Doston, aaj college ka aakhri din hai
Aur aane waali zindagi ke liye
Sabhi ne kuch na kuch soch rakha hai
Lekin maine apne liye kuch nahin socha hai
News for all of u reading this blog, that was one of the blatant lies told on Indian screen because its very hard to imagine coming from a guy whose career easily folds out as one of the most strategically planned and model careers for people from all walks of life. For those of you who haven’t guessed who we are talking about its about time you left this blog to watch the nth rerun of some mushy SRK movie (and I very fairly leave Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, Yes Boss, Swades and Paheli out of that lot). For those of you who have guessed already yes this blog will be a tribute to one the greatest actors to grace the Bollywood silver screen the one and only Aamir Khan. He has been a favorite of mine ever since he burst on screen singing ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ in 1988 and made sure that every wannabe romantic new chocolate hero had to have Raj as his name. I was unluckily born in an era where the Amitabh magic had waned completely and audience was unsuspectingly subjected to tortures like Akayla, Ajooba, Aaj Ka Arjun, Toofan, Jaadugar, Shahenshah and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. Those of you who have a disbelieving look on face that says ‘I never heard of those movies’ let this a moment of enlightenment for you whereby you start believing in Karma as you might be reincarnations of Mother Teresa for sure (u lucky souls).
Anyways now that I have the literary tool of digression successfully I must tell you all that I used to have countless arguments with my neighbor (bless you wherever you are) about who was better between Amitabh and Aamir while we came up with arguments and counterarguments (nothing serious there I just strummed an Imaginary guitar mouthing ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ while he shot me down with an imaginary gun placed strategically in his left hand). For those of you didn’t know Aamir had made two appearances on the movie screen as a child actor in Yaadon Ki Baraat playing junior Meghnath (Vijay Arora I stand corrected) and a Ketan Mehta flick titled Holi in 1984 for which he had shaved off his head while in college. Anyways as QSQT came and went bringing back the age of musicals and bringing back love stories to silver screen digging out Bollywood from the rut of action/revenge drama flicks that it had gotten into since the Amitabh era. Aamir signed on a lot of inconsequential and forgettable movies after QSQT like most insecure newcomers and was in danger of ending up as a one hit wonder and one of the promising talents that fizzled out due to bad choice of movies. However notable amongst this lot was a movie called Raakh which was a brave attempt by a chocolate faced newcomer as he plays a embittered lover whose girlfriend was raped and who goes on to kill all the people responsible for the heinous crime eventually helped in his mission by Pankaj Kapur. Unfortunately not too many people ever saw that movie for some reason. He didn’t have another hit in his career till he broke through at the box office in 1990 with Dil starring with the then reigning queen Madhuri Dixit. A regular masala flick with decent music like most Indra Kumar flicks it made good money at the box office with Aamir shining in a trite done to death role. He was to shine in 1991 again in the role of Raghu Jaitley in Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin where he played a journalist with a heart of gold as he helps a cute Pooja Bhatt reach her destination. It was during this movie that he discovered his method acting technique as he delved deeply into each of his characters. For his now famous cap that he wore through the movie he searched around shops for reportedly more than 5 hours before he came up with something to his satisfaction. He meanwhile began work on Time Machine an ambitious project by the very talented Shekhar Kapur starring Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha and Raveena Tandon. Although the movie never got made I caught some clips of some show a long while back and it seemed like a huge hit in the making ala Mr.India. His next hit movie was JJWS in 1992 as Sanjaylal Verma which pitched him as an underdog racing for his college, his brother, family, his love, respect and above all pride and had the entire nation rooting and egging for him with a “Top gear Sanju, top gear” in the climactic bicycle race finale. He struck gold next with Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke with the oh-so-cute Juhi Chawla in 1993. He appeared next year in the most mind-blowing comedy of all time displaying fantastic comedic timing along with Salman Khan titled Andaz Apna Apna. Although a lot was expected of this movie it somehow sank at the box office then only to be rediscovered years later going on to become one of the most successful movie on the video circuit. It still goes down as one of my favorite movies period and I had an able ally in my cable guy who kept playing the movie on every weekend. 1995 was the year of Akele Hum Akele Tum as he played the endearing dad of an estranged family who fights tooth and nail to keep his son. I don’t know of too many people who managed to hold back a tear or two in the last scene as he shuts up his door and begins crying after giving up his son to his ex-wife. The movie wasn’t a hit however and he moved on to style himself out of his chocolatey hero image as he churned out ‘Munna’ the lovable tapori for Rangeela. His quest for perfection churned out one of the most endearing character son silver screen and set the benchmark for Tapori roles attempted for ages thereafter by all contemporary heroes successfully and not so successfully. Like another constant feature of his career he helped in giving a hit to a struggling or new actress or director. He played the title role in Raja Hindustani in 1996 which also turned out the biggest blockbuster of the year. He picked up the best actor award for the year which he refused to acknowledge as he believed they weren’t fair enough in their judgments, a policy which he has maintained through the years. He displayed his flair for comedy again with Ishq with Indra Kumar notching up a hit with his only movie in 1997. By this time Aamir was strictly following his policy on working on one movie at a time something that was considered ‘foolish’ and ‘too risky’ by his contemporaries at that time. 1998 was the year when Khandala was placed firmly on the tourist destinations of India as he serenaded Rani Mukherji in his own voice (also something in which he the trendsetter as it was followed by most heroes unsuccessfully in the succeeding years) in Ghulam a story of Siddharth Marathe, a reprisal of his Tapori shades, as he played a person torn between his morals and his elder brother. Battling a very trite story and a near death for a stunt scene in his stickler for perfection attitude he shone above the movie playing a one man army against an evil institution. It was also the year when he turned evil with a vengeance as he played the ice candy man in 1947 Earth. He made every Indian sit up and take notice with his stark and realistic portrayal of an idealistic IPS officer, Ajay Singh Rathod in Sarfarosh in 1999 a role that fetched him universal acclaim warranting even special requests for a viewing by the then PM of India and his office. It also succeeded in giving Sonali Bedre her only hit of her career and for that we really “Don’t Mind” :). He churned out 2 turkeys in Mann (with a very hummable music track) in 1999 and Mela in 2000 (a movie which he did for his struggling brother’s career). However he more than made it up to his fans as he beckoned history in 2001 with Lagaan a movie for which he turned actor cum producer (again a pioneer in this field and one in which few other had any success later on). He pumped in money on this Ashutosh Gowariker dream as he believed in him completely and went with his conviction working on a Hollywood styled work environment. He pioneered start to finish schedules and sync sound recording for this movie as he brought in a lot of professionalism to the hitherto unknown world of Bollywood. The movie was a big hit in India and went on to make the cut in the final Oscar race but making sure Indians hated a movie called ‘No Man’s Land’ forever (just kidding it’s a great movie even though its not half as good as Lagaan). Within a month of batting out of his skins to bat the Britishers out of his village he reappeared as Akash redefining cool and chic with his role in Dil Chahta Hai. Every guy in India wanted his hair cropped and gelled like him as every pimple faced teenager prayed for hair under their lower lip so that they could sport a soul patch (yeah that’s what they call that thing he sported). He was most believable as the happy go lucky guy who had a constant glint in his eye spelling mischief as he goes on to discover the deeper things in life love and friendship as he redefined male bonding with the stellar cast of the hilarious Saif and underrated Akshaye Khanna. He brought in the concept of a different look for every movie something Bollywood had suddenly woken up as we have all actors trying different looks looking most ridiculous at times. After that movie he disappeared from silver screen as he battled personal problems before he settled down on something that would match up to the expectations from him after Lagaan and DCH. He signed on for Mangal Pandey as he changed his look completely for it growing his hair and handle bar moustache for 18 months before he started shooting. He kept in touch with his fans through his very entertaining Coke and Titan commercials a subject of intense discussion during their making and after release amongst all people. However after almost 2 years in the making his movie has finally finished and is opening this Friday on Aug 12th. It has already opened to a standing ovation at the Locarno film festival and previewed to select critics too. However as always the slander campaign by a select few in the media whom Aamir has always kept at a safe distance from his personal life, has begun and they have starting reporting absolutely baseless stuff like 'The Rising' has not opened to good reviews from preview screenings citing their sources as The Hollywood Reporter and Thezreview.co.uk. However as you can probably see for yourselves that they are full of nothing but praise calling it a ‘sweeping epic’ while calling Aamir’s performance as ‘excellent--introspective and fiercely emotional’. So as the movie opens tomorrow lets hope all’s ‘mangal’ for this flick so that any outing by one of our most beloved and multifaceted actor. 17 years in the industry, starring in 18 movies any actor will be proud of with 14 hits almost at a consistent rate of one every year makes him one of the most dependable actors in an industry that barely has a 2% success ratio. He is one of only actors to tread the fine line between being an actor and a star with great aplomb. His style of concentrating on one movie at a time has become the established norm with every decent actor following the policy including SRK (who contrary to popular belief revered Aamir as an actor).
I should hopefully be catching the movie this Sunday driving down to New Jersey for 3.5 hours (fingers crossed) and shall be reviewing it sometime soon. Even though I haven’t read any opening reviews something tells me I am in for the time of my life (I guess history does teach you some lessons and I sure have learnt mine during my past 24 years).
This officially makes it my longest blog ever but thankfully I have managed to move away from my Carrie Bradshaw'esque takes on the male mind and have fulfilled the real reason for which I was born (yes from what my friends tell me I was born to make people more aware of Bollywood with my mindboggling knowledge of it).
18 comments:
i love shahrukh khan and he rocks!
so there!
*u cant see it but im also sticking my tongue out at u!*
lol!
but yes amir is also a favourite, so i wont totally writethat off!
@Khizzy Omigosh that was proabably the quickest comment on any blog in the history of blogspot thnx. I too like SRK but did you read abt wat he says about Aamir? Do write in if you manage to catch Mangal Pandey b4 me
i also can't wait to go to aamir's movie man! it's tough to believe that it has been four years and all we got was some scrap news from here and there...hopeful to catch the movie soon!!
Also, a great post for trivia..some facts like the raakh thing and the bald teenager thing were good!!
Anyone seen 'Awwal Number'? It was Aamirs first cricket movie, wayy before Lagaan. It was also one of the worst movies evarr. Two other of his stinkers were 'Love Love Love' and 'Daulat ki Jung' with the famous helicopter decapitation scene. Also, anyone notice Aamirs cameo in Swades?
blog hopped here and really found a really absorbing "Aamir in Bollywood" biography. Kudos.
Nice :)
Me was getting tired of all these SRK-crazy fans out there. Barring a few mistakes, Aamir Khan tends to choose pretty good scripts. Ishq turned out the way it did, because Indra Kumar changed the script after Aamir Khan agreed to it.
I was quite disappointed by what happened in his personal life recently, as I had felt that here was one guy who couldn't do any wrong. But of course it doesn't take away from his talent.
Btw, I actually loved Toofan and Shahenshah :)
Hi, at your blog for the first time. Quite interesting post. BUT, you cannot be serious. For the Toofan, Shahenshah phase that Amitabh went through, there has also been the Love Love Love, Deewana Mujhsa Nahin phase for Aamir. So, to say that he's made largely good choices of movies maybe a misnomer. In recent times, maybe true. BTW, how come you did not mention baazi, he's one of the few actors I can think off who carried off a song in drag reasonably well!!!
Sounding like a heretic, I was not too impressed by Rangeela, the movie where he really came of age as a star. For me, the movie which really made me sit up was Earth. And in my defense, I had not seen Andaz Apna Apna (you're right - it is OUTSTANDING) until very recently. I still think he has a long way to go before he's comparable to Amitabh.
This one movie at a time thing and the search for meaningful roles is leaving him somewhere in between Shah Rukh and Naseeruddin Shah. And whether that's a good place to be in and what his legacy to Hindi cinema will be, only time will tell.
You seem to write really well, will be back!
@Totti Yeah I cant wait too, meanwhile try and catch Raakh on a DVD sometime
@Anarkist As I stated in my post he did a number of inconsequential flop movies after QSQT but 14 true blue hits out of the 33 he has done in his career isnt such a bad ratio u see, he has a cameo in Swades when where?
@Scorpigle thnx had been wanting to write this one for a long time glad u liked it
@Rajesh I think he did Ishq and Mela because somewhere along the line he felt obligated to Indra Kumar and the Darshans for giving him a Dil and Raja Hindustani, nyways I cant complain he still rocked in those lame movies.
Confession corner: I too thought Shahenshah was a cool movie once upon a time.
@Nandu thnx for dropping by, U must realize that Big B was doing Toofans and Jaadugar's when he should have ben at the peak of his acting career and was at a liberty to chose his roles while Aamir's choice of bad movies (I probably have seen each and every one of them) came when was an insecure newcomer and like most peple of this breed probably signed on everything offered to him.
Rangeela was a defining role in terms of the fact that it came at a time when heroes wanted to look prim and proper never mind the fact that they were playing gangsters, beggars or a cop. The beauty of the role lay in the fact that Aamir chose a role that might have been considered unsafe by most others requiring to sport a scar, wierd jeans, act like a streetsmart bully and mouth some ridiculous lines while still winning the auidences heart. I think we would be incredibly naive and unfair if we still say that we need to wait to see his legacy to Indian cinema history and as for the Amitabh vs Aamir debate I think thats a topic better left untouched but for sure Big B is one of the few actors who can even claim to warrant such a debate against Aaamir. I hope I didnt come across too strongly while making my point (Cricket and Bollywood have a habit of doing that to me) do keep visiting :)
In the scene right before the 'Yeh tara woh tara' song, the movie they are showing on the projector is 'Yadon ki baraat' and Aamir khan comes for a brief split second as the little kid in it. Not technically a cameo, but still..
Also, my mentioning of those movies of Aamir were only for providing some trivia fodder. He rocks ofcourse!
Regarding the Aamir vs Amitabh debate, I have a couple of things to say in defense of Amitabh. One, during the 'Shahenshah' & 'Ajooba' phase, Amitabh was in such an age bracket, that he couldn't play the lover boy/angry young man or the stern father roles he is doing now. Also, I can't think of a single decent movie from that mid 80's era. It seems there was a drought of good film writing then. Not fair to blame him for that. Though I admit, he did continue his stinker stint way into the 90's. But I forgive that too, knowing that he had to salvage his sinking business ventures. Of course, all this is coming from a big fan of him, so can be taken with a pinch of salt, but still, I think no Aamir, Shahrukh or any of the sundry Khans can beat Amitabhs intense portrayals in Deewar, Zanjeer, Majboor etc. He is the MAN!!
Also, there is no point in an Aamir vs Shahrukh debate. SRK is not a patch on Aamir and thats a fact.
i remember when 'cueyescuetie' was released,we gals@school fell in luv with the guy-with-chocolaty luks n my mom wud rag me for falling in luv with a lilliput ,of course Aamir has come a long way from that flick but I agree that he is one guy who has given the max hits n I think his performance in '1947 earth' is topper(my personal fav)
but i think he had his share of let downs too n 'Awal No' n
'Deewana mujhsa nahi' top tat list.
@Anarkist Since you really want to push that debate let me remind you that that at the time that Amitabh was rolling out stinkers by the dozens trying to dance with actresses half his age (probably even lesser) by his own choice actors like Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah were doing the best work of their careers. Dont blame the dearth of good film writers as brilliant cinema consisting of Junoon, Kalyug, Ardh Satya, Sparsh, Saraansh, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron was done during the mid 80's only. Amitabh just couldnt let go of the fact that he was too old to play the conventional hero. Aamir's best work on the other hand has come at the same age bracket in which Amitabh did a bunch of bad films and that's where a mature head on your shoulders and a more sensible choice of movies shows. Also ABCL was declared bankrupt on July 9,1999 and he had done baaaad movies like Sooryavansham,
Lal Baadshah, Kohram, Major Saab,
Insaniyat, Jaadugar, Toofan, Ajooba just to name a few way before that.
@Swathi I think all girls can safely rename QSQT as 'Cute as cute's he' or 'Cutesie cutesie' as he swept thru all female hearts at that time. Amongst his performances I would have to go for one of DCH,JJWS and Sarfarosh. I guess u ppl havent seen the worst of his performances, ever hrd of movies like Tum Mere Ho, Aatank Hi Aatank and Isi Ka Naam Zindagi.
What a data base you are!! Though, the new-look-for-each-movie is pretty old hat. So many great actors have done that.Good writing.
I am a big fan of both aamir and amitabh..but amitabh has a screen presence and a voice, aamir can only dream having!! But, picking sensible movies and salvaging bollywood aamir is the one to do it right!
Mangal panday was good.I doubt it if it will be a classic but i will definately watch it again! and again!
That was one looong blog!! It was interesting thought but only up until the point when you disclosed to the readers who this blog was a tribute to.
Read some of the comments people have posted here, wowwwww!! Personally I don't think there is anything great/good about Aamir or Amitabh. They are just actors. That's it!! They aren't like sportsmen or engineers or something. They are just actors!!
@Jinguchakka Have hrd that comment abt me a database so many time b4 that i dunno if it meant to be a complimet anaymore :)
@totti A lil thought dont u think Aamir has to work harder at his performances an roles coz he doesnt possess a screen presence and a voice like Amitabh which was incidentally something he was blessed with by birth.
@Anonymous Thnx, u think ppl like
Sachin Tendulkar, Michael Jordan and Pele are 'just sportsmen'. i guess similarly we wud be dismissive calling Amitabh and Aamir 'just actors'.
Sorry I showed up at your blog a little bit late, but I hopefully did not miss the party :) And wow! That's some biography! For me, Aamir went from being one of my most memorable crushes to one of the most memorable actor + star combinations that Hindi films have seen in the last decade. That's a very well written post, although I have some disagreements here and there. Ishq for instance, was a downright irritating movie! So what if it was a hit?
And while there's no denying his quality output, there's also a good amount I think some of that feeling of exclusivity is a planned PR move and nothing else. Goes to show that he's a smart man besides being a good actor. But no matter how huge Aamir is, comparing him to Amitabh is a strict no-no. If you try to wave Akaylas and Ajoobas in front of me, I can counter it with a similar list of Aamir's, but instead just one is enough - Tum Mere Ho (1990). This one movie more than makes up for anything bad Amitabh may have ever done. Why, you ask? Cos Aamir nearly turned into a Paploo Stud Wannabe in this one, with the shape-shifting reincarnating snakes, rain songs while playing the been and what not! YIKES!
By the way, in his cameo in Swades :), or rather in his appearance in Yaadon Ki Baarat, he does not play junior Vijay Arora. He plays junior Tariq. Dharam-paaji is the oldest bro, Vijay Arora is the middle one and Tariq the youngest one. In the yaadon ki baaraat nikli hai aa dil ke dwaare title song, the little Aamir sticks up his pinky and rushes off to pee :) An interesting start to a movie career, for sure!
Once again, great post Rohan!
@Megha No u didnt miss the party in fact u just waltzed in like a typical Indian chief guest :), just couldnt let go w/o acknowledging ur visit. Ishq the firt half was pretty enjoyable and well anything entertaining in an Indra Kumar movie is pretty much a bonus for me.
Abt Amitabh vs Aamir stinkers i would like to quote myself from some comments i made to some other ppl 'U must realize that Big B was doing Toofans and Jaadugar's when he should have ben at the peak of his acting career and was at a liberty to chose his roles while Aamir's choice of bad movies (I probably have seen each and every one of them) came when was an insecure newcomer and like most people of this breed probably signed on everything offered to him. Since you really want to push that debate let me remind you that that at the time that Amitabh was rolling out stinkers by the dozens trying to dance with actresses half his age (probably even lesser) by his own choice actors like Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah were doing the best work of their careers. Dont blame the dearth of good film writers as brilliant cinema consisting of Junoon, Kalyug, Ardh Satya, Sparsh, Saraansh, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron was done during the mid 80's only. Amitabh just couldnt let go of the fact that he was too old to play the conventional hero. Aamir's best work on the other hand has come at the same age bracket in which Amitabh did a bunch of bad films and that's where a mature head on your shoulders and a more sensible choice of movies shows.'
Also if Aamir did the one movie bit for PR then he is a pioneer in that field too as he started doing this at a time when most ppl in Bollywood didnt even know wat PR stood for :).
Thnx for the correction on the Aamir appearance in yaadon Ki Baraat.
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