Miniature terrors… Taare Zameen Par

Yes, this is what the ‘others’ call them… miniature terrors. They can make full-bodied, mature, sizzling, and talented actors and actresses squirm in their seats. They are the new breed of ‘miniature’ actors and actresses [loosely translated: child-actors]. Some of the most notable ones that I have seen are as follows, (not an exclusive list at all)

Kunal Khemu: The first time I appreciated a child actor was in this movie, Kunal Khemu, he was brilliant and his performance spell-binding. He also performed in films such as Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993) Raja Hindustani (1995) and Zakhm (1998). He received great praises by the audience and critics for his role in Zakhm.

Dakota Fanning (left): She is an American child actress. Fanning’s breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As of 2007, her most well-known films have been War of the Worlds and Charlotte’s Web. She has won numerous awards, and is currently the youngest person ever to have been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Ayesha Kapoor (right) is an Indian child actress who played the young Michelle McNally in the Bollywood movie Black. She lives in Auroville, Pondicherry in South India. Best Supporting Actress for Black – 2005. Playing a deaf and mute psychologically traumatized maladjusted girl, Ayesha Kapoor simply stuns you with her performance. Where does a nine-year-old glean those dark black emotions of a raging protesting tormented disconnected girl is above me…

Swini Khara (below): The girl who plays Amitabh Bachchan’s 7-year old terminally-ill neighbor and confidante in Balki’s Cheeni Kum, is arguably the most accomplished child performer we’ve seen in Hindi cinema. The little bundle of joy, all of 8 going on 9, takes compliments with giggles of pleasure. “I had great fun shooting in London with Amit Uncle. He was very helpful. Before every scene he’d take me aside for rehearsals. For the sequence where I had to talk with Amit Uncle on the bench my teeth were chattering so much I couldn’t put the ice-cream in my mouth,” she giggles with a child’s joy at the memory of the shoot.

Jaden Christopher Syre Smith made his film debut in the The Pursuit of Happyness as the son of his father’s character. He won the award for the Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.

Darsheel Safary(right) made his acting debut in Aamir Khan’s directorial debut, Taare Zameen Par, which was a major commercial and critical success. His performance as a struggling dyslexic child in the film was unanimously praised. He won several awards for his performance, and was the first recipient of the Star Screen Award Best Child Artist. Dotcoy in his review of TZP wrote of his performance, “Ishan has done a phenomenal job in the movie and might get the ‘Best Child Artist’ award, the only real contender would be the ’sexy’ girl from Cheeni Kum… Aamir is good too and there is apparently no actress in the movie but then it didn’t need one”

I am sure I missed out quite a few but of the ones that I have seen in “action” above truly rocked the performance in their respective movies…

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