Close encounters often set the stage for unexpected revelations. During a free-wheeling conversation with actor Aamir Khan at the Express Adda in Bandra’s Olive Bar & Kitchen on Wednesday, many such revelations about the actor came to the fore.
The evening saw the superstar explaining each aspect of his life and work he was questioned about.
The Adda, which lasted for over two hours, reaffirmed the fact that Khan attempts to simplify and convey his messages ? be it in his movies, TV show or a chat with the public. The interaction also revealed certain unknown facets of the actor ? Khan is not into gadgets, he still has not gotten over his early training in theatre and longs to go back to it someday, he followed his instincts and signed on Rang De Basanti even though wife Kiran Rao was not convinced about it and that he can’t stop crying whenever he gets affected.
Soon after Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief, The Express Group, joined by Priyanka Sinha Jha, editor of Screen, began the conversation, Khan made his philosophy clear. ?The responsibility of a creative person is not just to entertain or engage the audience, but also to bring grace to society, build values in people. It makes people ponder over issues and hopefully builds social fabric. That?s what I have been doing or at least trying to do through my films and television show,? said Khan. This explains a lot of his actions as well as the trajectory his career has followed.
Yet, he is not immune to the fear of failure. ?Every time I take on a new endeavour, the fear of going wrong is something that I live with. This fear keeps me alert. But it does not stop me from making bold decisions,? said the 47-year-old, who admitted to having butterflies in his stomach before Satyamev Jayate went on air. Now, with its success, Khan has achieved a wider audience.
However, the effort to create this kind of viewership started much earlier. He travelled across India around the time of 3 Idiots’ release in 2009. He undertook this exercise not just to understand the audience but to reach out to them. This threw up interesting results.
Prominent among them is the fact that people in several parts of India, including Mughalsarai in the Hindi heartland, were not familiar with him. That’s when he realised that his films are not reaching out to a lot of people. Three years later, he has managed to bridge that gap through his first television show.
?A show like Satyamev Jayate has done what films perhaps could not do,? he said. An endorsement for this came through a number of compliments that he received from the audience at the Adda.
Despite the show’s success, he was taken aback by the criticism that it received for the media. ?We had believed that people in the field of administration and politics might be wary of us. However, exactly the opposite happened,? he said, referring to the fact that the media felt he was not saying anything new.
The actor-activist’s motive behind the show, however, was to build on the kind of work media had done over the decades in highlighting social issues such as female foeticide and honour killing.
?We are trying to create a debate and shed light on these issues on a vast platform which is television,? he said.
Though he has just studied till Class XII, Khan does not consider himself to be a ?marketing guru?. Instead, he attributed his success to the deep urge to tell and share a story.
?If you are interested in telling a story, you will try to grab everyone?s attention as you are keen to reach out to more people. That attempt to grab attention is marketing. This happens organically when I am excited about a story,? said the actor.
The other unavoidable topic in a conversation with Khan is his aversion to Bollywood award ceremonies. Khan said he did attend and receive the Dinanath Mangeshkar Award in the past.
In 2007, he travelled to Chennai to accept the Gollapudi Award, which is given to first-time directors, for Taare Zameen Par. ?In my heart, I need to have value for a certain award or platform. If I don’t have that then I don’t criticise it but stay away from it,? said Khan. But the actor confessed that he did value the Oscar Award. ?It can be a window to show the kind of movies are made in India,? he said.
