The trailer for Sitaare Zameen Par, the much-anticipated film starring Aamir Khan, dropped on Tuesday evening and quickly caught the attention of fans for its emotional and heartfelt portrayal of intellectual disabilities. Aamir plays a tough, unlikeable basketball coach who ends up training a team of intellectually disabled players. The trailer struck a chord with many—but also raised some eyebrows.
Just hours after its release, social media users began pointing out striking similarities between Sitaare Zameen Par and the 2023 Hollywood film Champions, which starred Woody Harrelson. In fact, several scenes from the trailer looked nearly identical to Champions, leading to accusations of the film being a “copy-paste job.”
One Instagram user shared a side-by-side video comparison, writing, “Cut Copy Paste.” Another commented, “What is Bollywood? An industry where originality is on vacation. Just remix a Hollywood script, toss in some songs, and call it a cinematic universe.”
But the controversy doesn’t stop there—Champions itself is a remake of the 2018 Spanish hit Campeones, starring Javier Gutiérrez. That film had the same core story: a disgraced basketball coach sentenced to community service who ends up coaching a team of intellectually disabled players and leads them to greatness. Key moments like a courtroom scene, the coach accidentally hitting a player, and being humbled by a female team member appear in all three films.
So, is Sitaare Zameen Par just a copy of Champions, or is it an official adaptation?
Some fans came to Aamir Khan’s defense, claiming that Sitaare Zameen Par is the authorized Hindi remake of Campeones. One user clarified, “Aamir Khan Productions bought the official remake rights to the 2018 Spanish film Campeones (released in English as Champions).” However, Aamir Khan Productions has not yet issued a formal statement to confirm this.
Directed by RS Prasanna and written by Divy Nidhi Sharma, Sitaare Zameen Par is being promoted as a spiritual sequel to Aamir’s 2007 film Taare Zameen Par. The film also introduces 10 new actors and features Genelia D’Souza in a key role. It is set to hit theatres on June 20.
