India's official submission for the Best Foreign Language film category of the 2009 Academy Awards, Like Stars on Earth is a Bollywood musical version of the inspirational teacher/underdog student drama, featuring an imaginative eight-year-old tyke named Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary), who sees magic all around him but can't make sense of schoolwork. “The letters are dancing,” he tries to explain to his teacher, who merely ridicules him, while his success-driven father berates him and sends him to boarding school out of desperation and exasperation. It takes the dedicated efforts of a passionate art teacher (Indian movie superstar Aamir Khan, who also directs) to correctly diagnose the symptoms: yes, this is a musical about overcoming dyslexia, but it's also about nurturing creativity and the pressure that a culture of success puts on children who do not excel scholastically. Veering from classic Bollywood production style, the cast doesn't break out in song and dance; rather, the tunes play out as commentary and counterpoint to wordless scenes and montage sequences. Although nearly three hours long, the film doesn't drag, thanks to the energy of Khan's direction and the playfulness of animated interludes that convey both Ishaan's imagination and his jumbled perception of words and numbers. A solid tearjerker tale of triumph, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)
This title is included in our article on media literacy in the classroom and our list of films that inspire teachers.