Everyone sees him as the kid who can’t keep up, quiet, slow, and always behind. But what they don’t realize is that he sees the world in a way no one else can. When his real talent shows up, he proves them all wrong.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

After arriving home from school, a boy named Ishaan plays with the dogs inside the compound. He also throws them a sheet of paper to play with before he heads inside to meet his mom, Maya, who is cleaning the house. Shortly after, while Ishaan is playing with a puzzle, Maya asks if he collected his exam papers from school, but he just ignores her.

Almost immediately, Ishaan’s brother, Yohan, returns from school and tells his mom about his excellent results. Ishaan admires Yohan’s brilliance, but when Yohan asks about his results, he ignores him and focuses on the puzzle. He eventually runs outside to play with the dogs while some kids in the compound also play cricket.

As the ball rolls toward him, Ishaan is asked to throw it back. Unfortunately, he ends up throwing it over the fence, and even though he looks remorseful, a boy named Ranjeet insults him. As Ranjeet also tells Ishaan to get back the ball, he refuses to do this, and they suddenly start fighting.

Ishaan initially gets the upper hand, but Ranjeet eventually hits his head on the floor. Ishaan gets badly hurt and is forced to bite Ranjeet so he can run away. As he heads into the apartment building, he knocks down Ranjeet’s plant pots and heads to the roof.

He then thinks about what happened and starts crying because he’s fed up with people always insulting him. He eventually wipes his tears and plays with a kite on the roof. When he returns to his family’s apartment, he hears Ranjeet’s mom complaining to his dad, Nandkishore, about what he did to Ranjeet.

As Nandkishore sees Ishaan, he calls him into the house and asks about what happened. Ishaan stays silent, and Nandkishore slaps him out of anger. Ranjeet looks happy about this, and he tells Nandkishore that Ishaan also tore his shirt. Ishaan looks shocked because it’s a lie, and he attacks Ranjeet. Nandkishore quickly pulls Ishaan back, and Ranjeet leaves their apartment with his mom.

Nandkishore then complains about how Ishaan is always getting into trouble. As he’s about to slap Ishaan again, his hand nearly hits Maya. Ishaan finds this funny, but Nandkishore looks pissed and threatens to send him to a boarding school if he doesn’t change his behavior.

As he keeps complaining about Ishaan’s troublesome behavior, Maya goes to check the cuts on Ishaan’s face. Nandkishore believes she’s always pampering Ishaan, but she doesn’t respond to him. She then gets Ishaan to go to the bathroom to have a shower and change his clothes.

The next day, Nandkishore leaves the city for a business trip, and Maya gets the kids ready for school. During the first class of the day, the English teacher tells Ishaan to read a sentence from a page in his textbook. Ishaan struggles to understand her instructions on which page to open, and the teacher is forced to tell another student to help him.

After the page is opened, Ishaan is unable to read the sentence because he believes the letters are dancing, and the teacher sends him out of her class. Ishaan spends a few minutes outside, and as the teacher leaves, she tells him to go back inside. When he enters the class, one of his classmates asks if he has done his math homework and gotten his test papers signed.

Ishaan realizes that he hasn’t done either, and as his classmates make fun of him, he carries his bag and sneaks out of school. He then walks around the city and eventually returns to school so he can take the bus home. When he gets home, he spends some time painting, and Yohan admires his work.

Shortly after, Ishaan does his homework, but as Maya checks it, she complains about his handwriting. She also mentions that he misspelled nearly all the words he wrote down. As she tells him to correct it, Ishaan says no and runs out of the living room.

Later that night, Ishaan tells Yohan about how he left school earlier in the day. Yohan looks shocked and scolds Ishaan for leaving school. He then asks if Ishaan has told their mom about it, but he says he doesn’t want to tell her.

After this, he begs Yohan to help him write a fake absent note from their mom to his teacher. Yohan says he won’t do that, but as Ishaan begs him, he eventually agrees. The next day, Ishaan shows the fake absent note to his teacher as an explanation for why he wasn’t in class the previous day.

The teacher accepts it, and Ishaan looks happy about this. Shortly after, the teacher gives the class a test, but it appears to be very difficult for Ishaan. He eventually makes up an imaginative way to solve a multiplication problem, but he gets the wrong answer.

Almost immediately, the time for the test runs out, and the teacher collects everyone’s sheet of paper. The next day, Nandkishore returns from his business trip, and Ishaan looks happy to see that he’s back. Interestingly, Nandkishore sees the fake absent note on the floor and asks Maya if there was anything wrong with Ishaan while he was away.

Maya says he was fine, and as she sees the absent note, she mentions that she wasn’t the one who wrote it. Nandkishore looks shocked and wonders if Ishaan had anything to do with it. Even though he looks scared, Ishaan says he skipped school on that day, and Nandkishore gets pissed.

He then asks who wrote the note for him, and Ishaan is forced to confess that Yohan helped him. Nandkishore cannot believe that Ishaan pulled off something like that, and Maya also looks shocked. The next day, Ishaan’s teachers call his parents to come to the school.

When they get there, his teachers complain about how he keeps failing their subjects. The headmistress also mentions that she won’t be able to let Ishaan stay in the third grade for the third year. She adds that Nandkishore and Maya have to consider sending Ishaan to a special school.

On the way home, Nandkishore seems pissed that the headmistress suggested that Ishaan is retarded. Maya also complains about how she has had to give up her career to help Ishaan, but things still haven’t gotten better. Nandkishore tells her not to blame herself, and as he looks at Ishaan, he says he knows what to do.

When they get home, Nandkishore calls one of his uncles to help him secure a spot at a boarding school for Ishaan. Maya asks if it’s possible for them to accept Ishaan midway through the school term, and Nandkishore says they will. Maya looks worried about this because Ishaan has never been far away from home before, but Nandkishore says he’ll learn to cope after they’ve disciplined him at the boarding school.

Ishaan looks scared and begs his dad not to let him go, but Nandkishore seems bent on taking him to the school after Diwali. Later that night, Ishaan has a bad dream in which he gets stranded at the train station after getting separated from his mom. As he seems scared and calls for his mom in his sleep, Maya comes over to check up on him.

When he wakes up, Ishaan cries and tells Maya that he doesn’t want to go to the boarding school, but she says he has to go. Ishaan continues saying he doesn’t want to go, and Maya feels sad because she’s also not in support of letting her youngest son head to a boarding school. After Diwali, Nandkishore takes Ishaan to the boarding school just as planned, and Maya and Yohan follow him.

Just as the school’s headmaster sees Ishaan, he mentions that Nandkishore has talked about how troublesome he is. He adds that the school takes discipline seriously, and that Nandkishore doesn’t have to worry about anything because they’ve tamed many wild kids in the past. Shortly after, Nandkishore and his family leave, and Ishaan holds back tears as he watches their car head out of the school.

Maya and Yohan also feel sad about leaving Ishaan behind, but there’s nothing they can do about it. Meanwhile, the headmaster tells Ishaan to head to the dorm to change his clothes. As he gets there, Ishaan just sits on his bed and continues thinking about his family. The headmaster eventually forces him to change his clothes so he can join his colleagues at the cafeteria for dinner. As he gets there, Ishaan remains silent and just stares at his food while the other kids are eating.

Later that night, while everyone is sleeping, Ishaan heads to the bathroom to cry. After a while, he wipes his tears and returns to his bed to sleep. Elsewhere, Maya gets home and goes into Ishaan’s room. As she looks around, she finds a jotter with a drawing depicting how Ishaan got separated from his family. Maya looks sad as she sees this, and she wonders if they made the right decision to send Ishaan to the boarding school.

The next morning, Ishaan heads to the classroom, and a teacher named Tiwari introduces him to everyone. He also gets Ishaan to sit in front beside a boy named Rajan, who is the best student in the class. Shortly after, Tiwari tells Rajan to read a passage while Ishaan explains the perspective of the writer.

After Rajan is done reading the passage, Ishaan gives his answer, but Tiwari thinks he’s saying rubbish. Ishaan looks disappointed by this, and he stays silent for the remainder of the class. After the class ends, Rajan tells Ishaan that his answer was also correct, but that Tiwari often prefers the students to give answers just as they’re written in the book.

They eventually leave the class together, and Ishaan asks why Rajan is in the boarding school even though he always comes first in class. Rajan doesn’t understand this, and Ishaan says that boarding schools are only meant for stubborn kids. Rajan then mentions that his dad is actually the estate manager in the school, and that he lives in the staff quarters.

He adds that kids are not sent to boarding schools to be punished. Later on, during art class, Ishaan gets distracted, and the teacher, Holkar, ends up beating him for failing to identify a mark on the chalkboard. Unfortunately, things don’t turn out well for Ishaan during his other classes, and he experiences the same problem at his other school, where he couldn’t identify words or read well.

Days later, he gets frustrated and runs into the dorm to cry. Interestingly, Nandkishore, Maya, and Yohan happen to be around to see him, but instead of going to meet them, he runs out of the room and heads to the basketball court. His parents and brother don’t understand this, and as they wonder where he’s going, they notice that he’s just running around the court.

Shortly after, he sits down with Yohan, but he doesn’t say anything. Just then, Nandkishore gets permission from the headmaster to take Ishaan away for just a day. As they get to their hotel room, Yohan gives Ishaan a coloring set he got for him, but he doesn’t seem excited to see it.

Yohan looks disappointed by this, and he also gets worried because Ishaan still hasn’t said a word to him. The next day, Ishaan returns to school and keeps the coloring set Yohan gave him in his drawer. He eventually heads to the roof of the dorm, and as he stands too close to the edge, Rajan sees him and looks scared.

Ishaan eventually leaves the edge, and Rajan looks worried as to why he went that close. He eventually mentions that the school has just hired a substitute art teacher because Holkar won’t be around for a while. As they head to the class, the new teacher, Ram, dresses like a clown and plays around with the kids.

Everyone seems happy to have him around, but Ishaan just sits still and doesn’t react while his classmates are dancing with Ram. Shortly after, Ram tells the kids to paint whatever comes to their mind on a sheet of paper. As he then inspects their work, he notices that Ishaan is the only one who hasn’t done anything.

Ram believes Ishaan is still looking for inspiration, and he walks away to check the paintings of other students. As everyone finishes up with their painting, Ram walks near Ishaan’s table and notices that his sheet of paper is still untouched. He looks surprised and asks Ishaan if there’s anything wrong, but he doesn’t respond.

As Ram also asks for Ishaan’s name, Ishaan remains silent, but Rajan answers the teacher’s question. Later that day, Ishaan appears to be depressed, and he spends some time staring at a pool of water inside the school. As he heads back to the dorm, the headmaster informs him that his mom has been calling him.

Ishaan then heads to the admin block to take the call, but as Maya and Yohan try to talk to him, he just drops the phone and walks away. The next day, Ram tries to put the children’s drawings into Holkar’s locker, but Tiwari tells him not to do that because Holkar only used to keep books there. He adds that Ram can return the drawings to the kids because they’re of no use anyway.

Ram looks shocked by this, but another teacher named Sen also complains about how the kids have turned Ram’s class into a marketplace. Ram says that kids have to be allowed to express themselves, but Sen mentions that the headmaster wants discipline. Tiwari adds that the kids in the school are normal, unlike the ones at the Tulips School for disabled kids where Ram also works.

Ram looks shocked to hear this, but Tiwari keeps talking about how the disabled kids can’t be successful regardless of whatever anyone teaches them. Sen also mentions that they’re supposed to train the kids at the boarding school to take on the world instead of dancing around. Ram is shocked by their opinions, but he just jokes with them.

Shortly after, he heads out and sees Ishaan kneeling outside his classroom. As he asks what’s wrong, Ishaan moves closer to the door to avoid talking to Ram. Ram thinks he’s making Ishaan uncomfortable, and he walks away from him.

Just as the school bell rings, Ram turns back, only to see that Ishaan is no longer in front of the class. Later that day, Ram sees Rajan and asks about Ishaan. Rajan then mentions that Ishaan is behaving strangely because he doesn’t want to be at the boarding school. He adds that despite Ishaan’s efforts, he still happens to be struggling with how to read and write properly. Ram looks concerned by this, and he heads to the staff room to take a look at Ishaan’s book.

After seeing some of Ishaan’s spellings, Ram notices a pattern and realizes that Ishaan’s academic difficulties might not be his fault. Later that day, Ram heads to the Tulips school and helps out the kids there. He eventually gets emotional while looking at the kids, and his colleague, Jabeen, sees him.

Ram then says that humans are worse than monsters because they’re unaware of inner beauty. He eventually tells Jabeen about Ishaan and how he’s scared for him because he looks depressed. He adds that Ishaan’s eyes are asking for help, and he’s worried about the situation.

The next day, Ram visits Ishaan’s parents and asks to see Ishaan’s old books. After checking them, Ram notices the same patterns as the ones he saw in the books at the new school. He also sees a painting in one of Ishaan’s books and asks about it. Maya says that it’s Ishaan’s painting, and Ram looks shocked. Maya then takes him to Ishaan’s room to see all the paintings there.

As he also sees the drawing of Ishaan getting separated from his family, Ram looks sad and asks if he can get a bottle of water. After he drinks some water, he asks why they sent Ishaan away, and Nandkishore complains about how he kept failing third grade while still being rebellious and disobedient. Ram says he’s asking for the real cause and not the symptoms, but Nandkishore looks confused.

He then asks what Ram meant, and the teacher mentions that he noticed some patterns in Ishaan’s books. As he points them out to Maya, he says that Ishaan clearly has a problem recognising letters. He adds that Ishaan is dyslexic, but Nandkishore believes it’s just an excuse for his son’s poor grades.

Ram looks disappointed as he hears this, and he picks up a carton and tells Nandkishore to read the Chinese words on it. Nandkishore says he can’t, but Ram scolds him and tells him to read it. Almost immediately, Nandkishore realizes what Ram is doing, and the teacher mentions that Ishaan is facing the same problem.

He adds that Ishaan is also trying to cover up his inadequacies by being rebellious. Nandkishore asks if his son is not normal, but Ram says that from Ishaan’s paintings, it’s clear that he has a sharp mind. Nandkishore doesn’t seem impressed, and he mentions that Ishaan won’t be able to compete in the real world with just his painting skills.

Ram looks disappointed again, and he says that what many people fail to understand is that kids have different capabilities, desires, and dreams. He adds that people often break their kids by trying to force them to do what they don’t want. Maya looks sad to hear this, and after Ram leaves, she spends some time watching videos of Ishaan from when he was little.

The next day, Ram meets Jabeen at the Tulips school and tells her about his conversation with Ishaan’s parents. He seems particularly pissed about the way Nandkishore kept trying to make his son look like a failure. The following day, at school, Ram shows Ishaan his old drawing book, and he looks surprised.

As he wonders how Ram got it, the teacher goes to the front of the class and tells the kids different stories of great men, like Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison, who struggled with reading and writing when they were young. Ishaan also participates in the class, and he looks happy and very interested in what Ram is talking about. Ram then tells the students that all the great men who struggled to read and write as children were often ridiculed and insulted.

He adds that, despite this, they all persevered and made a difference in the world. He then tells the students that their class for the day will be dedicated to those men, and that everyone should go outside and make whatever they can with anything they find. As they all head out, Ram calls Ishaan back and tells him that there was someone he didn’t mention while talking about dyslexic people.

He then tells Ishaan that he also had difficulty reading and writing when he was younger. He says that his dad always thought he would be a failure, and that he never even believed in him. Ishaan then asks if Ram went to his house, and he says he did.

Shortly after, all the students start making different things, but Ishaan’s small wooden raft stands out, and everyone seems impressed with what he did. Days later, Ram prepares a presentation and goes to see the headmaster to make a case for Ishaan to be tested orally in the meantime. The headmaster doesn’t think it’s a good strategy, but Ram shows him Ishaan’s drawings and mentions that Ishaan is dyslexic.

He adds that if Ishaan is tested orally in all his classes, he’ll start teaching him how to read and write so he can eventually meet up in class. Even though the headmaster is still skeptical about the idea, he agrees to give it a try, and Ram looks happy about this. Shortly after, Ram starts teaching Ishaan privately, and even though he initially struggles with recognizing the letters in his book, he eventually starts to get better.

After a while, Ram asks the headmaster for permission to organize a painting competition for teachers and students in the school. The headmaster gives him approval to do this, and he puts up a poster on the school’s notice board to let everyone know about the competition. Later that day, Nandkishore visits the school and asks to see Ram.

After Ram leaves his class, Nandkishore mentions that he only came around to inform him that his wife has been doing some research on dyslexia. Ram wonders why he’s telling him about it, and Nandkishore says that he wants the teacher to know that he and his wife care about their son even though it didn’t seem that way when he came to their house. Ram cannot believe this, and he says that Nandkishore doesn’t prove anything by learning about dyslexia.

He, however, mentions that it’s good to know that Nandkishore thinks he cares. Nandkishore feels bad as he hears this, and he says he’s leaving already. Before he heads out, Ram tells him a story of a tribe that curses any tree they want to get rid of instead of cutting it down.

As this translates to the fact that Nandkishore has always insulted Ishaan to bring him down, he feels sad and leaves. The next morning, Ishaan wakes up very early and dresses up nicely before leaving the dorm. Later that day, all the students and teachers make their way to the venue of Ram’s painting competition.

Jabeen also shows up as one of the guests, and she asks Ram for Ishaan because she wants to meet him. Ram says he hasn’t seen him yet, and as he asks Rajan about his friend, he mentions that Ishaan left the dorm very early before everyone woke up. Ram looks confused but remains hopeful that Ishaan will show up.

Tiwari and the other teachers arrive at the competition venue and joke about how Ram is making them participate in something that has never happened in the school before. After a while, the competition’s special guest and chief judge, Lajmi, arrives, and Ram introduces her to the headmaster. He then goes around to look for Ishaan but still doesn’t see him.

He also asks some kids around if they’ve seen Ishaan, but they say they haven’t. Shortly after, the competition starts, and all the students start painting. As Ram keeps looking worried about Ishaan’s absence, Ishaan suddenly shows up. Ram looks happy and immediately gives him a plain sheet of paper. Ram then shows him where to sit, but Ishaan finds a more comfortable place to stay.

Following this, he brings out the coloring set Yohan gave him and starts painting. Ram also stares at Ishaan as he starts painting his own entry for the competition. Shortly after, Ishaan submits his work, and Ram looks impressed. As Ishaan then walks over to see Ram’s work, he sees that it’s a painting of him. This makes him emotional, and Ram smiles at him.

After everyone submits their work, the headmaster climbs the stage and commends everyone, including the teachers, for participating in the competition. He then announces that Ram will be made the permanent art teacher at the school. All the students look happy about this, and they rejoice with him.

Shortly after, the headmaster mentions that Lajmi selected two paintings as the best artworks for the competition. He adds that she eventually had to choose one, which will be on the front page of the school’s yearbook. As everyone wonders whose artwork it will be, the headmaster announces Ishaan as the winner of the competition, with Ram finishing as a close second.

Ram looks happy about this, but Ishaan cannot believe that he has actually won the competition. As he seems shy, his classmates help him up and encourage him to go and collect his prize. After Ishaan accepts his prize, he gets emotional and runs back to hug Ram, who also struggles to hold back tears.

A while later, Ishaan’s parents arrive to pick him up for the holidays, and the principal shows them that Ishaan’s painting is on the school’s yearbook cover. The principal also mentions that Ishaan is very talented, and he’s happy to have him in the school. Nandkishore looks surprised by this, but the headmaster tells him and Maya to go and meet Ishaan’s teachers to get a progress report.

Almost immediately, they head over to the staff room to meet Tiwari and Sen. As Nandkishore and Maya mention that they’re Ishaan’s parents, the teachers look happy to see them. They then talk about how Ishaan has tremendously improved compared to when he first arrived.

Nandkishore cannot believe this, but the teachers show him and Maya the progress report for Ishaan’s studies. As Maya takes a look at it, she thanks the teachers for helping her son, but they tell her that all credit must go to Ram because he was the one who helped Ishaan get better. After they head outside, they stand with Ram and watch Ishaan playing with Yohan.

Nandkishore cries as he sees Ishaan smiling again, and he says he doesn’t know how to thank Ram for helping his son. Ram says it’s not a problem, and he hugs Nandkishore. After this, Ram says goodbye to Ishaan and says that he’s going to miss him.

He also tells Ishaan to come back early after the holiday. After they hug each other, Ishaan heads to the car with Yohan and his parents. Before he enters the car, though, Ishaan turns back and sees Ram waving at him. As he remembers everything Ram did for him, Ishaan runs back to hug the teacher again.

After spending two years in the same class because he can’t read or write well, Ishaan’s dad is forced to send him to a boarding school. Unfortunately, nothing changes for Ishaan regarding his studies, and he even becomes depressed. Just before Ishaan completely falls into despair, Ram joins the boarding school as a teacher and discovers that Ishaan’s academic difficulties are because he’s dyslexic. He then helps Ishaan get better, and Nandkishore realizes that he wasn’t patient enough to understand his son’s struggles. Sometimes, all a kid needs is someone who believes in them.

Like Stars On Earth 2007.