|
Magazine
Face to Face
Twists in the script
RESHMA S. KULKARNI
|
Aamir Khan talks about his home production “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” and the other issues over which he has been creating ripples lately.
|
Plenty of action: Aamir Khan. Photo: S. Subramanium
Actor-producer Aamir Khan celebrated the music release of his home-production “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” which marks the debut of nephew Imraan Khan whom Aamir seems to be promoting aggressively, though he says he doesn’t. Excerpts from a conversation…
Tell us more about “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” (JTYJN)… Why’s the film’s being kept so hush-hush?
There’s no ploy behind that; it’s just that “Taare Zameen Par” and “Ghajini” got talked about more for various reasons, about which I was okay since I knew we’d promote “JTYJN” when the time was right “JTYJN” is a simple film about a few college friends and their lives on the campus. When Abbas Tyrewala came to me with the script, the innocence therein made me snap it up for production since we hardly see such pure and sweet films nowadays.
Why do you woo the media when it comes to promoting a film and then shy away so much at other times?
I do not like to use the media platform to vent my personal views. For that, there’s always my blog (smiles). The media is a respectable platform that I choose to use responsibly when I have something substantial to say and that’s mostly when a film of mine is getting released. However, I have never shied away from apprising the media about my involvement in social causes or my personal life when I felt the time was right to do so.
Was JTYJN created specially to launch Imraan Khan, your nephew?
No. I don’t believe in launch pads. The hero of my film is the script and I choose only those actors who suit the script perfectly, irrespective of whether it’s a relative of mine, an unrelated person or even me, myself. I’m very particular about what I lend my name to and don’t let emotional or personal considerations come in the way of those decisions. Hence, I even refrained from giving myself a role in “JTYJN”; I didn’t want to butt into a script that would get hampered by my presence instead of being enhanced.
Then what explains the choice of Imraan?
Before Abbas approached me to produce the film, he had auditioned lots of youngsters for the main lead and had decided upon Imraan. I was happy with the decision; not because Imraan’s my nephew but because he really suited the role. Had I felt otherwise, I would have said so because when I produce a film, I need to be convinced about all aspects of the same.
Now that you have cast Imraan, give us an honest opinion about him…
Imraan has a good screen presence. The camera loves him and that’s a big asset for any actor. He’s also a good dancer; but, he still has a long way to go. He should extract the optimum out of the opportunity that he has got at a young age.
Hadn’t Harry Baweja approached you to postpone “JTYJN’s”release since his son Harman’s debut movie “Love Story 2050” is releasing on the same day as JTYJN?
Yes, Harry had approached me with the proposal but sadly, I couldn’t postpone the date anymore because apart from other technical reasons, JTYJN had already got delayed by almost four months in the post-production stage. Harry understood my dilemma and we both felt, let the best man win. Ultimately, it’s the audience who going to decide. I’ll be equally happy if Harman aces at the BO.
Is it some policy of yours to cast less popular actors in your films? What otherwise explains the inclusion of a barely-known Genelia D’Souza?
There’s no policy. I cast actors after painstakingly doing screen-tests and auditions, strictly as per their suitability to the roles. Whether it’s Gracy Singh in “Lagaan” or Tisca Chopra in “TZP”, they were cast because they fitted the groove; irrespective of their previous track-records, which incidentally were quite good — both were popular on TV. As for Genelia, though she hasn’t had much box-office success till now, it’s just a matter of getting the correct role. She has done a great job in “JTYJN”. If one may recall, when Juhi Chawla was cast in “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak”, she was not a popular actor; but later she scaled the peaks of success after finding her groove.
What made you bring back your super-reclusive cousin Mansoor Khan to Bollywood with “JTYJN”; how did you achieve this feat?
All these years, Mansoor had been away farming at Coonoor because he had got tired of the urban hustle-bustle. Though I’d have loved to see his brilliant directorial sensibilities more often, I respected his wishes. But when I got too busy with “TZP”, “Ghajini” and “JTYJN” all together and wanted a trustworthy person to shoulder the production responsibilities to my satisfaction, I could only think of Mansoorbhai for the task. Thankfully, he responded heartily and got involved.
Is it true that you have stipulated that the promotions of “Ghajini” be clubbed with those of “JTYJN”?
Not at all. These are baseless rumours. Both films are of entirely different genres; it wouldn’t make sense to club their promotions together and also, I’m not the type to make such audacious demands.
After the injury that you suffered during the shooting of “Ghajini”, will you still be doing your own stunts?
Of course. In fact, my hamstring muscle’s recuperating well now and after two or three more days of rest I’m back to more action sequences!
On a different note, why have you lately become so overt about taking digs at your fellow actors, be it through blogs or songs…?
The song “Pappu Can’t Dance”, which a tabloid reported to be a spoof on Salman Khan, was a fun song that sneaked out of Abbas’ naughty brain to go with a situation in which the hero is dumbing down a showy friend. We were brainstorming on the lines of what guys like to show off — that’s how things like cars and watches and wooing beautiful girls, got woven. The likeliness to Salman is purely co-incidental and uncanny. It was never my intention to take pot-shots at him. For the record, I think Salman dances really well…so there!
And what about the prickly blogs that you have been writing? In one, you actually likened Shah Rukh Khan to your dog!
It was a harmless comment that snowballed into a controversy; I spoke to Shah Rukh about it and he actually laughed it off. But quite a lot of people have been offended by it. To put the record straight, if one reads the blog completely, after making the statement that “Shah Rukh is at my feet and I’m feeding him biscuits,” I have clarified in the next line itself that I’m referring to my dog who was named so by the staff of the house in the memory of Shah Rukh who was shooting in Panchgani the day the pup was brought home. But only one line got highlighted and an avalanche of allegations hurtled on me. It was never my intention to hurt anybody — be it Shah Rukh, my fans or his fans. It was in pure humour and I apologise sincerely for all the trouble it caused nevertheless.
But what do you think of this blog war that is gaining momentum now, with even Amitabh Bachchan joining in?
I haven’t read Amitji’s blogs and so cannot comment on them; but blogs are a harmless way to vent one’s thoughts. Let’s keep them at that level rather than use them as weapons to create a war when none is intended.
Lastly, what do we expect next from you after “JTYJN” and “Ghajini”?
From JTYJN onwards, I will not star in my home productions as far as possible; only produce or direct them though I will continue to act under other banners. I’m not exactly bidding adieu to acting but I want to step back a bit to let newer talent come ahead. But presently, I’m not doing any films apart from “Ghajini”, because I need to give some time to my kids. My production house is currently working on Delhi Belly. Talks are on for other projects but nothing has been finalised.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
|
