more prints of the film. the film completed its domestic run with $19,779,215. to reach more audiences, the film was later dubbed in the regional languages of tamil and telugu. both were scheduled for release on 12 september 2008, the former under the title vaalu nakshatram. it grossed $1,223,869 in the us by its seventh week, and £351,303 in the uk by its ninth week. reports regarding the film's worldwide gross have conflicted, with sources citing ₹889.7 million (us$21.52 million),₹1.07 billion (us$25.88 million), ₹1.31 billion (us$31.68 million), and ₹1.35 billion (us$32.65 million). protests in gujarat in response to khan's support for the narmada bachao andolan and his criticism of chief minister narendra modi, approximately 50 activists of the sardar patel group conducted protests outside of pvr and inox theatres in vadodara, gujarat. the group also issued statements to all the multiplexes of gujarat, suggesting that the film not be screened unless khan apologised for his comments. the inox cinema eventually boycotted the film; inox operations manager pushpendra singh rathod stated that "inox is with gujarat, and not isolated from it". international dyslexia association the international dyslexia association screened taare zameen par on 29 october 2008 in seattle, washington. khan noted in his official blog that there were about 200 people in the audience and that he was "curious to see the response of a non-indian audience to what we had made." he felt some concern that taare zameen par was shown in a conference room rather than a cinema hall and was projected as a dvd rather than as a film. he said that the showing concluded to an "absolutely thunderous standing ovation" which "overwhelmed" him and that he "saw the tears streaming down the cheeks of the audience." khan also noted that the reaction to the film "was exactly as it had been with audiences back home in india". home media utv home entertainment released the film on dvd in india on 25 july 2008. it was launched at darsheel safary's school, green lawns high school, in mumbai. aamir khan, tisca chopra, vipin sharma, sachet engineer, and the rest of the cast and crew were present. in his speech, khan stated, "darsheel is a very happy child, full of life and vibrant. i am sure it's because of the way his parents and teachers have treated him. i must say darsheel's principal mrs. bajaj has been extremely supportive and encouraging. the true test of any school is how happy the kids are and by the looks of it, the children here seem really happy." walt disney studios home entertainment, whose parent company previously acquired 33 percent of utv software communications, bought the dvd rights for distribution in north america, the united kingdom, and australia for ₹70 million (us$880,000). this marked "the first time an international studio has bought the video rights of an indian film." retitling it like stars on earth, disney released the film in region 2 on 26 october 2009, in region 1 on 12 january 2010, and in region 4 on 29 march 2010. a three-disc set, the disney version features the original hindi audio soundtrack with english subtitles or another dubbed in english, as well as bonus material such as audio commentary, deleted scenes, and the musical soundtrack. the film is available on netflix. reception critical response critics praised aamir khan for his directorial debut, which garnered him many awards and nominations. taare zameen par received widespread critical acclaim upon release. on the review aggregator website rotten tomatoes, 92% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. subhash k. jha suggests that the film is "a work of art, a water painting where the colors drip into our hearts, which could easily have fallen into the motions of over-sentimentality. aamir khan holds back where he could easily resort to an extravagant display of drama and emotions." rajeev masand of cnn-ibn argued that the true power of the film lies in its "remarkable, rooted, rock-solid script which provides the landscape for such an emotionally engaging, heart-warming experience." manish gajjar from the bbc stated that the film "touches your heart and moves you deeply with its sterling performances. a film full of substance!" jaspreet pandohar, also of bbc, posited that taare zameen par is a "far cry from the formulaic masala flicks churned out by the bollywood machine," and is "an inspirational story that is as emotive as it is entertaining; this is a little twinkling star of a movie." furthermore, aprajita anil of screen gave the film four stars and stated, "taare zameen par cannot be missed. because it is different. because it is delightful. because it would make everyone think. because it would help everyone grow. because very rarely do performances get so gripping. and of course because the 'perfectionist' actor has shaped into a 'perfectionist' director." in addition, filmmaker anurag kashyap stated that, "taare zameen par took me back to my hostel days. if you take away the dyslexia, it seems like my story. the film affected me so deeply that i was almost left speechless. after watching the film, i was asked how i liked taare zameen par. i could not talk as i was deeply overwhelmed." however, there were some criticisms. jha's only objection to the film was nikumbh's "sanctimonious lecture" to ishaan's "rather theatrically-played" father. jha found this a jarring "deviation from the delectable delicacy" of the film's tone. although she applauded the film overall and recommended "a mandatory viewing for all schools and all parents", nikhat kazmi of the times of india believed the second half was "a bit repetitive," the script needed "taut editing," and ishaan's trauma " a shade too prolonged and the treatment simplistic." despite commending the "great performances" and excellent directing, gautaman bhaskaran of the hollywood reporter, too, suggested that the movie "suffers from a weak script." likewise, derek kelly of variety criticized it for what he described as its "touchy-feely-ness" attention to "a special needs kid's plight." kelly also disliked the film for being "so resolutely caring ... and devoid of real drama and interesting characters" that "it should have 'approved by the dyslexia assn.' stamped on the posters." scholarly response in his article "taare zameen par and dyslexic savants" featured in the annals of indian academy of neurology, ambar chakravarty noted the general accuracy of ishaan's dyslexia. though chakravarty was puzzled by ishaan's trouble in simple arithmetic—a trait of dyscalculia rather than dyslexia—he reasoned it was meant to "enhance the image of helplessness and disability". labeling ishaan an example of "dyslexic savant syndrome", he especially praised the growth of ishaan's artistic talents after receiving help and support from nikumbh, and deemed it the "most important (and joyous) neurocognitive phenomenon" of the film. this improvement highlights cosmetic neurology, a "major and therapeutically important issue" in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology. likewise, in their article "wake up call from 'stars on the ground'" for the indian journal of psychiatry, t. s. sathyanarayana rao and v. s. t. krishna wrote that the film "deserves to be vastly appreciated as an earnest endeavor to portray with sensitivity and empathetically diagnose a malady in human life". they also felt it blended "modern professional knowledge" with a "humane approach" in working with a dyslexic child. however, the authors believed the film expands beyond disabilities and explores the "present age where everyone is in a restless hurry". the pair wrote, "this film raises serious questions on mental health perspectives. we seem to be heading to a state of mass scale mindlessness even as children are being pushed to 'perform'. are we seriously getting engrossed in the race of 'achievement' and blissfully becoming numb to the crux of life i.e., experiencing meaningful living in a broader frame rather than merely existing?" the film depicts how "threats and coercion are not capable of unearthing rich human potentialities deeply embedded in children", and that teachers should instead map their strengths and weakness. with this in mind, the author felt that khan "dexterously drives home the precise point that our first priority ought to be getting to know the child before making any efforts to fill them with knowledge and abilities". overall, the pair found a "naive oversimplification" in the film. with india "only recently waking to recognizing the reality and tragedy of learning disability", however, they "easily under artistic license". public responses the film raised awareness of the issue of dyslexia, and prompted more open discussions among parents, schools, activists, and policymakers. anjuli bawa, a parent-activist and founder of action dyslexia delhi, said that the number of parents who visit her office increased tenfold in the months following the film's release. many began taking a more proactive approach by contacting her after noticing problems, rather than using her as a last resort. gupte himself received "many painful letters and phone calls" from indian parents. he noted, "fathers weep on the phone and say they saw the film and realized that they have been wrong in the way they treated their children. this is catharsis." these reactions have also brought about a change in policies. the film, only ten days after its debut, influenced the central board of secondary education to provide extra time to disabled children—including visually impaired, physically disabled, and dyslexic students—during exams. in 2008, mumbai's civic body also opened 12 classrooms for autistic students. in chandigarh, the education administration started a course to educate teachers on how to support children with learning disabilities. the film has had a similarly positive response in greater china, where the film was not officially released yet has a large online cult following due to aamir khan's popularity in the region after the success of 3 idiots (2009). the film has been well received by chinese audiences for how it tackles issues such as education and dyslexia, and is one of the highest-rated films on popular chinese film site douban, along with two other aamir khan films, 3 idiots and dangal (2016). accolades among its many awards, taare zameen par won the filmfare award for best film for 2008, as well as the national film award for best film on family welfare. khan's directorial role and safary's performance were recognized at the 2008 zee cine awards, 2008 filmfare awards, and 4th apsara film & television producers guild awards. 2009 academy awards submission and slumdog millionaire taare zameen par was initially acclaimed as india's official entry for the 2009 academy awards best foreign film, but after it failed to progress to the short list, a debate began in the indian media as to why indian films never win academy awards. speculation for the reasons behind taare zameen par's failed bid included rediff.com's arthur j. pai's observation that it lacked mainstream media attention; ampas jury member krishna shah criticized its length and abundance of songs. "three days before chandni chowk to china hit theaters in the u.s. and india, the academy of motion picture arts and sciences announced its shortlist of nine films edging closer to a foreign-language nomination. india's submission, the powerful and moving taare zameen par by aamir khan, didn't make the cut. sadly, that film never will be seen by mainstream american audiences; yet chandni chowk is enjoying a hefty publicity push. if only taare zameen par could have gotten its hands on that magic potato." — american film critic lisa tsering in the hollywood reporter. khan claimed that he was "not surprised" that taare zameen par was not included in the academy award shortlist, and argued, "i don't make films for awards. i make films for the audience. the audience, for which i have made the film, really loved it and the audiences outside india have also loved it. what i am trying to say is that film has been well loved across the globe and that for me it is extremely heartening and something that i give very high value to." the indian news media also frequently compared taare zameen par's nomination failure with the british drama film slumdog millionaire's multiple academy award nominations and wins, and noted that other indian films in the past were overlooked. film critic rajeev masand argued that it is difficult to compare the two films and noted that slumdog millionaire was being marketed in a way that indian films such as taare zameen