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Photo: S. Subramanium

BACK WITH NEW RESPONSIBILITY Aamir Khan in New Delhi.

Yes, Aamir Khan is as likely to risk over-exposure as Mallika Sherawat would contemplate life in a burqa! As he makes his directorial debut with “Taare Zameen Par” this week, Aamir confesses to his limitations. “I don’t know if I can work any faster. I can work only on one film at a time. I am a family man. I value my personal relationships and after every film I feel I need to spend a couple of months with the family. I basically do one film a year. There was a long gap between “Dil Chahta Hai” and “Mangal Pandey” but that was due to personal problems. My last film, “Fanaa” was released about a year and a half ago.”

Little wonder every film of Aamir becomes an event in itself. “I want to do good work, do films that entertain the people. Right from “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” I have tried to foster the audiences’ goodwill. I am lucky in that respect. There are a lot of expectations from every film of mine. It makes me feel good because people expect only when they regard you to be one of them, and also some one who will deliver almost all the time. I am passionate about my work but know where to draw the line.”

Talking of drawing the line, the media has not exactly stayed within its confines with him over the past few years. There have been attempts to prey into his personal life, second marriage, squabble with his brother, etc. Yet Aamir, who throughout his career has backed the patience of a monk with the guile of a seasoned strategist, refuses to blame the media. “It is tough to be a celebrity in this age of ever-present media but there is nothing one can do about it. The media too is going through a phase of transition. Suddenly all these 24-hour news channels have sprung up. They have to keep feeding their viewers, they are in a scramble for eyeballs. After all, there are business compulsions. I still regard newspapers as the watchdog of society but this proliferation in the electronic media has happened all of a sudden. I am a very private person but some of the guys won’t let me be. I prefer to keep quiet because at times they do a story only for me to give a clarification. And that would mean another story for them!”

However, there is one story Aamir would not mind talking about: “Taare Zameen Par,” a film close to his heart, a film he was initially not supposed to direct. For years, the industry has been agog with rumours of Aamir ghost-directing some of his films, yet when Aamir did officially take over the reins of direction it was to help out writer Amol Gupte, whose wonderful script moved him to take the step forward.

Aamir clarifies, “I always had plans to direct a film. I began my career as an assistant director. As an actor I did not have the mind space necessary to direct a film. I have never ghost-directed a film and have enjoyed working with the likes of Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Mansoor Khan and others. I have no intention of doing some one else’s job. Right from the beginning I have believed that cinema is the youngest and the most inclusive of art forms. It engages all tools to tell a story: visual, aural and the like. I wanted to be able to appreciate all these tools before directing a film.”

So, how different is “Taare Zameen Par,” a film whose script was shaped by Gupte’s seven-year-long association with children, and their special world. “It is not a Tom and Jerry kind of cinema. It addresses a lot of issues that kids face in daily life. It talks of the attitude of parents toward their children. The film is not about a child with special abilities but all children, it is about dispossession of innocence too soon. It has sensitised me towards kids.”

Suddenly, as he is talking about the film, Aamir sees the larger picture. “The concept of success in our society has to change. It can no longer be measured by money or social status or marks in class. Every individual is important and special.”

Is his film special too?

“Cannot say, but I do hope so. I am happy with the way it his turned out. I take all responsibility for it, the buck rests with me.” Fair enough considering Aamir is the only identifiable face in the film. “It is not something that is happening to me for the first time. It was the same with “Lagaan,” with “Rang De Basanti” too. I have broken all rules of mainstream cinema.”

This Friday as “Taare Zameen Par” opens at the box office, Aamir Khan has reason to be confident. He has class. He has experience. And happy memories: his last two forays to the silver screen – “Rang De…” and “Fanaa” – have borne fruit. Now on to “Taare…”

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