Like Stars on Earth

"Every child is special."

2007 2h 42m HI

🙌

8.0

BANGER

★8.0TMDB · 1,422

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

“Every child is special.”

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Cast

Darsheel Safary
Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi
Aamir Khan
Ram Shankar Nikumbh
Tisca Chopra
Maya Awasthi
Vipin Sharma
Nandkishore Awasthi
Tanay Chheda
Rajan Damodaran
Sachet Engineer
Yohaan Awasthi
Girija Oak
Jabeen
Shankar Sachdev
Tiwari Sir

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Aamir Khan
Writers: Amole Gupte, Amole Gupte
Languages: Hindi
Countries: India

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 162 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $28M — a 10.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 19 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Taare Zameen Par Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Aamir Khan, shot by Satyajit Pande. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Loy Mendonsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Deepa Bhatia shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Aamir Khan directs. Satyajit Pande behind the camera. Loy Mendonsa scores. Deepa Bhatia cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in India. Dialogue in Hindi.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 162 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $2.6M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $28M — a 10.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
4Released 19 years ago.
5Part of the "Taare Zameen Par Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Aamir Khan, shot by Satyajit Pande. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Loy Mendonsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Deepa Bhatia shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Darsheel Safary and Aamir Khan and Tisca Chopra carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Every child is special.".
11IMDB entry: tt0986264 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 13 themes, including "jealousy", "parent child relationship", "boarding school", "painter".
13Released under 14 different titles around the world.