India, June 21 -- The critics have had their say. They've called the new film from Aamir Khan Productions, with the 60-year-old superstar in the lead role of a much younger basketball coach with a festering father wound, "simplistic","moralistic", "a moral science lesson". Yes, the script is too eager to hammer in the point. And Khan's performance is no better than how we've often seen him play big protagonist roles - laboured, every dialogue and twitch exaggerated, and ponderous in the way he totes a message about prejudices in Indian society.

This is not a film review. This is a reflection on the thematic and representative milestone that Bollywood has reached with Sitaare Zameen Par. The ensemble cast that surrounds Gulshan (Aamir Kha...