Darsheel Safary recalls touching moment when Aamir Khan came home, reveals he slept through 3 screenings of Taare Zameen Par: ‘I was a shameless child’
Post Taare Zameen Par, Darsheel Safary worked for a few years before finally taking a break to focus on college He is currently seen on Amazon miniTV’s romantic-drama Capital A small a.
Does Darsheel Safary, the child star of the 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par, remember how many times he has seen his own film? The actor, who was only nine when the Aamir Khan-led drama released in cinemas, said he attended at least seven screenings of the film– out of which he dozed off in three.
Taare Zameen Par chronicled the story of an 8-year-old boy, who is helped by his art teacher, to overcome his reading disorder. The film made Darsheel an overnight star and earned him glowing reviews for playing a child who is dyslexic.
In an interview with indianexpress.com, Darsheel said the film had made everyone around him cry– an emotion he wasn’t particularly fond of as a child. “I remember seeing it seven times when it released, all screenings, out of which I will be honest I slept the last two-three times, because I was young. I was a shameless child, a ruckus! After that I didn’t see it, I was like, ‘Ok enough now, relax.’
“I am also a person who runs away from emotional films, because people around you are just crying. I remember sleeping in one premiere and when I woke up in the middle of the film, everyone around me was crying! It was the gloomiest atmosphere possible. I quietly went back to sleep!”
The actor only revisited the film this year in May when he was doing a podcast. This time around, at 25, Darsheel could finally understand what made Taare Zameen Par such a tear-jerker. “When I saw the film, I found the reason why people connected so well to it. I have also learnt so much over the years so to watch it again was a different experience. The first frame got a tear to my eye and I was like, ‘Ok, I am not watching it!’ But then I saw it and I do know why people love it so much.”
When the film had released and became a nationwide hit, Darsheel was in the spotlight– and naturally attracted a lot of attention from all corners. As a child Darsheel recalled feeling he has done “something serious” but could not grasp what exactly it was.
“I loved the attention! Who doesn’t like it when people are loving you out of the blue? Some stranger comes and says, ‘Yaar you were great’ without him knowing you. There was a lot of genuine love, I remember meeting people the age of grandparents meeting me, blessing me. These were pure heartfelt moments. I felt I have done something serious, which I am not understanding now but when I grow up, I will understand it.”
Darsheel also credited Aamir Khan for helping him become the actor that he is today. What he saw and imbibed from the superstar at such a young age, his earnestness, curiosity and observant behavior had a lasting impression–which he says is reflective in his craft. “After the film got over, he came home. We had invited him for lunch, and I remember seeing him so invested. I am a Jain, so we were showing him our culture, explaining stuff, we also showed him some videos of mine when I was younger and he was so invested, observant and grasping.
“Not like a façade or fake interest. He was actually taking in stuff. Later when you see him in some interviews saying the same thing, you are like, ‘Wow, that stayed with him!’ That became a part of me, I became a grasping person. Now I grasp everything around me and that helps as an actor,” he added.
Darsheel is currently seen in Amazon miniTV’s romantic-drama Capital A small a. In the short film, Darsheel stars alongside actor Revathi Pillai. The film marks his return to the screen after a gap of more than a half a decade and Darsheel said taking a gap was a conscious choice. For the actor, school had passed by “very quickly” and he wanted to “enjoy college life”, so the only option was to move away from screen and take some time off.
“I communicated this to my father that I want to take a mini break. He said, ‘Ok fine, you have time, do it, you will understand a few things.’ That’s how I discovered theater and it took six years of my life. It was an inner revolution, it changed me as an actor, as a person. There were several moments when I thought taking a break was not a wise choice.
“You wonder how you will get back to films, would people know… Because a lot of people thought I had quit and joined dad’s business. I was like, I am right here! But post pandemic when I began filming, I was a whole new person, had an understanding of how to face the camera. Since 2021, I have shot quite a few things which will be coming out so you will get to see where I was up to,” he added.
Produced by On the Ball Productions, the short film is directed and co-written by Sumit Suresh Kumar along with Gaurav Joshi.
News Source:- The Indian EXPRESS
