'Sitaare Zameen Par' a fan boy's love letter to Aamir Khan: director RS Prasanna

Mumbai: From seeing Aamir Khan accept an award for "Taare Zameen Par" in 2007 to directing him in its sequel “Sitaare Zameen Par”, life has come full circle for director RS Prasanna, who calls the upcoming movie a fan boy's love letter to the superstar.

Prasanna, known for directing "Kalyana Samayal Saadham" in Tamil and its Hindi remake "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan", was still in film school in 2007 when he watched "Taare Zameen Par". "I remember crying and bawling my eyes out watching 'Taare Zameen Par' with my friends, and my then-girlfriend, now wife. When Aamir sir won the Best Debut Director award at the Gollapudi Srinivas Award, he came to Chennai to accept it.

"I was part of the audience, who was cheering him on and from the outside, like Ekalavya, watching Drona. The closest I got to Aamir sir was in that (award) event, which is about 300 metres away. I didn't hope for anything more,” the Chennai-born director told PTI in an interview.

The director said when he met Aamir with the idea of a film, which eventually became "Sitaare Zameen Par", he told him about how he had cheered during the award ceremony.

"I was very emotional and I said, ‘Sir, thank you for making me believe that dreams do come true’. This is not even a dream I dreamt. It was such a big thing that I didn't even dare to dream of this," "In one of the wrap parties, I told him, ‘This movie is like a fan boy's love letter to his idol'. I told Aamir sir, 'Whatever I wanted to see you do as a fan is there in this film'. It is a film that entertains, makes you think, touches your heart and above all, I think it's a film that places so much faith in the audience,” Prasanna said.

Aamir reached out to the 41-year-old director after the release of “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan”.

"We had some discussions, and there was an intent that, 'If there was a kind of a good script, pass it on to AK sir’, and that itself was great for me." A few years later, when Prasanna decided to make his next with writer Divy Nidhi Sharma, Aamir's name was an instinctive choice and it later become “Sitaare Zameen Par”.

“As a fan of his, I would want him to do this movie. I thought, ‘If he is the only choice for it, then maybe this movie will never happen' because why is he going to say yes to a random director whom he doesn't even know, he has just seen one film. But he did, and I'm eternally indebted to him for that,” he said.

It was Aamir, Prasanna said, who suggested the title “Sitaare Zameen Par”. Drawing a parallel with his acclaimed film “Taare Zameen Par”, he pointed out that both stories shared a similar essence.

“It had new characters, a new journey, it is a comedy, so it has everything new, yet it has got the same heart of ‘Taare Zameen Par’, I thought it was a fabulous idea." In addition to Aamir, the movie stars Genelia Deshmukh and ten newcomers, including Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar, all of whom are specially-abled.

Prasanna said the experience of directing the newcomers was a rewarding experience.

“This movie cannot happen without them, so it is my job to take the time and effort to teach them some of the tools that they may not have. For me, they bring certain rawness and beauty, which is their advantage.

"Like, when you see the films of Majid Majidi, or ‘Anjali’ by Mani sir, or Darsheel Safary in ‘Taare Zameen Par’, so those actors are real, they can bring out the real emotions. Now, professional actors have to bring it with a lot of effort. We focused on giving them a safe and playful kind of environment,” he said.

Prasanna and his team spent over six months conducting acting workshops.

He said his director of photography (DOP), Srinivas Reddy, adopted an innovative approach to filmmaking that focused on the comfort of the actors.

“We decided early on that wherever they (ten actors) want to move (they can), we would figure out the way; it's our job,” Prasanna explained, describing the process as “almost invisible filmmaking.” “Sitaare Zameen Par” will see the return of Aamir to movies after his 2022 release, “Laal Singh Chaddha”, which received a lukewarm response.

Prasanna said the magic of cinema lies in a compelling script, whether it is a 'masala' film or a deeply emotional narrative.

“When a star chooses to work with a good script and a passionate director, then magic happens. Not every movie will run, not every movie will be successful. Every industry goes through its cycles; every industry will revive, and it's only a matter of time before that's going to happen. That is not just Bollywood, Tamil, Malayalam cinema went through it, but Hollywood went through it too.

"Stars are very important. I have worked with a superstar, and I know the difference. It is about how many people love you and expect from you. Like, when a Tom Cruise film is up for release, there’s certain expectation. A star is like a curator, he or she brings a certain promise to the audience that 'if it is my film, it will be good no matter the genre',” he said.

“Sitaare Zameen Par” is set to release on June 20.