The trailer of Aamir Khan's long-awaited film Sitaare Zameen Par has triggered a hurricane of conflicting responses on the social media sites with individuals accusing the film of being a "frame-by-frame copy" of American sports drama Champions. While some appreciated the warmness of the trailer and the return of Aamir Khan as a lead player, others criticized the trailer's lack of originality and questioned the decision to remake something so closely tied to the Western source of inspiration.
The three-minute trailer introduces Aamir Khan as Gulshan, a basketball coach who, following a dramatic fall from fame and a run-in with the law, is ordered by the court to coach a team of people on the autism spectrum. Genelia Deshmukh is his love interest, adding a romantic sub-plot to the sports drama. The film positions itself as a spiritual sequel to Aamir's hit 2007 film Taare Zameen Par, but this time shifts focus from a dyslexic kid to a group of intellectually impaired athletes and their journey under an initially callous coach.
Initial reactions to the trailer were positive overall, with a few celebrities and fans like Genelia's husband Riteish Deshmukh calling it "extraordinary" and appreciating Aamir's performance. The majority of viewers appreciated the movie's good message and the assurance of a clean, family-friendly entertainer. Fans also welcomed the movie's attempt to bring focus to Down syndrome and intellectual disability people and appreciated Aamir for choosing a socially relevant subject.
But the praise was soon turned sour when social media watchers began drawing direct comparisons between Sitaare Zameen Par and Champions-itself a Spanish blockbuster remake Campeones. Viral threads on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) posted side-by-side pictures of both trailers, claiming that Aamir Khan's film has taken not only the plot but scenes and character development too. Certain netizens asked why the directors failed to set the story in an Indian context by selecting a more familiar sport such as cricket or hockey instead of basketball.
The backlash grew into calls for a boycott and accusations that Aamir Khan's production house had failed to deliver enough originality or emotional depth to the remake. The movie was also drawn in comparison with Aamir's previous release Laal Singh Chaddha, which was a remake of Forrest Gump and had also been blamed for its faithfulness to the original.
Even while the row rages, there is still a part of the audience looking forward to the film, enjoying its "cute and wholesome" trailer and hoping that the movie will offer a significant and entertaining experience. The cast, including Dolly Ahluwalia, Gurpal Singh, Brijendra Kala, and some debutant actors, has also generated some buzz.
In the meantime, controversy continues to brew in cyberspace, Sitaare Zameen Par awaits being one of the most talked about Bollywood flicks this year-on its material and the outrage at its artistic choices. Whether the film will manage to transcend its "remake" label and find acceptance in Indian cinema-goers remains to be seen when it reaches theaters.
