All Izz Well!

RETROFIT

B for Badshah, G for Ghulam?

In the new gangbuster hit film, Aamir mouths a very simple dialogue,but laced with sarcasm which will not be lost on those payingattention. Sitting next to Virus Boman Irani, Rancho a.k.a Aamirinnocently states that the education system is much like the castesystem where B is for Badshah (a film starring rival Shahrukh Khan)while G is for Ghulam (a film in which he starred some years ago).Clearly hinting at the pecking order in B Town. A pecking order whichAamir Khan surely has been trying to change. Forthree years running, Aamir Khan has hit pay dirt at the B.O byreleasing his films on December 24 - Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and now3 Idiots. All indications are that 3 Idiots will outrun and outgrossall the earlier box office busting hits in Hindi cinema. The bitterrivalry between thetwo Khans is not lost on anybody in B Town. Yet, SRK graciously camefor the 3 Idiots premiere in a rare show of bonhomie. Aamir Khan hasproved that not only is he a shrewd marketer, but an insightful actor anda cerebral director as well. In Taare Zameen Par, he sensitively handled thesubject of a dyslexic child, Ghajini was a southern remake and an outand out masala film, while 3 idiots is a fabulous critique on theeducation system.
More than that AK has understood what the hoi polloi wants, he hasdelivered fare for both the masses and classes. He is not afraid toexperiment with his cinema, he is willing to play a part in anensemble cast like Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti and now 3 Idiots.He has grown out of pure play commercial cinema to give the jaggededge of his talent a full range of theatrical experimentation. From a cop inSarfarosh to a boxer in Ghulam to a tapori in Rangeela and a peasantturned cricketer in Lagaan, AK has been engaging and watchable.Sometime in 1990, I was asked by my editor in the Illustrated Weekly,Pritish Nandy to write a cover story on Aamir Khan. The slug was COOLand we hailed him as the next superstar. The visuals were shot byGautam Rajyadaksha and were in James Dean hue with Aamir posingagainst a brick wall. People in filmdom thought that Pritish Nandy hadlost it completely, for while Aamir had given ample testimony of histalent, he was not quite the big star. Yet. Andmoreover, the Weekly didn't put film stars on its cover withoutreason. Anil Kapoor was the reigning star at that time - Tezaab was asmash hit - and he was so upset that he even came to see Nandy, askinghim to be put on the cover. Nandy refused. I am sure Nandy had hisreasons for putting Aamir on the cover. But believe me, he was provedright. One stream of thought was that Nandy had been influenced by hisclose friend at the time - Mahesh Bhatt who was helming Dil Hai KiManta Nahin starring his daughter Pooja and produced by Gulshan Kumarwhich turned out to be a huge hit. Potentially Bhatt believed thatAamir was a lambi race ka ghoda. Anyway, Aamir had QSQT, Dil and DilHai Ki Manta Nahin as big hits behind him, but he had also done a slewof extremely forgettable films in the first flush of QSQT and Dil'ssuccess. Names like Love, Love, Love, Tum Mere Ho, Dev Anand's AwaalNumber, Dewana Mujsa Nahin, Afsana Pyar Ka, Jawani Zindabad which I amsure a more mature Aamir would like to consign to the rubbish heap ofhistory very quickly.
I found Aamir to be an extremely intelligent individual during thetime spent with him. Remember that I was dealing with a star who wasmore or less my age and not someobody who one had grown up watchinglike say an Amitabh Bachchan or Vinod Khanna. I could relate to thisyoung man and from his recent oeuvre, I likened him to Michael J Fox whowas the rising star in Hollywood those days. AK was refreshing, butone sensed that there was width and depth in his being. He didn't talklike a star, he was understated. I instantly liked him. He seemedapproachable and yet mature for one so young. The cover story createda stir. In retrospect, Nandy's decision has been proved right.Similarly Nandy once put Kanshi Ram on the cover of the Weekly andpeople thought he had gone bananas. The story spelt the rise of theBahujan leader. As it happened, the BSP is a major political formationin the north today and an important political player at the centre.So, some of the calls that Nandy took may have appeared suspect then,but are now come out smelling and looking like roses.
Soon, Aamir began to get the hang of B Town and quickly realising hisown potential delivered a mixed bag. Some turkeys, but manyexceptional filmstypecast as he was as a romantic hero. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, HumHain Rahee Pyar Ke, Andaz Apna Apna along with duds like Atank HIAtank, Daulat Ki Jung, Isi Ka Naam Zindagi et al. Then came theseminal perofrmance which really ratcheted him to the top - RGV'sRangeela. Soon, Aamir stopped doing more than one film a year,choosing his scripts carefully and devoting time, energy and effort tohis roles. The flight to quality served him well - Raja Hindustani,Ishq, Ghulam and Sarfarosh followed all hitting bulls eye. Aamir thestar had returned with a bang. Mann and Mela were two aberrations inwhat began as a march to the top. Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai flooredone and all, everyone understood that Aamir had metamorphosed into athinking man's actor. Also read, very big star. Then for four years,he was gone estivating and hibernating as the season would have it todo Mangal Pandey. Takingmethod acting to a new level, AK grew his hair and sported a hugemoustache for the role. The movie sank without a trace, bombinginstantaneously. AK appeared to be in a trance in the film, even asToby Stephens walked away with the plaudits. I guess this convinced AKthat he needed to be even more choosy. Since the Mangal Pandey fiasco,AK has never looked back - Rang De Basanti, Fanaa,Taare Zameen Par,Ghajini and now 3 Idiots have fuilfilled the potential that Nandy andBhatt saw in him 20 years ago. By turning producer for Lagaan, headded another arrow to his brimming quiver. Taare Zameen Par saw himturning director, but what people forget is that AK wrote the storyfor Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and was also the screen writer for Hum HainRahee.
What Aamir Khan has proved over these last few years is that he is asbig a bankable star as SRK at the B.O. Perhaps that is the genesis ofthis intense rivalry. Actually Salman Khan had a head start overthe other two Khans because of Maine Pyar Kiya, Sajan and Hum AapkeHain Kaun followed by Karan Arjun. Salman Khan had an amazing recordthat several of his films the including Biwi No 1 in 1999 were the biggestgrossers in the year they were released. But while Salman fell away,Shahrukh became the romantic hero of the neophytes churning out hitafter hit. It is only after Raja Hindustani that the battle with SRKwas joined by Aamir and since then he has delivered some of thebiggest hits of his time. In fact the rivalry got so acute that whenRab Ne Bana Di Jodi became a big hit last December, Aamir respondedwith his hammer of Thor in Ghajini and swept all comers aside. Theprevious year had seen Om Shanti Om blast its way to the zenith, butagain Taare Zameen Par landed the kayo punch, garnering criticalacclaim and earning many accolades for the sensitive handling of thesubject. Imagine Aamir Khan arrives only in the second half of thefilm and the hero is without a doubt Darsheel Safary. By producingJaane Tu for his nephew Imran, Aamir once again proved that he is athinker. Both AK and SRK are big box office draws, but they are alsoproducers now helming Red Chillies and Aamir Khan Productions.While Salman and Aamir have acted together in laugh riot Andaz ApnaApna, SRK and Salman have acted together in Karan Arjun and Kuch KuchHota Hai. SRK and AK have never acted together yet. Will that be acasting coup or not remains in the realms of conjecture?
On Monday night I saw a PTI story which said that the weekendcollection of the Aamir Khan starrer '3 Idiots' hassurpassed the actor-filmmaker's last release 'Ghajini' by 30 per cent.I wasn't surprised because the film rocks, you can identify with thecast, their families and of course characters like Omi who is simplywow. The gross collection worldwide of "3 Idiots" is Rs 93 crore tillSunday night which is 30 per cent more than Aamir's last film'Ghajini', trade sources said. PTI also reported: "Similarly, themovie's paid previews garnered over Rs 9 crore worldwide, whileGhajini's paid preview collections were Rs seven crore. '3 Idiots' wasreleased on December 24 with 1550 prints in over 1760 screens andoverseas with 342 prints in over 366 screens. This was the widest everrelease for a Hindi film in India and overseas, aspokesperson of Vinod Chopra films, producers of the movie said'
"The Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Big Pictures said itsjust-released Bollywood flick '3 Idiots' collected over Rs 100 crorein the first four days."The Rs 100-crore collection in four days isphenomenal and we are confident that the film will continue to blazenew records in the weeks to come," company chairman Amit Khanna said.Commenting on the success of the film, producer Vinod Chopra said,"response has been overwhelming from all over the world."Vidhu Vinod Chopra was actually striking a distribution deal with ErosInternational when Reliance Big Pictures ran interference and pickedup the same on a revenue share basis. That I must say is paying themin spades now.
Hirani's film is full of homilies, every scene well crafted, everydialogue nuanced. Hirani is true to type, the nature of the beast issuch that he is faithful to the new genre that he has given birth to.The cast of 3 Idiots needs to be given credit for delivering such asmart and sensible film. To Vidhu Vinod Chopra who is a betterproducer than a director. His films like Parinda, Khamoshi, 1942 LoveStory, Eklavya were good cinema, but never hits. Hirani with hisMunnabhai and finely etched characterisations of Rancho, Rastogi andFarhan has delivered the hits. Like Dil Chahta Hai and Rang DeBasanti, Aamir doesn't mind sharing screen space with accomplishedactors. In 3 Idiots you will find that Boman Irani, Madhavan, SharmanJoshi and Omi have all got their space, without Aamir impinging on it.That is the beauty of Aamir Khan's style of acting. Blend into anensemble castand allow the director to be true to himself. This despite having areputation of 'directing' films helmed by other directors. Maybe that iswhy AK plunged into direction. Now watch out for Dhobi Ghat producedby him and directed by his wife Kiran. The movie reportedly has Aamirin a meaty role, though it is being billed as special appearance. Asof now this is the only film in which Aamir is acting. He has nothingelse on his table, other than producing Delhi Belly. Now, one needs tosee what project will fascinate AK next. The industry and the payingpublic also wait. For Aamir constantly challenges himself, raising thebar. In 3 Idiots, the 44 year old passes himself off as an engineeringstudent. Maybe that is his genius...