon island story or just complimenting aamir khan. The reason I wrote this entry was darsheel Safari (safarey..?) Solomon Island story just happened to be a part of it, and I knew this title would bring in a lot of traffic. hehe..

thank you for your comment.

Yash said...

hi vinod, I don't want to get anonymous comments. And if something is worth commenting, people will interact with you. I've gotten a couple emails about this post too.

Unknown said...

In the Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of cutting trees down. If a tree is too large to be cut with an ax, the natives cut it down by shouting at it.

Men with special powers get on the tree just in the early morning hours and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs.

After thirty days of doing this, the tree dies and falls over.

The villagers' theory is that the screaming kills the spirit of the tree and, according to them, it always works.

divs1210 said...

dude, u don't know how much alike we are!

Simply Travels said...

Nice review - just watched the film actually, and had much of the same reactions. And it is very interesting to read in the comments that the Solomon Islands reference was not made up....Makes you think, huh.....

bieber fever babe said...

awsome dude

dhashi said...

what a coincidence.. i've juz watched dis movie recently and yes i got attracted by the solomon island story.. and that is how i've landed on your blog today.. was googling bout it and somehow ended here.. anyways.. i loved da movie very much especialy da maa song.. was simply superb!!
liked ur review though :)

dhashi said...

wat a coincedence!! i've juz watched dis movie and yes da solomon story cought ma attention and dat is how i've landed here in ur blog while i was googling bout solomon island..
never thought many of u are also eager to know whether or not its a true story.. :p
anyways..i juz loved da movie especially the song 'meri maa'
such a wonderful lyrics! reminded me of ma childhood life.. :)
liked ur review though.. keep it up! :)

Anonymous said...

I just watched the movie today. and it's beautiful... i wrote a review, too. :D
And i stumbled upon your article when I wanted to know about solomon islands, because I was doubtful about it. I also did make a research on the dyslexic people who are popular, because i was awed to find out about eddison, einstein and picasso. (I knew they were troubled in their childhood days but I didn't know it was dyslexia until I researched) and guess what? tom cruise, kiera knightly, mozart, orlando bloom are also dyslexic.

cleopatra2630 said...

kudos! (to the one who wrote this review) :)

pragti said...

This movie was the perfect example of HIPPOCRATIC THINKING...
hats off to the directer..!!

Yash said...

Pragati, I think you meant hypocritical

leah_hael said...

just watchd the movie.. i really cant stop from crying upon watching it.. i really like it alot.. im searching for solomons island cursing on tress and found this review. what a great movie. it reminds me how inconsiderate i am during those years that i taught. my apology to all my students before :-(

leah_hael said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ShootingStar87 said...

"Taare Zameen Par" is an awesome movie indeed..so many lessons...especially to families out there....Aamir Khan is a really good actor and the kid did portrayed his role very well..

ShootingStar87 said...

Awesome movie indeed..

Surya said...

In the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of cutting
trees down. If a tree is too large to be cut with an ax, the natives cut it down by shouting at it.
Men with special powers get on the tree just in the early morning hours and suddenly scream
at it at the top of their lungs. After thirty days of doing this, the tree dies and falls over. The
villagers' theory is that the screaming kills the spirit of the tree and, according to them, it
always works.

indicseer said...

This is in response to your observation about the Solomon Islands. I would advise you to continue to skeptical about such ideas. People think proving a certain idea is as easy as Googling the query and posting up links which mention certain ideas as being true. The only way a certain hypothesis can be considered as fact is after going to through the rigors of scientific analysis of evidence. Such ideas of trees dying because of cursing have NO scientific credibility. So it would be irrational and unwise to take that as a fact.

Our ancestors across the world in their times practiced ideas which would be considered superstitious, ludicrous and without meaning in today's world. Just because they saw some sense in doing something doesn't mean that it brings it any credibility. One such example: in the western world, it is a common custom to say bless you after a person sneezes. One explanation is that the custom originally began as an actual blessing instructed by the Pope. Around 600AD an outbreak of the bubonic plague was reaching Rome. In hopes of fighting off the disease,the then Pope ordered unending prayer and parades of chanters through the streets. At the time, sneezing was thought to be an early symptom of the plague. The blessing ("God bless you!") became a common effort to halt the disease. People to this day don't realize that such ludicrous ideas have no relevance in modern day society.

And finally my other main point is that people should always remember that what they see in movies are ultimately a work of fiction. Sure their might be many elements in movies which replicate true happenings of real life. But that doesn't mean we take in everything in movies as a given fact. One such example is the 3 Idiots sequence in which the professor hands the student his prized possession, his Anti-Gravity pen which was supposedly a result of millions of dollars worth of research conducted by NASA during the space age. Although such a pen actually exists, NASA has always clearly started that it has nothing to do with it nor the research. NASA along with space programs of other nationalities, had simply used a graphite pencil. Later on of course NASA adopted this pen in question by purchasing it from the original inventor. But this urban legend became so popular that NASA could do little to contain it and people often continue to share this as fact, what would otherwise be a misconception. My point again is that always look for sources and verify your information from credible sources before taking it as fact.

The world is rampant with delusional thinking and irrational assumptions. So remember always question why and try to understand the significance of a certain idea.