User reviews

On my walk home from the cinema, I thought about why I loved Secret Superstar so much despite it being a sometimes-absurd, cliché-heavy fantasy film imparting the dubious message that only if a female is a potential entertainment superstar does she have the chance to escape her sordid existence in the Indian Muslim world. It's obvious - there is so much to love about this film that made me cast aside any reservations I had about declaring it a masterpiece. The subjects of domestic abuse and the subjugation of women in Indian Muslim culture are dealt with adroitly, and they provide the perfect foundation and vortex for an extraordinary story to unfold. I loved the mingling of conventional Indian Muslim culture and Internet culture, and the mingling of provincial values and culture with the Mumbai lifestyle and attitude within the entertainment industry. Overall, I did not feel manipulated by this film nor did I feel bombarded by a Let-Us- Entertain-You vibe; behind the Bollywood blockbuster production guise I witnessed tremendous genuineness. The tears that I shed did not happen because the filmmakers are clever pushers of emotion buttons. I was genuinely touched. The joy that I experienced was more from being moved than from being entertained. It's simply a beautiful, glorious film.

Saw this first day in a theater with my family. Aamir once again proves he is one of the few finest actors in Bollywood today. Very convincingly n nicely he fits into every character he plays, no matter the screen time. He is magnificent, but he does not carry the weight of this film on his own. A slue of other fine actors give absolutely divine performances, especially Zaira Wasim. The story centers around a 15 year old girl. The film highlights her talents while also showing the painful problems that comes with being a female in a patriarchal society. Beautifully acted, sweet but not syrupy and perfect for a break from all the holiday madness, Secret Superstar is a true gem.

SECRET SUPERSTAR

Duration : 150 Minutes Genre : Drama

Zaira Wasim : the fresh face which we all first saw in Dangal has now turned into a star, she shines completely, and justifies the term "Superstar" in the title. One can see, how genuinely she plays Insia. Meher Vij : She portrays Insia's mother, who complements Zaira's character like no other. Applause worthy! Aamir Khan : He plays Shakti Kumar. We have all seen Aamir in his different avatars, and the audiences should not be missing this one! He is hilarious! Raj Arjun who plays Insia's father is ferocious. Tirth Sharma who portrays Chintan is lovable.

Story : Secret Superstar is a story relating to a daughter/girl who dreams to be a singer; A mother who loves her daughter like no other but also feels helpless at the same time; A father who is stubborn and violent towards his family; A friend who would go to any limits to help out the girl he adores, and a struggling arrogant music director who turns out to be the helping hand in the girl's life. Secret Superstar will make you angry, love, laugh, weep, smile in its 150 minute duration. It's a story of the bond of a mother and her child. Advait Chandan has done a remarkable job on this one.

Music : The tracks of Secret Superstar maybe just ordinary, however "Main Kaun Hoon" wins hearts.

Overall, Secret Superstar is a must watch by all ages. Aamir Khan Productions bags in a sure shot winner this Diwali.

Debutant director Advait Chandan has hit the right chords by beautifully portraying the mother-daughter relationship and setting the story in a middle class locality where not only you, your dreams and emotions are also trapped by the 'man' of the house.

This is a story of a teenage girl Insia (Zaira Wasim) who tackling massive challenges imposed by her overtly potent father (Raj Arjun) finally fulfils her dreams of becoming a superstar singer with the support of her helpless mother (Meher Vij), best friend Chintan (Tirth Sharma) and an out of luck music director Shakti Kumar (Aamir Khan). All the performances are so enthralling that it keeps you glued to the screen and makes you give a victory jump at the climax.

On the whole, Secret Superstar is a brilliantly crafted film inspiring people to chase dreams as they do come true, highlighting relevant social issues of patriarchal society and showing the importance of mothers. It's a mother's unconditional love and sacrifice that holds the family together. She sacrifices all her passions and dreams for the sake of her husband and child. Salute to all mothers and motherhood.

Aamir khan never fails to amaze us, never! Do not miss this film.

Secret Superstar is one of the finest films in recent times that makes you laugh, cry and at the end you go home with a feel-good emotion and give your mother the tightest hug ever.

The film is about an emotional journey of a teenage girl Insiya Malik from a middle class family of Vadodara who attempts to hurdle her way past some monumental challenges to pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer.

As an Aamir Khan film, you always expect it to be different from others and socially relevant at the same time - 'Secret Superstar' being no exception. Promoted as a film about women empowerment, it does not only revolve around that topic but also speaks volumes about various other social issues such as domestic violence, female foeticide etc that no mainstream cinema has ever dared to put lights upon.

Drawing a completely refreshing plot line, debutante Director Advait Chandan has shown some really good directorial skills for his first film. Maintaining a watertight screenplay, the film never lets you shift your focus and keeps you on the edge rooting for Insiya. A few sequences might seem to be little dragged out and could have been edited for perfection.

When it comes to acting, all the lead actors - Zaira Wasim, Meher Vij, Raj Arjun have given their career best performances. Zaira as Insiya is charming and her acting in the singing sequences look extremely believable with her lip-syncs and guitar movements being spot on. Meher Vij as Najma plays mother to Insiya and delivers a memorable performance. Raj Arjun is the stand out performer in the film. He was totally convincing as the demon of a father and makes the audience hate him bad. Tirth Acharya as Chintan too has done a great job as Insiya's supportive friend. Aamir Khan, as music director Shakti Kumar, in his 20 minutes role of a never-seen-before character truly plays 'dal me tadka' and gives the audience some rare bursts of laughter.

Music of the film is very simple, soulful and extremely situational. They tend to grow on you each time you hear and makes a definite impact during the sequences on big screen. The only different song in the album is 'Sexy Baliye' which comes during the end credits and the quirkiness of it makes the audience standing on the aisle till the very end of it.

Overall, the film leaves a long lasting impact on your heart letting the story teller succeed in his attempt. The usage of social media shown as a medium of expressing hidden talents is very relevant in today's time. The mother-daughter bonding as shown in the film is one of the major highlights. The depiction of teenage love makes you blush and takes you back to your school memories.

Lastly, there are many such secret superstars like Insiya in our societies who get suppressed due to various social issues and don't get enough exposure. Here's one for them to keep believing in their dreams. Secret Superstar is a definite must watch for people of every age group.

While this is an Aamir Khan movie, it is not as good as his hits such as 3 idiots and Tare jamin par. As with Aamir's other movies, this movie also has a social message.

However, the plot is too predictable and unnecessarily long. Everyone's acting is okay, but nothing particularly good comes to mind.

None of the songs are memorable. There is no scene in the movie that will stay with you for long.

This film tells the story of an Indian girl who chases her dream of becoming a singer in an oppressive environment.

It is an inspiring film because it tells you that nothing is impossible. If you dare to dream, everything can be within reach. The characters are charismatic, and the story is touching. It is a sweet film about breaking free and chasing dreams, despite the circumstances that seem impossible.

Secret Supertsar is about a young girl's aspiration to become star singer. She is from a conservative Muslim family and despite family taboos on music she does various activities for fulfilling her dream. Her mother fully supports her dream but the father doesn't. Despite domestic troubles, despite social taboos, despite the age she marches forward and touches the public spotlight.

A good positive theme film but the characters are negatively depicted. The lead girl, a rebellious natured person, her father the kinda villain figure in the film, her grandmother and mother being the victim of patriarchal norms, Shakti Kapoor the carefree guy who needs to be controlled by others, her friend who is also naughty like her bunking class. Only positive character shown in the film is her Mother who despite abuse supports her daughter's dream. So the final note "Real Secret Superstar is my Mother" fully explains the film weight. It is not a film of feminism, but a film wholly dedicated to Mothers. A mother's day film in summary.

Though the film has negative characters mostly but still it is a work that reflects good casting done and character study seem realistic, considering the situational set up of the movie. There are also some unreal situations that is significant. The narratives and progress of film is fast. The BGM esp songs are soulful. A film that has to be remembered for some good songs and some genuine characterization. A 64/100.

Bollywood has been going through some tough times during 2017 starting from Salman Khan's disaster dilemma to Varun Dhawan's cheesy acting. Luckily some films during the year created some satisfaction such as Baahubali 2 and Mom.

So the story revolves around a 14 year old named Insia who resides in a suburban city that goes by the name of Vadodara which is in Gujarat. Insia's dream was to pursue a career in singing and her mother is highly supportive of Insia's decision to become a singer but her abusive and cold- hearted father invades her comfort zone which results in her dreams being crushed. So Insia decides to secretly pursue signing by posting a video and uses a burqa to hide her identity so her father don't find out. The video goes viral and it catches the attention of a failing and dim-witted Casanova music director Shakti Kumar. With the help of her mother and Kumar, how Insia manages to pursue her dream and what happens afterwards is basically what this film is about.

Honestly, the teaser and trailer made me more excited for Aamir Khan but watching this movie made me realize that Aamir Khan wasn't the only important factor in the film. I loved this movie for how it was and how it looked. Advait Chandan deserves a bow because this debut filmmaker managed to master the craft of producing a screenplay that kept all the emotional factors in its place which also kept the audience engaged throughout the 143 minutes of the film.

The acting in the movie was phenomenal.

Zaira Wasim steals the show completely. Her acting had a clear justification to never fear anyone before pursuing a dream and her Dangal mentality managed to cover that.

Meher Vij was nice and heartwarming as the mother for Zaira. Luckily in my opinion, she was not bad in Bajrangi Bhaijaan where she did the role of the little girl's mother but in this movie she manages to execute the mother role according to our expectations.

Despite Aamir Khan's role only appearing half of the film, he still managed to act like the same khan who we all adore a lot. His flirty and sleazy humor managed to ma laugh a lot of times.

Raj Arjun's first attempt as an abusive father figure kept the film smooth.

The music was nice but I felt some tracks had weak compositions and Amit Trivedi has done it in some films like Qaidi Band and Shaandaar. Lyrics were fantastically produced by Kaiser Munir.

Anil Mehta's cinematography keeps the script of the integral and consistent.

Overall, I loved this movie.

1) Beautifully written and directed. 2) Well performed 3) Nice Camera work

Enjoy your Diwali with this film at a theater near you.

Golmaal Again will surpass the box office for this film. Secret superstar should fall into the 50-75 crore range. But just rely on the film more than the box office.

3.75/4- Bollywood's most proper flick

From the trailer and the songs 'Secret Superstar' might just look like a story of a girl who has a dream to become a singer. But, the movie has more to offer than just that.

However, there are only a few things that could have been better. In the first half the movie takes the momentum up but then after a few sequences, it falls flat. The first half surely required a tighter screenplay. Even the runtime could have been shorter as there are a couple of sequences that were not much required and could have been edited out. While we get emotional at the end of the film, the 'Sexy Baliye' track at the end credits spoils the take away feel. We wish the makers could have got away with it.

Zaira Wasim has done full justice to the role and we think she should be ready to take awards home once again. Meher Vij known for her small role in 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' (Munni's mother) is simply outstanding as Najma. She has essayed the role of a helpless mother torn between her daughter's dreams and her conservative husband to the tee. Raj Arjun is so good as Insia's father that you will start hating him once you leave the theatres. Special mention to Kabir Sajid (Insia's brother) and Tirth Sharma (Insia's friend), they are very good in their respective parts. Now let's talk about Aamir Khan. He once again proves that he can carry any role given to him. As Shakti Kumaar, Aamir will leave you in splits. Because this film is about Zaira Wasim we are not going to talk much about Aamir and let Zaira get all the spotlight.

Overall, 'Secret Superstar' is an emotional yet an entertaining film. A must watch!

The girl and the mother have done a decent job. The songs are quite average. If she is supposed to be a good singer, then use a good singer for her songs. Amir khan is barely there. Movie is basically slow and boring. It lasts full 2 and a half hours. save your money and watch TV. Its not worth writing a long review.

This is my first IMDb review and I don't know why am I writing this although I am not into this review thing :P...Maybe the movie drove me here. First things first....Aamir Khan - take a bow for this man.He always did everything right.Fits into every single role as if there's no one on the planet who can do them so perfectly as he did!! This is a simple script, a girl who is not even allowed to dream has a dream..to sing big! Zaira Wasim..mmuahh.....Loved her throughout the film <3<3<3... Meher as the mother was magnificent. Simple script, beautiful screenplay, heartfelt emotions, altogether, an emotional ride!!!A perfect blend of a mother's love and some Aamir's comic... A must watch for everyone... 10 on 10!No more words... Now stop reading and go watch it

I liked "A star is born", but then I watched this movie from 2017 and wondered what "A star is born" was missing...well a lot of things - of course if the movie was created to justify the title.

This movie is not made for Oscars or awards , it is made for reasons. Reasons that prevent from millions of people to reach their potential. It's an ode to a mother, an ode to a girl child and hopefully a lesson for a lot of people to be more accepting. My Oscar for 2018 goes to this movie, just because it was not just entertainment but also and inspiration.

Great natural acting, very minimalistic and simplistic direction, strong message and a inspiration to dream! The movie is a bit longish but it was needed to develop the characters to their full potential. Having said that cutting off 15 minutes would have made it a bit better for international markets as well.

Completely recommended for all the people who are looking for a movie to be engrossed in! ( Note that i love Avengers as well, but this one is not a movie where you can read a book while watching the movies, take a seat and take a ride with this one!)

Film: Secret Superstar

Writer & Director: Advait Chandan

Producer: Aamir Khan

Rating: 3/3

Advait Chandan's witty, melodramatic, musical drama "Secret Superstar" focuses on a teenage girl who wishes to become a singing sensation, in spite of having numerous hurdles in her life. Zaira who plays Insia, a wannabe singer is always being pushed back because of her father's conservative mindset. The film shows how she purposely tries to reach success.

Debutante Advait Chandan has written a beautiful, lovely and meaningful screenplay which amuses me for about two and a half hours. Story actually seems to be usual, but after the second climax it doesn't. It completely makes you feel like Insia. The way the girl feels depressed because of her arrogant father makes you narky. Advait's direction is also praise-worthy. He has handled the film with utmost care.

Aamir Khan who plays the role of Shakti Kumar, a funny and substandard music director is nice. He will always be there to tickle your funny bone.

Comprehensively, I've actually got no words to say for this pleasurable musical drama. Just go and watch this film, I guarantee you that you would come out of the theater with a smile. Thank you.

Tone, Script & Story: The story is despite all odds from conservative family, how a girl manages to become superstar. She in the process liberates her innocent mother and her brother from violent father, who supposedly beats their mother on every issue even if it went a miniscule wrong.

The story is slow. Action from violent father is not shown much. Thus one may conclude, matter is not strong enough to take it to court, but let us assume that he is really violent and as the movie is for family, film makers wanted a large viewing audience, his violent nature is not shown.

While watching trailer, I got a mini heart attack to see take of love between the girl and the boy (chintana). Despite girl's tendencies, her keeping of password seemed abrupt. While watching movie I did not get any mini attack but I would like to share something, when I was in school and such incidences occurred boys were made to become murga as punishment. Thus the take of underage love seemed inappropriate to me.

The personal life of girl in main lead is feels dim. I mean she has no friends and she stands alone in the crowd. For such a girl, that part comes out as abrupt.

The content did not hit my soul at lot of places. (2/5).

Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography: Direction is average, screenplay is slow and cinematography is good (2/5).

Music: The movie is based on backbone - which is music. Justice was not done to the music, being a backbone it should have been made better. It is average (2/5).

Acting: Acting was good (3/5).

Final Verdict: I was bored; I could not get over the limitations. Although overrated, it is still good to watch [(2/5) (7/10)].

Secret Superstar is the newest of Aamir Khan's films, as a huge fan of his and having his works as my main/only source of Bollywood/Indian films this film to me was quite disappointing. It certainly delivered a great message, had good acting, music and cinematography, like most of Khan's films. However, i felt that this is probably the weakest of his entries that I have seen, it seems that it would be impossible for Khan to rekindle the flames of 3 idiots which gave us in my opinion one of the best films ever.

The whole first act of Secret Superstar felt dragged and mostly unnecessary as we follow a formulaic and often clichéd storyline which in many ways is very similar to that of Khan's other recent film, Dangal. The similarities follow all the way down to the casting choice of the main character. Unfortunately, Secret Superstar just didn't hit me that hard, perhaps this also has something to do with Khan being slightly underutilized. While I thoroughly enjoyed the music and song choices they did sound at times unnatural and that was something that I found quite off putting.

The film does have good acting and a lacking but decent narrative that fans of Indian cinema and the melodramatic genre could enjoy. But definitely one of Khan's weaker entries.

WOW. This is easily one of the best films i have seen this year, period. My colleague told me about it and seeing that it was an Aamir Khan production, why in my right mind would I miss it? Terrific acting performances by everyone, and those who saw the gigantic hit Dangal wouldn't be too surprised by the stunning performance by the young newcomer Zaira Wasim! Also an amazing performance by the actress who played her mother. And of course, the ever so powerful Mr. Aamir Khan plays an eccentric, sort of creepy but hilarious character which is the complete opposite of his last outing. The way he disappears into each and every one of his characters is beyond greatness. The film has it all- it's really emotional (I'm not Indian so maybe I'm not used to emotionally strong films but this one really had me crying...), it's entertaining, funny, and just not even a single part of the film dragged. Wonderful gem of a film! Must watch!

Basically qualified inspirational films, but the outbreak of mom is slightly prominent.

My rating- 2.5/5 (Average film)

Positives- 1.) Zaira Wasim- Acting was superb 👍 2.) Aamir Khan- His comedy role was good and funny. Few good comedies here and there and his role was a comic relief in this highly melodramatic film.😂😂 3.) Meher vij( mom) , Raj Arjun(dad) , kabir(young brother) and tirth (boyfriend)- All were excellent and their acting was in par with Zaira's acting. Raj Arjun's Serious role as angry father is definitely one of the best performance he has done and he needs to applauded for that. Meher Vij as innocent mother gave her natural performance in this film (her emotional performance was superb).

4.) Music and bg score 5.)Cinematography

Negatives- 1.) Advaith Chandan (director and script writer)- His script was full of dramatic dialogues but thanks to those actors whose natural performance didn't show any sign of it. His vision about this movie was completely filled with sentimental clichés trying to make people cry (Just like tubelight). But luckily it wasn't as bad as Tubelight because tubelight was king of melodrama. His casting of actors was perfect and relief for the audience otherwise my rating would have gone below 2.5.

2.)Climax- Film had few good scenes here and there and towards the end i was expecting a good ending and it was almost going to the right track when suddenly they shifted to the highly melodramatic track where it reminded me of 90's Bollywood climax .

3.)Length of the film

Overall- I was disappointed because i heard good reviews and people were giving 4 stars and i though it will be a good film.(Some critics said that it was the one of the best Bollywood film of 2017) But my opinion is going to be exact opposite of it. Those who love highly melodramatic films can go for it. Others please stay away and wait for its DVD print. (Watch it only for the best performances of the cast) My rating- 2.5/5

Towards the end of Secret Superstar, a character utters few lines about the basic need of having and chasing dreams. She is doubtlessly inspired by another character who uttered those same lines previously during a heated verbal tiff. The authenticity of drama and the power that these characters have in you, much like how they have it on their co-characters, even while shouting at each other, are remarkable.

Advait Chandan's debut feature, Secret Superstar, which tackles two heavy subjects of domestic violence and chasing dreams at once is a definitive reflection of the patriarchal pit that we, or our women rather, live in. Self-learned amateur bass guitar player, occasional school-goer, and full-time dreamer Insia looks up to Bollywood music singers and follows them on awards circuit, albeit on TV, with a dream to become one herself some day. There are many obstacles that are limiting her chances, but the most virulent and relentless one is in her own middle-class household, a hypocritical sadist father who beats his wife at the drop of a spoon and controls his family like a merciless fascist government. Seeing Insia play with her guitar when she should be studying mathematics instead is already a good reason for him to lash out, so what happens when she creates a YouTube channel and moves an inch forward to her dream? The heated setting explodes, and the explosion is an arresting spectacle.

Director Chandan uses women living in oppression in a patriarchal household to craft a narrative that is a bit unrealistic and contrived from time to time. A theme last seen in Rima Das's festival-favorite indie drama Village Rockstars, the film hopes to shed light into the dreams of young girls suppressed by their own people. A girl who prefers her father's permanent absence and who is forced to travel miles without letting her folks know for fear of rebuke is the perfect example of the combination of audacity and determination required to tackle the obstacles, and Secret Superstar conveys that point across with some palpable drama and shades of quirkiness.

Aamir Khan is absolutely phenomenal as an idiosyncratic music producer known for his sexual escapades and bad temper. His presence on screen is like drinking Kool-Aid in scorching heat, and every time he appears, thirst automatically finds its way. It is characters like him that Chandan uses to support his ship that is determined it will not sink. From the gaudy metallic print t-shirts that he wears to his oddball demeanor, Khan plays a character that is only second to Zaira Wasim's. She steals the limelight with her cheeks that go scarlet when she dreams and surprises herself, quarrels with her mother and close friend Chintan, and takes a stand for herself against the oppression, unlike her mother competitively rocked by the talented and sweet-nosed Meher Vij. The duo look like they are mother-daughter in real life, what with their seamless connection and similar complexion. If Wasim is the captain of this ship then Vij is the second captain with Khan sitting in the corner as an adviser with wisdom and energy to drown in. Special mention to Raj Arjun, who is the mole in this ship, for pulling off the father character so impeccably that you want to beat him up.

One of the many reasons why Secret Superstar works and never bores you is the tiny references that it makes to life in general. Taking potshots at the music industry, surface touching the current Weinstein-inspired scenario, the oppressed family living in a society called "Modern Colony", and the sexism that is so prevalent around us are to name a few. These references are tidbits that make the broth tastier and prevents you from focusing on the mannered narrative. The soundtrack is thankfully not cheesy and gels wells with the screenplay. Music is an integral part of what Insia dreams to achieve, and that's one thing that the film gets correct in terms of picturisation and flow.

It tugs at your heart as you root for this charming little lady with a guitar in one hand and grit in another. Secret Superstar is a warm and engaging film about being fearless and moving toward your dream no matter what, and with a sweet little love story hidden in the core, it scores. It scores big. TN.