4/6/2017 Working for charity was not enough

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Rachna Tyagi

INTERVIEW

Working for charity was not enough

By Rachna Tyagi | April 09, 2017

Mission clean up: Aamir during the anti-corruption agitation by activist Anna Hazare;

Interview/Aamir Khan
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4/6/2017 Working for charity was not enough

Interview/Aamir Khan

I prefer to listen to
W e have known you as an actor, director and producer. At 51, how do
you perceive yourself?

scripts rather than I see myself pretty much how I always saw myself when I began in the film
read them. That way, industry. I am someone who is curious, I’m someone who is interested, I’m

I get to see the film someone who is excitable. I find people fascinating. I want to know what is
in their mind, what their thoughts are, so that is still me. I’m someone who
through the eyes of
likes to experience things, I like to experiment, I like to live life to the full.
the director.
That’s me.

You have shared screen space with quite a few actors. Where does the
confidence comes from? Does it have anything to do with age?

No, it has got nothing to do with age. Actually, it has got nothing to do with confidence also. It is not that
because I’m confident I don’t mind sharing screen space with people. It is that I’m dying to be part of the
story and if that story requires 20 people, then it requires 20 people.

You have a knack for picking great scripts. What is the secret?

I prefer to listen to scripts rather than read them. That way, I get to see the film through the eyes of the
director. When I’m hearing the script for the first time, I’m like the audience, in the theatre watching a film,
and if the script moves me, touches me, excites me, then I want to do it. I may convey it a little later
sometimes, to the director or the producer, but I make my decision immediately.

Why the delay?

In Lagaan, when I heard the detailed script, I really loved the film, but it was challenging too many things in
the mainstream cinema and it was a very expensive film. Yet, the script wasn’t coming out of my system. I
kept thinking of all the filmmakers of yesteryears whose work I love, Mehboob Khan, Shantaram, Guru Dutt,
K. Asif, Raj Kapoor. They always followed their heart. I called my parents and Reena [then wife] to hear the
script. When Ashu [Ashutosh Gowarikar, the director of Lagaan] narrated the film, I was looking at their faces
and I could see they were really flowing with it. So, after the meeting I told Ashu, I’m doing the film but not
only am I acting in it, I’m also producing it, which was a surprise for him. I had realised that if this film has to
be made the way it ought to be made, I had to produce it. The other thing that I do is I have stopped charging
money for a film. Instead, I ask for a percentage of the profits. That is the oldest way the entertainers earned
before there was filmmaking, even before there was theatre.

What drew you to a show like Satyamev Jayate?

A lot of it has to do with who I am and what I am as a person, and the result of the influences I have had
while growing up. My mother had a big influence on me. She might be the person who put that seed in me
many years ago. The other big influence is, of course, Mansoor and Nuzhat [Aamir’s cousins]. I grew up with
them. The other person who has been a big influence, who is not part of my family, is Satyajeet Bhatkal, the

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4/6/2017 Working for charity was not enough

Aamir at Umaid Stadium during the launch of a waste collection drive

director of the show. I joined Bombay Scottish when I was in class IX and I met him there. He was the class
topper, but he chose not to go the conventional way and he went into social work, fighting for people’s rights
and the less privileged. So, that had a big influence on me. Whenever we would meet, I used to feel very
insufficient. I used to feel guilty. I used to always feel that he is living his life for others while I’m living my life
for myself. Not that he used to make me feel that way, but the thought used to keep gnawing at me. I’ve been
involved with charities for some time, but it was not enough for me. Then I figured that maybe I should use
storytelling to try and change lives. Also, I met this American writer and we were discussing creative people
and she said it is the responsibility of creative people to bring grace to society, to make them think, question,
inspire, instil values; in general they are the people who can strengthen the fabric of society.

What do you think of Kiran as a filmmaker?

Kiran has made one film, Dhobi Ghat. It is one of the films I’m most proud of.

After playing a character, do you find it difficult to move on?

No, I would like to tell you that I’m the actor who becomes the character while I’m shooting, but the truth is I
am not. When the camera is rolling, at that time if I become the character for those 30 seconds or one
minute that is a big achievement for me. I try to be in a semi-conscious state when I’m giving a shot,
conscious enough to know my lines and know the instructions which the director and the technicians have
given. When I’m off the shot, then I’m myself.

What do you think of the youth in India today?

There is very little difference between generations. When we were young, we might have felt we are very cool,
very modern. But if you look at history, you realise that there were so many people, hundreds of years before
you, who were as cool and as progressive. So, I think mankind hasn’t changed much in the short time that we
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have been around. You might see differences because now, for example, social media has come in, so your
whole communication pattern has changed, but I think, by and large, we are still the same. 

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