year, Ram organises an arts and crafts contest for the staff and students, judged by artist Lalita Lajmi. Ishaan's work makes him the winner and Ram, who paints Ishaan's portrait, is declared the runner-up. The principal announces that Ram has been hired as the school's permanent art teacher. When Ishaan's parents meet his teachers on the last day of school, they are left speechless by the transformation in him. Overcome with emotion, Nandkishore thanks Ram. Before leaving, Ishaan runs toward Ram, who lifts him high up in a hug. Cast Darsheel Safary as Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi (Inu): Maya & Nandkishore's son Veer Mohan as Little Ishaan Aamir Khan as Ram Shankar Nikumbh: An art teacher at New Era High School and Inu's tutor Tisca Chopra as Maya Awasthi: Ishaan and Yohaan's mother Vipin Sharma as Nandkishore Awasthi, Ishaan and Yohaan's father Tanay Chheda as Rajan Damodran, Inu's best friend and classmate at boarding school Sachet Engineer as Yohaan Nandkishore Awasthi: Inu's brother Aniket Engineer as Junior Yohaan Ramit Gupta as Ranjeet Girija Oak as Jabeen Khan: Nikumbh's co-worker Bugs Bhargava and Shankar Sachdev as Sen Sir and Tiwari Sir, Two teachers at New Era High School M. K. Raina as Principal - Boarding school: The head of New Era High School Pratima Kulkarni as Principal - St. Anthony's School Meghna Malik as Victoria Teacher: Class and math teacher of Ishaan's former school, St. Anthony's School Sonali Sachdev as Irene Teacher: An English teacher at Ishaan's former school, St. Anthony's School Lalita Lajmi as herself (cameo appearance) Abhishek Bachchan as himself (cameo appearance in photograph) Production Development The husband and wife team of Amole Gupte and Deepa Bhatia developed the story that would eventually become Taare Zameen Par as a way of understanding why some children cannot conform to a conventional educational system. Their initial work began as a short story that evolved into a screenplay over seven years. Deepa Bhatia stated in an interview with The Hindu that her original inspiration was the childhood of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who did poorly in school. Her goal was to explore the story of "a child who did not fit into the school stream." She referenced a specific moment in Kurosawa's biography where he began to excel after meeting an attentive art teacher, and noted that this scene "became the inspiration for how a teacher could transform the life of a student".