Currently, Sitaare Zameen Par, the spiritual sequel to the 2007 film Taare Zameen Par (TZP), is running in theatres. In real life, Darsheel Safary, who led the latter as a child actor, is gearing up for the sequel to his own career. He describes it as his second innings, awaiting the release of his upcoming series, Gamerlog. “What I have done in the show is pretty raw. I would say this would be the first step in my second innings,” he smiles.
Since his return to the movies, Safary has starred in Kutch Express (2023) and Phule (2025), but it’s Gamerlog that feels the most personal to him. “It feels like a spy has pried on my life and written a story because I have been a gamer all my life. I have wasted too many hours in gaming parlours, gotten beaten up and scolded by my parents for it,” he laughs. Directed by debutante Aarya Deo, the MX Player series revolves around a group of young gamers.
Aamir Khan with young Darsheel Safary on the set of Taare Zameen Par
Building his career as an adult, Safary can’t help but reflect on his beginnings as a child actor that made him a household name. The actor says the break he took from acting after TZP was needed to understand the deeper meaning of acting. “I was nine when TZP released. The success didn’t mess with me because I was a brat, who only valued fun. Being unaware of the gravity of my success actually helped me, but there is always a plateau in life. So a few years later, when everything calmed down, I started to realise what mistakes I made during and after TZP. So, at 15, I took a break,” shares the actor, who claims that he was not familiar with the terms of acting then. “Acting is about bringing true emotion from within, and I couldn’t get that because I was not trained formally.”
Safary shares that theatre transformed him as an actor and a person. “Since then, all the way until the pandemic, I did shows all around India and outside, meeting all sorts of audiences. Theatre is far removed from the noise of the movies. It’s a grounding experience. It’s to awaken the actor inside you. Theatre crushes you. But if you survive that, you will somewhere make it as an actor.” But it wasn’t a linear journey for the actor, who admits he doubted his sabbatical several times. As theatre struggled post-pandemic, he felt it was time to return to films — but the “old school way” of auditioning.
Darsheel Safary (left) in a still from Gamerlog
“Whatever work I’ve done after the pandemic has been through zero contacts. Auditions and screen tests allow me to understand whether I’m able to do [a role] and also help producers and directors understand if I fit it. People get upset that I don’t ask Aamir for work. But I feel too shy to do that. He is not my brother so I can call him and say, ‘Please get me a script.’ My chosen path has been to [only] send him best wishes, like a text on his birthday. It’s just how I preferred it.”
Why watch SZP?
Darsheel Safary shares his views on Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par, which hit theatres this week. “My heart feels fuller, softer, and happier. The film holds up a mirror with humour, grace, and heart. No pity, no preaching. Just presence, joy, and strength. You have to watch this in theatres! It won’t stream. It’s not meant to. Some stories ask for silence, a screen, and your full heart. You’ll walk in curious and walk out a little more human,” wrote the actor on social media.
