Aamir Khan doesn’t believe in latching on to camps. Neither does he believe in having a favourite director or heroine. What he does believe is that his movies inspire people in some way, like they inspire him. Bollywood's quintessential maverick on not looking his age, ramp fright, camp disdain and more...
Aamir Khan is 44. The problem is, look at him and you can’t quite buy that. From transforming into a hunk for Ghajini to his current looking-twenty-something avatar, there are many reasons to be thoroughly envious of the guy. Well, he may look 22 but at least he has to feel 44, one tells oneself, and feels happy. But he just has to mercilessly dash those hopes as well.
“I think we all are stuck at one age mentally, and we go through life thinking from that perspective throughout, irrespective of how old or young we are. I am stuck at 18-20 or thereabouts, I think.”
Yeah, sure. “No, seriously, and it gets embarrassing at times. I often find myself describing someone as ‘Yeh toh uncle-type hai’, and later, when I’m introduced to that person, I realise that the ‘uncle’ is younger to me! The other day a friend introduced to me a lady and I had a brief conversation with her. When she walked away, he asked me, ‘Aamir, tu usko aunty, aunty kyun bol raha thaa bhaiya, woh teri age ki hai!’ And I didn’t mean to do that, it just came naturally!”
Out of fear that he could call me uncle next, we move on quickly. Okay, Aamir, tell us what’s the difference in the world of the young today, from the days when you were physically 18-20? “Not much, really. The lingo may have changed, but not too much otherwise. The medium has changed, so the vocabulary changes, the grammar changes. But the thoughts, the concerns, the emotional touch points are not very different.”
But aren’t the aaj kal ke youngsters any different in terms of priorities, from what life was two decades back? “See, when I researched for RDB, I realized that the specific concerns may be different because of the social environment you belong to at that time of point. If your country is going through an independence struggle, your concerns will not be the latest gadgets, but independence. Bhagat Singh was 23 when he was hanged, and he was a normal fun-loving young man, but his concern was freedom. Depending on what their society is going through at a given point of time, young people react pretty much the same way, but their specific concerns may well be different.”
What does cinema in general, and your cinema in particular, do to address specific concerns, Aamir? Isn’t much of the multiplex cinema aimed at the young urban audience candy floss? “It’s not all that way. Apart from this type of movies, there are some films that I’ve done that are inspirational, and I would like to think that they have had some impact on people. If not now and here and immediate, I believe they will collectively have an impact as time goes by. When you see a film like Lagaan, it affects you in a certain way. When you see a film like Sarfarosh, it affects you in a certain way. You start thinking differently, you feel that you also want to live an upright life, you want to contribute to society. When you see an RDB, you are inspired to do something. Even if you don’t do something then and there, these films will impact how you think and react to things in your life, subsequently. I believe that, not because these films have been inspirational for my audiences, but because they have been inspirational for me first.” You aren’t listing Mangal Pandey because it didn’t work well? “Actually, true, even Mangal Pandey, for those it touched, it would have a major impact. It touched me in a major way for sure.”
Like you spoke of learning to see your children in a different perspective after TZP? “Yes, the film had something to give me. And when I share it with people, my hope is that it affects them the way it affects me. In fact, when I look around me, I think it has. Parents see children differently, the educational system sees children differently. If I take one film of my career that has had the most immediate impact, the here and now impact, it is TZP. Parents overnight realized, yaar, yeh main kya kar raha hoon! So I’m saying, films can and do have an impact. Rarely, the impact is immediate, like in TZP. More often, the impact is that it gradually changes your perception of things, makes you feel differently.”
Over the past couple of years, Aamir picks up the cigarette as release season approaches. Where’s the ashtray this time? “Nahin, is dafa nahi.” Why? There’s no stress now? “No, not like that. Actually, it’s a commitment. My son Junaid was sitting for his board exams this year. Xth standard. And he has been very adamant on my not smoking for a long, long time. So on the first day of his board exam paper, on the first of April, I made him a promise ki main cigarette band kar raha hoon. Tab se aaj tak
He’s given his board exams? What does he say when he sees the Papa Kehte Hain song from QSQT? “What does he say ... actually, I don’t know if he has seen QSQT! Lagaan was the first movie of mine he saw, and I don’t think he saw the earlier ones. I will show him QSQT now.”
So tell us, where did a ramp debut at 44 come from? “Arrey, kuch nahin hai, I am very embarrassed to do all this ramp walk, honestly, I am not built for this sort of stuff! Salman is a friend, and he has been working on this charity organisation for some time now, and has been requesting my help to raise funds for it. This was one of the ways to raise funds. Since it was for a good cause, I agreed, but the ramp is quite awkward for me. Aap beech mein chal rahe ho, sab log aapko dekh rahe hain... I’m not cut out for it! And I normally don’t do it, but if it is helping people, I don’t mind, theek hai.” Ah, and there was no clash of Khans on ramp? “Arrey nahin, I didn’t even pay attention to that. If the media or people get excited by it, good, no harm done, but there was nothing to the clash.”
Don’t disappoint us, Aamir, with such statements. It’ll only make us prod further. Walking for Salman, looking for movie cross-promotions with Amitabh – isn’t Aamir too friendly with everyone who’s not too friendly with Shah Rukh at the moment? “No, no, nothing like that. As a viewer, Paa interested me, and I have always been a fan of Mr Bachchan, and his new, challenging role interests me as a viewer, that is it.”
So the stuff about cross-promotion is goss? “Yes, all goss!” How much goss do you handle, then? “Well, how much can I rebut? Sometimes stuff is checked with me, sometimes it isn’t. Recently, there was talk of me being upset with Prateik Babbar for him being unpunctual on the sets. The truth is, that in my entire career of 20 years, if there is one actor I’ve seen who is ultra-professional, it is Prateik! His level of commitment is phenomenal. He was not only bang on time for shooting, he was never late even once for rehearsals!”
From the days of Dil Chahta Hai, you’ve had an unusual comfort level with multiple hero-scripts where you aren’t the centre of attention. In TZP, you didn’t even step into the frame till the interval. Most superstars like the camera to focus on them for the maximum screen time, don’t they? “Yes, I guess, but for me, I cannot think like that. I’m unable to think like a ‘star’, meri entry aisi hogi film mein, yeh baaki logon toh itna screen time kyun mil raha hai, all those things... but is my stardom any less because I have done so many films with collective work? On the contrary, I think my ‘stardom’ has been stronger on that account. See, the core message of my next movie is, don’t run after success. Run after excellence. If you run after excellence, success will run after you. That is also the core message of my career so far. If I think that way, I will think that to be successful, I must work with a big director; I must have my entry in a helicopter... jo bhi ek star ki trappings hoti hai... But that’s not me. If I am excellent, success will come on its own.”
And then success intoxicates, money intoxicates, power intoxicates. How much of it goes to your head? “What intoxicates me is to be part of a story that touches people. What intoxicates me is when I’m hiding behind a curtain in a theatre, watching the audience laughing or crying and reacting to the story being told to them on screen – that is far more intoxicating to me than anything else. It’s a very intoxicating feeling to have touched people. Money cannot match that. Power cannot match that. And in any case, what use is the power you have? If you can solve somebody’s problems, if you can make someone smile, then your power is worth something. Agar aap woh nahin kar sakte toh aapki so-called power do takke ki nahin hai, what is there in it to intoxicate?”
What’s with all the talk of the ‘Kareena chemistry’? “Oh, she’s a great actress and if people think there’s good chemistry between us, I’m thrilled about it. It’s not the first time. Kajol and I had good on-screen chemistry in Fanaah. And Kareena is an amazingly beautiful woman.” You know she described you as a genius recently? “Oh! Did she? She’s a lovely actress, a very sensitive person, and above all, good to look at, din achcha kat jaata hai sets par!”
Isn’t it a little strange, it’s been two decades; there’s no established ‘pairing’, since you haven’t done 3-4 movies with the same heroine ever? “But I don’t come from that school of thought... that Raj Kapoor-Nargis are a hit pair, that sort of thing. I don’t believe in pairing. Each casting is based on what the script demands. TZP didn’t even have a heroine. I don’t believe in working that way, yaar, hamari jodi hit hai, hum ek aur film saath mein karte hain... that’s why meri jodi nahi bani kisi ke saath.”
No director as first choice, no heroine as preferred co-star, after this many years? Well, well. Ever the lone warrior, Aamir? “Yes, perhaps, lone warrior,” Aamir laughs. “And don’t forget, no camps!” No, not forgotten, 44-going-on-22 Khansaab!
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