In such circumstances, a film like Taare Zameen Par is refreshing. A dyslexic boy with a painterly talent is trapped in a system that expects him to emulate his ‘topper’ brother and join the rat race like his father. Aamir Khan, as the art teacher, believes that adults must help each child discover the world his own way.

Yet this admirable film’s cathartic moment hinges on the boy winning a contest! The message gets more garbled when director Khan, in a bid to promote Taare.., graces a Li’l Champs contest espousing the very values his film tries to resist.

Not only that. What does one make of captivating Darsheel Safary, who was allegedly miffed that he got the best child artiste award for his role in Taare.. at a recent function, and not the best actor award a la Shah Rukh Khan? Has anyone got the message? Or perhaps, one should ask, what is the message?

The writer is editor of the children’s website www.pitara.com