Aamir Khan Actor Activist Achiever
Author : Pradeep Chandra
Publisher : Niyogi, Rs1,500
A glimpse into Aamir’s personal life with rare photos makes it a brilliant compilation and the essays on him written by eminent personalities analyse the making of a star while referring to memorable incidents. This book is a visual treat for every Aamir Khan fan. For those who are not, reading it could be an inspiring start, says ANANYA BORGOHAIN
Aamir Khan, the perfectionist of the ruling trinity in the Bollywoodian empire, has a body of work that is larger than life itself. To encompass a myriad of performances and productions across almost three decades is a herculean task. Photographer Pradeep Chandra’s coffee table book on the artist sets out to do just that. And through multiple inputs about the actor’s rise as well as his much private life, juxtaposed with rare photographs, makes this book a delightful read. The book intends to explore three facets of Khan’s persona: The actor, activist and achiever in him. Starting from genealogy to Aamir’s birth to the making of a star, to paying an “ode” to his excellence, this book also entails impressions the actor has left on film critics like Rauf Ahmed, Narendra Kusnur and Mayank Shekhar, who have also contributed essays on him in the book.
Author Chandra says, “I needed my pictures to tell a story; I wanted to write about a person and demonstrate a pictorial graph alongside it. I remember this one time when I watched Ghulam and Sarfarosh back to back, and by the end, I was taken aback by Aamir’s performances. He’s thoughtful, talented and discreet. I knew I had to write about him.” Chandra has succeeded in fair measures in his endeavour. The book has been met with much praises. Interestingly, he had limited interaction with his muse in the course of drafting the book. “Most of these actors don’t really agree to meeting the writers. When they hear of such projects, they do feel happy and convey their regards to the writers concerned, but they don’t like to actively participate in it. I met Aamir half a dozen times and did put it across to him that I am writing a coffee table book on him, but an appointment never really came through.”
However, that did not deter Chandra from resuming his ambitious project. He says he spoke to film personalities, senior journalists and dug up old archives to compile the contents of the book. There are rare insights into the much elusive actor’s life. It mentions Aamir’s affiliation to parallel and unconventional cinema, much before Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). When he was only 16, he appeared in a 40-minute silent film titled Paranoia, directed by his school friend Aditya Bhattacharya which was financed with Rs8,000 by actor Shreeram lagoo. In Aamir’s words, “Making that film convinced me that this is where I belonged.” Aamir was also cast in Bhattacharya’s other film Raakh, in which he portrayed a negative role. He also auditioned and got selected for Ketan Mehta’s Holi. Finally, at the age of 23, he officially debuted in the Hindi film industry with QSQT. That he was a headstrong team member is further underlined in the book as it refers to the incident when Ghulam (1998) was initially supposed to be Mahesh Bhatt’s direction but during the shoot, Bhatt would confine himself to a corner reading a book and making his nephew and assistant Vikram Bhatt direct it. Aamir put his foot down and refused to co-operate if Vikram was not given the official status of the director. Senior Bhatt, naturally, was appalled by the audacity displayed by his young protégé of earlier hits like Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi (1991), Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993) etc. Chandra adds, “Any other actor would have probably carried ahead not bothering who is directing the film. But Aamir displayed a strong sense of conscientiousness therein.”
Aamir’s sense of righteousness is well-known, be it when he takes up unconventional mainstream projects to direct/produce such as Dil Chahta Hai (2001), lagaan (2001), Rang De Basanti (2006), Taare Zameen Par (2007), Peepli live (2010), Dhobi Ghat (2011), Delhi Belly (2011) et al, which had overt and strong social and political overtones or his refusal to have his wax statue at Madame Tussauds or his perpetual conspicuous absence in film award functions. Reportedly, these just don’t interest him. “look at the timing of his biggest successes. They were all unconventional topics at that time and were expected to be absolute failures. Javed Akhtar, during lagaan, had said, ‘When you have decided to commit harakiri, let me also contribute.’ Repeatedly, Aamir was told that he was making a mistake and every time he proved how wrong they were.” The actor’s perfectionism was always ingrained within him, it seems. Chandra continues, “John Mathew Matthan once told me that Aamir kept him waiting for three years before he signed Sarfarosh (1999). Once when I too had gone to interview him at the Yash Raj Studios, we were seated inside. Aamir was not happy with the lighting and we shifted out in the open. He insisted that I concentrate only on capturing his face well, rest would be taken care of.” Such perfectionism seems to have been instilled since he was very young and also because of his interest and familiarity with other disciplines beyond acting. He has tried producing and marketing, but what not many know is that Aamir also has a keen ear for good music and plays the piano.
Chandra adds another dimension into Aamir’s persona. “Iss bande ke dil aur dimaag ki syncing perfecthain. Both the mind and the heart make him take up the projects that he does, and see how successful they get. If he has done a Rangeela (1995), Ghajini (2008) or a Dhoom 3 (2013), he has also done Taare Zameen Par and Rang de Basanti. And commercial projects like 3 Idiots (2009). And all of them, despite being so diverse, created the same mass frenzy. The same applies to his television show Satyamev Jayate, which started in 2012. This could be attributed to the balance between his head and heart.”
But would it also not be all about being biased and glorifying Aamir if the author is already so charmed by his subjectIJ To this Chandra says, “To be honest, yes. But then my books are also my tributes to my subjects. My earlier books were on Amitabh Bachchan and MF Hussain, and I am their fan as well. As far as Aamir is concerned, look at his graph. Can you think of another actor who has appeared on the cover of Time magazine twice and that too within six monthsIJ”
However, the book doesn’t delve into the darker, controversial side of the actor. From petty to sublime, Aamir too has not been able to escape the wrath of notorious reporting on his personal life. Once he blogged about how his dog named Shah Rukh was licking his feet and there were others such as his fallout with his brother Faisal Khan or his alleged affair and love child with a British journalist. Chandra answers, “The gardener of the bungalow where Shah Rukh Khan had shot a few scenes had a dog whom he had named Shah Rukh. This was the same dog that Aamir had blogged about. I found these things unnecessary to point out. Sure, Aamir has had controversies, but I found them irrelevant to the book. They were not adding anything. In fact, you see, Aamir has always been very graceful about his controversies. You will never find anybody speak against him. He has a delicate and classy way of dealing with such things and it’s admirable. Be it his divorce or the bitterness with Amol Gupte over Taare Zameen Par, even people who might hold a grudge against him do not speak about it publically. So there’s no point discussing these things.”
Chandra, a veteran photographer and a known name in the Hindi film circuit, started his journey long ago. Decades ago, as a student, he had asked Raj Khosla, who was making Do Raaste (1969), if he could shoot the stills for the film. Khosla gave him a Rolleiflex 120mm camera with a 2.8f lens for the shoot of the Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaz song Chhup gaye nazaare oye kya baat ho gayee. The Khoslas built a darkroom for him in Raj Khosla’s garage in Marina Apartments, the same building where Aamir lived since his childhood. Rajesh Khanna too was so impressed by his photography that he ordered 300 copies of the photos. Since then, Chandra has worked for several newspapers and magazines and is currently based in Mumbai.
Aamir Khan Actor Activist Achiever is a compilation of the various facets of the aura that is Aamir, and is a fascinating tribute to the “thinking man’s superstar” by someone who has captured Aamir from his earliest days as an actor. From the days when he would put up his posters on the walls himself. Though little is known about his association with Maulana Azad, it does find due mention in the book too. The still photographs document the versatility in his diverse roles, the glimpses into the personal life of the actor make it a brilliant compilation, the essays on him written by eminent personalities study and analyse the making of a star while referring to memorable incidents, and what is also noteworthy is that the original sources of many photographs are paid due credit. This book is a visual treat for every Aamir Khan fan. For those who are not, reading it could be an inspiring start.