May 14, 2025: Bollywood Perfectionist Actor, filmmaker Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par has found itself at the center of a heated controversy after the release of its trailer. Within hours of its debut, viewers on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) began highlighting uncanny resemblances between Khan’s movie and the 2023 Hollywood film Champions.
Netizens flooded social platforms with side-by-side comparisons, claiming the Indian film closely mirrors Champions in tone, storyline, and even specific comedic sequences — down to a tubelight gag. The trailer showcases Khan portraying a quirky, temperamental basketball coach tasked with leading a team of individuals with intellectual disabilities, echoing the premise of the Woody Harrelson-led Champions, currently streaming on JioCinema.
Marketed with the tagline “1 Tingu Basketball Coach, 10 Toofani SITAARE aur unki journey,” the film promises an emotional journey of inclusion, humor, and growth. Directed by R.S. Prasanna and co-starring Genelia Deshmukh, the movie also introduces ten debutant actors, bringing a fresh ensemble to the screen. Yet the discussion around originality has taken precedence.
A user on Reddit wrote, “Perfectionist in copying the film frame by frame,” while another commented, “After the Forrest Gump fiasco, he should have stayed away from remakes or adaptations.” The backlash refers to Khan’s previous film Laal Singh Chaddha, an adaptation of Forrest Gump, which faced its own share of criticism for lacking cultural relatability.
Sitaare Zameen Par: Frame by Frame, Aamir Plays the Same Game like Champions
Some viewers pointed out the Film Sitaare Zameen Par’s choice of basketball as a sport, arguing it may alienate Indian audiences more familiar with cricket, football, or hockey. One viewer said, “The problem I see is we have a very niche audience who understand basketball… At least they should have changed the sport to make it more relatable.”
While Khan’s production team is yet to issue an official statement, the mounting accusations of near-plagiarism threaten to tarnish the film’s release buzz and dent the actor’s reputation as Bollywood’s so-called perfectionist.
In a contrasting move that momentarily shifted focus from the controversy, Aamir Khan Productions paid tribute to the Indian Armed Forces following the success of Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 security personnel. The production house’s Instagram post read: “Saluting the heroes of Operation Sindoor. Heartfelt gratitude to our armed forces for their courage, bravery and unwavering commitment to the security of our nation. Thank you to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for his leadership and resolve. Jai Hind.”
As the debate over Sitaare Zameen Par’s originality intensifies, it remains to be seen whether the film can rise above the controversy or be remembered as another missed shot in Khan’s recent career.