Covering Bollywood and the Hindi Cinema

Anil Thakraney spoke to the reclusive Aamir Khan who is extremely excited about his directorial venture Taare Zameen Par and very vocal about his likes and dislikes.

So what's Taare Zameen Par about?

It's about children, childcare and education. The subject sounds serious, but the script is extremely moving, engaging and uplifting. It makes you rethink about how you look at children.

• And there will be ingredients for commercial success.

For me, cinema's primary responsibility is to entertain. If I want to educate you, I will start a school or a college. And while we entertain, if we can pass on something that makes you ponder, then it's great. Right through my career in films which had a social message, I have ensured people get the entertainment. In cinema, we have to connect with people emotionally and intellectually. It's a mass medium, after all.

• What was the disconnect with Amol Gupte, the writer who was originally directing the film?

Amol has worked for many years with children and he's written a beautiful script. And he was the director initially. After one week of the shoot, I had some creative differences with him.

• And these were?

I can't share those because Amol is a friend. I did what I thought was most fair. I offered to back off as the actor and producer. But Amol wanted me to stay on as producer and director. He is the creative director of the film and he helped and guided me. He was there through the shoot, and was a big help. Since I was acting as well, he was a great bouncing board for me, as Amol is an accomplished actor himself.

• You are regarded as a bit of a pain in the industry. You ask many questions, you get too involved with direction, Ram Gopal Varma told me he has no patience for your style of working.

I work the way I do and am passionate about it. Of the directors I have worked with, majority of them value the way I work. Rakyesh Mehra, Kunal Kohli, Ashutosh Gowariker, Farhan Akhtar, many of them. I have done about 35 films so far and have enjoyed working with my directors. To be honest, I did not particularly enjoy working with Ramu, and he has his opinion of me. But whenever he speaks to me, he is very appreciative of the working relationship we had. But in interviews, he says different stuff.
• In your personal life, you keep away from the frat. No parties, no events, no award ceremonies, you are a recluse. Am sure Karan invited you for Koffee, and you turned him down.

Oh yes, he did and I turned him down. I am actually very fond of the industry, and protective of it. I do attend parties and spend time with colleagues though I do it to a lesser extent than the others. I have some priorities, which is work and family. When I am doing a film, I get so engrossed in it, I find it difficult to pull myself out of it.

• You even refused to go for the Om Shanti Om song…

(Laughs.) Yes, I did. I was busy directing my film.

• Come on, you could have taken out a few hours for your frat…

I am very particular about my work. So even if it's a two-minute appearance, I am extremely particular about what I will do. So I need to be convinced about what I am doing. If I am not happy, then I would not like to do. In this case, since I was very busy with my own film, I could not take time out for it.

• This song was a no-brainer, Aamir. Shake a leg with Shah Rukh for a few moments and leave. So it demands no intellectual discussions.

I need to know, is this a film I want to be a part of? Even if it's for a one-minute appearance. I care about what I am doing. Shah Rukh is a friend, a great actor, and I believe the film is very successful. But without reading the script, I will not do a film, and I did not have the time to get into that exercise.


Any Indian directors you really admire?

Among the ones I haven't worked with, Raju Hirani and Mani Ratnam.

• What about Sanjay Leela Bhansali?

I saw Devdas and Black. He's talented, but these films disappointed me.

• Everyone raved about Black…

I didn't like the film. I found it very insensitive, it sends out very wrong signals. It was extremely manipulative. I could see the effort in the manipulation, and the art of the director is in not letting you see the manipulation. Also, the sensibility wasn't right for me, I couldn't make out if they were living in a house or a museum or a library or a church. The performances were over the top. And most importantly, it was about a child who had these problems, an alcoholic person comes and says you have to leave her alone with me for forty days, and he slaps her around. I don't know of any parent who'd agree to that. Black reminded me of The Taming of the Shrew, and I found that very disturbing. It was a film about 'I can teach a bear how to dance'.

• What about the surreal treatment in Bhansali's films?

In all humility, to me, the subject matter of a film dictates the form. In his films, the form seems to be heavier. I have nothing against surreal treatment, it's just that it should be led by the subject matter. Each story calls out for a certain form.


• Yash Chopra offered you Darr, you turned it down.

I didn't turn it down. (Hesitates.) Do we have to go into this?

• Yes!

(Laughs.) I didn't turn it down, I was removed from the film.

• Why?

I wanted a joint narration with Sunny Deol, which was denied to me.

• I was told you wanted to know the exact number of punches you would deliver on Deol and vice versa.

Not true. I asked for a joint narration which I was denied. I believe filmmaking is a team effort, and all the actors should sit down together and hear the script.

• Is it because you felt Yash Chopra was telling Deol one thing and you something else?

I wanted a joint narration. (Smiles.)

• Why the urge to blog?

It began when we were releasing the DVD of Lagaan, six years after its release. And Excel, who bought the rights, were keen on promoting it in different ways. One of the suggestions was for me to start a blog. But for me that lasted just two posts. I enjoyed what I was doing, for the first time I was connecting with the audiences one-to-one. So I took it further. And then I started my own website.



• The Narmada project. What made you get involved? A craving to be involved with social issues?

If we want things to improve in our country, then it's everyone's responsibility to be more involved. To voice what they feel. That's what Rang De said essentially.

• Some people said it was a Rang De hangover…

No. I was in Delhi for a book release and happened to pass by. It was an impulse decision.

• Did you regret it later following the backlash, people said Aamir landed up without doing adequate homework on the issue?

No, that's not true. I fully understood the issue before I went there. That people needed to be rehabilitated was important to me.

• The problem is you didn't follow it through.

I did go and make a strong point. And if I become a full time activist, I would be involved longer. I was trying to create awareness on the issue and I think I did that. I don't know what I can do beyond that, unless I stop being an actor and become a social activist.

• Given Bollywood's mass appeal, should it not get more involved in issues that plague the nation?

Why just Bollywood? What about the business community? The real strength lies with the huge business houses and I don't see them making a statement. They can contribute financially and even in terms of moral and policy decisions that would benefit the society.

• How come you haven't yet been approached by Madam Tussauds? Even Salman made it there.

It's not important to me. I have been approached but I am not interested. People will see my films if they want to. I can't deal with so many things, I have bandwidth only for that much. So things that don't interest me, I just let them pass. Each one has their own priorities on what interests them.


• A bone to pick with you. You don't approve of the Indian media of today, and yet during a film's release you meet us.

When Rang De released I did not give a single interview. Not even when Fanaa released. So how can you say that? Post that, a lot of journalists who are friends of mine, told me that people like me, instead of cutting away from the media, should be a part of it. And try and change things by being within it. And that made sense to me.