AAMIR KHAN: “I have always gone by my own gut instinct, whether as a producer or for that matter as an actor"

On the occasion of Aamir Khan's 57th birthday today, Jyothi Venkatesh reproduces an earlier in depth interview he had taken with Aamir Khan for bollyy.com and Mayapuri and wishes him a very happy birthday.

I remember the first time when I had come across Aamir Khan. He was assisting his uncle Nasir Hussain on the sets of one of his films. This was long before Qayamat Se Qayamat happened to him.

Nothing about Aamir has changed since then though stature wise he has risen and has become the numero uno star of the country, especially after his film PK grossed the maximum revenue at the box office till date.

In this free-wheeling chat, the actor who deserves the tag of All Time Achiever says that he has seen improvement from film to film and developed a lot more control over his work, including learning to mouth his dialogues slower, since earlier he used to rattle off his dialogues very fast.

How do you decide on the budget of every film of yours as a producer?

When I set out to launch my maiden film as a producer-Lagaan, I thought that the budget should be around Rs 15 crores of rupees but ultimately I produced it at a cost of around 25 crores.

Similarly when I thought of making Taare Zameen Par, I had planned to plough in around 8 crores of rupees but ended up spending 15 crores on it. I thought of making Peepli Live directed by Anusha Rizvi in 6 crores but ultimately spent 12 crores of rupees in its making.

What goads you to say yes to a film, either as an actor or producer?

I do not look at any film of mine from the point of view of its commercial value but try to find out what it sets out to tell the audiences, whether it was Lagaan or Taare Zameen Par.

I have always gone by my own gut instinct, whether as a producer or for that matter as an actor. It is always the subject that lures me to say yes to any film that is offered to me as an actor.

Anyone who is sane would have not agreed to act in a film like Rang De Basanti because already four films had been made on the legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh but my gut instinct told me to go ahead and act in the film, when Rakeysh approached me with the offer.

Do you agree that the stars should reduce their prices if the producers have to survive?

Yes. I am of the opinion that while the technicians who toil hard in the making of the film by putting in their blood should get what their legitimate dues are, the stars should also come forward to reduce their price, because only in that case will a film be able to rake in more profits for the producer.

Why did you agree to do 3 Idiots, despite the fact that you are double the age of the character of Rancho the character that he had played in the film?

In the last fourteen years both Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai are my most favorite films. I was very keen to work with Raju and I could also see that Raju was also equally excited to cast me in his film and work with me.

Raju told me I could very successfully pull my character off in 3 Idiots too, as I did with the character of the Assistant Police Commissioner for director John Mathew Matthan in Sarfarosh, though people were very skeptical about it.

Raju also told me that I could pull off as a gaon ka chora in Lagaan and shock every one. Raju goaded me to take up the challenge and rise up to the occasion in 3 Idiots and PK too, like I had done the role of tapori in Rangeela after playing a romantic hero in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.

I had to work a lot physically, because the first and foremost condition laid down by Raju was that I should concentrate a lot on my looks to suit the role. I am glad that I surprised myself a lot by challenging against the norms as far as I am concerned as an actor in 3 Idiots, thanks to Raju Hirani.

In real life, I do not do mimicry so well but Raju asked me to ape Boman Irani for the song Zuby Zuby Pampara by studying Boman’s body language.

To what extent is it true that you are a method actor to the core?

It is a misconception that I am a method actor. Frankly speaking, I do not know what method acting is. I am not a trained actor, like say Naseeruddin Shah is or Om Puri was. I only go by instinct as an actor.

I go by what the script tells me or how the director and I see the role as such. However having worked with English actors in both Lagaan and The Rising, I find that the English actors are a lot more rehearsed with their lines, unlike Indian actors.

Describe your journey as an actor been from Holi, your first tryst at facing the  cameras even before Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak till your last?

My journey as an actor from Holi till now has been enjoyable . As an actor, I have seen improvement from film to film and developed a lot more control over my work. I have even learnt to mouth my dialogues slower.

Earlier I confess that I used to rattle off my dialogues very fast. If you ask me what my strength as an actor is, all that I can say honestly is that I try to be honest with the script and the character, which I am asked to portray as an actor.

My perseverance, passion, intensity etc which I drive into my work has stood by me so far as an actor.

You are known for your rigid stance against awards in India, though you didn’t mind going for the Oscar Awards function. Why?

Frankly, I have lost faith and trust in the system of awards in India as I have had a very personal as well as bitter experience . However I let my co-stars, whether it was in Lagaan or for that matter Taare Zameen Par go and receive their awards in India because I felt that it would have been unfair on my part to expect them to follow suit by imposing my views on my actors and forbidding them from receiving awards for their performances.

Since I had absolutely no experience of the system of Oscars, I went to USA without reservations to see if I could win the Oscar for Lagaan. I was keen on Lagaan getting a worldwide platform on a platter, as I wanted to enlarge our audience base.

What has being in films for almost three and a half decades taught you?

The film industry has taught me many things. Some are good. Some are not so good. The film industry is not different from any other industry.

Good and bad people are there in every field. It depends on you and how you behave. How people deal with you depends on entirely how you deal with them. It is so in every line but competition is stiffer in film industry.

It is one place where every step of yours is being watched. If your film is a hit, everyone will come to know about it. If it is a flop, everyone will come to know that Aamir Khan’s film is a flop.

Since many see your work, there is tremendous pressure on your mind. In any other field you are on public view.

But here if your film flops, you cannot even hide your face. I should know because I have had hits as well as flops to my credit.

To what extent did you have to struggle to get a break as an actor?

Actually mujhe zyada struggle nahin karni padi, but I too worked hard.I worked as an assistant director with my uncle Nasirsaab for four years in both Zabardast and Manzil Manzil.

Earlier I was associated with the stage for two years. Before I got my break as a leading man with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, I had acted in a short film, which had a duration of twenty minutes.

In fact I had acted in two such films to train myself as an actor. I had gone to Pune to act in the films without the knowledge of both my father and uncle .

Ketan Mehta saw one film and offered me a cameo role in Holi at that point of time when I was just an assistant director.

It was not a major role and required me sitting inside an almirah. Since the film was an offbeat film, though I remember you have seen it, it was not even officially released. It was premiered on Doordarshan.

However Nasirji and Manzoor saw the film and liked my performance and offered me Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.

How did you prepare yourself as an actor?

I was confident that I would become an actor although I was concentrating more on learning more about filmmaking.

I observed artistes at work like Sanjeev Kumar,Sunny Deol, Amrish Puri,Jaya Prada, Prem Chopra,Rati Agnihotri and Kulbushan Kharbanda. I learnt a lot from their mistakes as well as good scenes.

Is it true that you were not interested in taking up acting initially?

For a person to be successful, he or she should have both luck as well as talent in ample measure. You should work hard.

Luck will be on your side if you do that. When I was in school, Basu Bhattacharya’s son Aditya Bhattacharya was my good friend and wanted to be a filmmaker.

I was actually not interested in taking up acting, but he insisted that I do a 40-minute short film.

Since he did not get anyone to act in it, he asked me to do a role. My interest towards acting as well as filmmaking increased when I did that film. It was a silent film called Paranoia.

Aditya cast me in his debut film as a director - Raakh, which was a beautiful experience. It was an offbeat film with Surpiya Pathak as my leading lady.

Though sadly it did not click at the box office, I learnt a lot from that film. I think I opened up as an actor after acting in Raakh.