Aamir Khan's 'Sitaare Zameen Par' sparks controversy for being a 'frame-by-frame' copy of 'Champions'

With the release of the trailer of his much-anticipated movie 'Sitaare Zameen Par', it has been unearthed that the movie is just another remake of a foreign film.

Of late, Bollywood's 'Mr Perfectionist' Aamir Khan is seemingly struggling with his choices of script. Despite being actively involved in the Hindi cinema industry for nearly four decades, Aamir is having a tough time entertaining the new-gen audiences. While the actor has given several blockbusters, cult-classics, and path-breaking cinemas, his recent outings are failing flat and has completely failed to leave a mark.

In the era of digital streams, the remake from the other languages is not just proving to be a bad choice, but also turning out to be a poor investment. Aamir's recent movie outings have struggled to attract audiences to the theatres and met with harsh criticism from cinema lovers.

A prime example, Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), a Hindi remake of Forrest Gump, was made with a budget of Rs 180 crore, but the movie failed to bring audiences to the theatres and ended its theatrical run with a total collection of just Rs 61 crore, resulting in a loss of Rs 120 crore.

With the release of the trailer of his much-ancitipated movie Sitaare Zameen Par, it has been unearthed that the movie is just another remake of a foreign film. The movie is largely adapted from the Spanish film, Campeones (2018).

Soon after the release of the trailer, netizens were quick enough to find out that it is a blatant 'frame-by-frame' copy of Champions, the English adaptation of Campeones.

The trailer has made a large section of the audience who expect more from Aamir Khan upset. Social media is flooded with reactions as they share their disappointment with an actor like Aamir Khan, who has delivered hits like Sarfarosh, 3 Idiots, Dangal and others.

A user commented, “After the Forrest Gump fiasco, he should have stayed away from remakes or adaptations." Another comment read, “Luckily, Champions is less popular than Forrest Gump, so fewer people may care. But still not a good look." Another added, “Perfectionist in copying the film frame by frame." One comment read, “Even that tubelight falling scene and almost every gag is from the original. I was assuming mamu will put some spin on it, but yeh frame-to-frame remake hai. Story 99 percent same lag rahi hai."

Made under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions, Sitaare Zameen Par stars Aamir Khan and Genelia Deshmukh. The movie is produced by Aamir Khan and Aparna Purohit, with Ravi Bhagchandka as producer. Directed by R S Prasanna, the film will be released in theatres on June 20, 2025.