Actor Aamir Khan is set to play a basketball coach for differently abled youngsters in his upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par, billed as a thematic sequel to the 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par, according to a poster shared by the makers on Monday.
The film is set to launch a group of new actors, including Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar.
However, actor Darsheel Safary, who starred in the 2007 coming-of-age film, did not feature in the poster of Sitaare Zameen Par.
“A film celebrating love, laughter and happiness. #SitaareZameenPar #SabkaApnaApnaNormal, 20th June Only In Theatres,” Aamir Khan Productions wrote alongside the poster featuring Aamir with a team of basketball players.
Directed by R.S. Prasanna, known for Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and On A Quest, the film also stars Genelia Deshmukh.
In an interview with US-based media portal Deadline earlier this year, Aamir said that though Sitaare Zameen Par is a sequel to Taare Zameen Par, the original movie’s characters won’t appear in the follow-up.
“It’s a fresh set of characters, completely fresh situation and plot. Thematically, it is a sequel to 'Taare Zameen Par'. It is saying same things. Actually, it's a lot more,” he said.
Sitaare Zameen Par marks Aamir’s return to the big screen as a lead actor after three years. His last film, Laal Singh Chaddha, tanked at the box office in 2022. Also starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, the film was an official remake of the 1994 Academy Award-winning film Forrest Gump.
Taare Zameen Par follows the story of Ishaan (Darsheel), a young boy who is misunderstood as a lazy troublemaker until a new art teacher, with patience and empathy, uncovers the true struggles he faces in school.
The 2007 film won several accolades including three National Film Awards for best film on family welfare, best lyrics (Prasoon Joshi for Maa) and best male playback singer (Shankar Mahadevan for Maa). It was India’s official entry for the 81st Oscars.
