Aamir Khan’s 13-episode Satyameva Jayate
which
fuses together the mass appeal of celebrity with the mass reach of the
TV medium to raise awareness on social issues, is already the toast of
drawing rooms. But it has also sparked questions: do hi-glitz shows such
as this have a lasting impact? Or could this, like other shows, end up
being just another platform to peddle products? Aamir spoke to Namrata
Joshi in Jaipur. Excerpts:
Did you expect the programme would strike such a chord?
I was hoping it would be this huge. It has been a dream response.
Is the response due to the issue, the cause or the sheer power of your stardom?
No, it’s not about my stardom. Perhaps in a broad way people would
come to the show thinking let’s see what he is saying. But it’s a
combination of the research work of my team and the strength of TV which
can, potentially, take change to every home. I am the via media in
getting people to watch the show, to see the extraordinary stories of
ordinary people.
Female foeticide (the topic of the first episode) has been much
covered in the media. But Aamir Khan has got everyone talking about it
now. Is the star turning into a citizen journalist here?
I am happy to be called a journalist. The first phase of our job,
when we were dealing with research work I was a journalist. What I am
doing here is empowering the viewers with 360 degree information on an
issue. The information is emotional, social, legal, economic about the
possible solutions and the way forward. Of course it is limited to my
understanding of it. How my team and I, to the best of our ability, have
understood various issues after two years of research.
But I get creative when it comes to taking that material to people. I
am interested in reaching people on a human level. It's about what is
the most effective way to touch your hearts. I am using entertainment to
reach out. Which is not to say I am using fun and games. It's more
about underlining things with emotions. Like I did with the issue of
childcare and education in a film like
Taare Zameen Par. The
information people get from a newspaper and magazine article doesn't
change their heart. Very few people cry on reading newspapers. I try to
affect them emotionally.
The show has been criticised by some for being too manipulative...
I am using honest emotions to say something good. Look at the manner
in which I open the show. I talk about mothers and motherhood. Then go
on to pick one mother to show how we treat our mothers. I don't say the
word foeticide immediately at the start of the show but after two cases
have been discussed. I gradually take you to the issue. I am a
communicator. I scare you with its eventualities when I talk of women
being bought and sold. I am not limited by the format of an article. I
am on a general entertainment channel. I am a person who makes feature
films. These are my skillsets and I am using them to deal with the
issues. Am good at engaging with people emotionally. That's what I have a
passion for and am good at and I am using that ability.
Do such shows bring about change? Or do people engage and move on?
Often the stance on any problem is why doesn't the police, the
government do something about it. However, here I am asking people to do
what I am doing myself which is to look within and ask what am I doing
about it. It's not about physical action but an internal, personal
journey. The biggest change we can bring about is in ourselves. I am not
asking people to come on the roads and take out a dharna. Three crore
female foetuses have been aborted in the last 30-40 years. Female
foeticide is a crime planned in our bedrooms and we can't have cops in
the bedrooms to monitor us. But if we get even a hint that something
like this is being planned in our family or by our friends we can create
a ruckus. I won't tell you to decide. I won't judge you if you don't do
anything. The choice has to be yours, I can't force it on you. I hope
people do find courage and desire to change. So if a doctor who has been
involved in foeticides decides after seeing the show that he or she
won't do it anymore
bas mera kaam ho gaya. Even if one girl child is saved then the show is a success.
I will be on TV. I will also be on Vividh Bharati, AIR, Radio Mirchi,
Star News. I will write a column in HT. With every issue I want to go
wide on many platforms. It's a deep and concentrated approach to reach
out in as many different ways as possible. I hope it will make people
understand an issue for a life. I hope it will have them converted for
life.
People are critical of the way you get involved with a cause and
then get out. For instance, the Narmada protest, which you joined
briefly.
I find it a very faulty critique. It's actually your desire of seeing
me as a full time, 24X7 social activist. I am not that. It's not what I
claim to be. I can agree, support, endorse but I can't leave my job
which is films.
Talaash is delayed right now. But I will go back to it. Am doing
Dhoom 3 and
P.K.
next. But I will continue to support causes while doing my work. I
can't measure up to the 500% expectations that you have of me. I am
consistent with what I am committing myself to. It's like I have just
said that I will come and have tea with you but it's you who are
assuming that I am going to come and live with you for life. If my
involvement with an issue seems less to you then why don't you do the
good work?
You can question me two months hence that you had done a show on this
issue and why don't you remain with it your entire life. According to
me it's for the state and administration to take forward the job. You,
as an individual, also need to take a call, be responsible and decisive.
There are whispers about your charging Rs 3 crore per episode for a show on serious social issues...
I never discuss my fee. But since you asked I am getting Rs 3.5 crore
per episode. Firstly what I get is none of anyone's business. Main
apni mehnat ki kama aur khaa raha hoon. [I am earning and enjoying the benefits of my hard-work]. I am not doing anything wrong.
Main izzat se, achchaa kaam karke roti kama raha hoon aur mujhe fakr hai is baat ka
[I am honourably, by doing good work, earning my bread, and I am proud
of it]. Secondly to clear the misconception this amount includes the
cost of the episode also. The bulk of the money goes into the cost and
some of the episodes may have overshot the amount. Thirdly, I have
endorsements deals of about Rs 100-125 crore per year. I have stopped
them for a year while the show is on. There's no logic in the decision,
it's purely emotional. But tell me who has ever said no to Rs 100 crore
for a cause?
So what issues do we see next?
We started off with 20 topics of which we fleshed out 16 and
eventually locked in 13. These are topics which affect every Indian. But
the topic of next week will not be revealed in advance. Even when I
start the episode you wouldn't know immediately. It's not just the topic
that's important but also on how I present it and get you engaged and
involved with it.
Will you discuss contentious political topics like Gujarat, Kashmir, North East?
The issues will be social more than political. At this point I want
to concentrate only on social issues. But it's impossible to cut away
political aspects from any issue. Also if we bring about change in the
people and their perceptions our political processes will also change
over time.
You'll see all kinds of India: the India I have seen. There are
heart-breaking and traumatic stories, inspiring stories of great courage
and high values and ideals.
Do we see you taking to politics like stars abroad?
I have always been categorical about my no to politics. Political alignments, party affiliations I am not interested in.
--------
Jump cut - His Star Grounded
He was not aspiring to be Balraj Sahni. He was a superstar and he wanted to be accorded his rightful place.
Bishwadeep Moitra
The
summer of 2007 brought me a rather unusual invitation. Unusual, because
the round table conference in Florida that I was invited to participate
in—pompously called the Leadership Project—had little in common with my
vocation. But the real hook for me was the opportunity to meet Aamir
Khan, who too had been invited—and had consented to come.
Aamir came across like the character he had played in Dil Chahta Hai,
charmingly unassuming. He took his wife Kiran Rao’s environmental
concerns seriously. When she objected to the engine of our monstrous
safari jeep idling every time we stopped for a sighting in the
7,400-acre Wild Oak park, Aamir dutifully went up to the driver and
asked him to switch the engine off.
Finally, after doing our bit to save the world in three sessions, we
had some time to luxuriate at the sprawling facility. All of us had been
allotted chalets to be shared with a fellow delegate. Aamir and Kiran,
of course, had been given a chalet of their own, complete with a
swimming pool and a sauna. They very generously invited some of us to
hang out in their chalet. And what an afternoon it turned out to be.
Aamir’s entourage consisted of a three-member personal staff. A
bodyguard who doubled as a physical trainer, another who did his
suitcases, and a third who was his feeder (read on). Aamir was about to
shoot for Ghajini and had to look big and brawny. Mr Feeder’s
job was to make sure Aamir followed the dietary regimen. Every hour, he
would bring an egg yolk balanced precariously on a spoon to pour into
Aamir’s mouth. This, a rather strange ritual, went about in a very
matter-of-fact way.
All evening, Aamir regaled us with anecdotes about the co-stars,
producers, directors he had worked with, and his family with great
candour. He told us that when Tahir Hussain (Aamir’s producer-father)
offered Jeetendra a double-role, Jumping Jack quipped: “Mujhse ek role ki acting to hoti nahin hai, double role kaise karoonga!” He said he watched few films, but read a lot. He didn’t think much of Sholay or any other film—save his own.
Our adda eventually thinned out and I could feel the star becoming
more at ease. But I could also sense a rancour. Aamir could not hide his
disappointment that he was still not regarded like a Amitabh Bachchan
or a Dilip Kumar despite two decades of stardom and a dozen runaway
hits. Ghajini, Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots had not yet happened; another Khan was King.
Aamir felt Shahrukh Khan managed the media very well, giving the
impression that SRK’s movies were all superhits. He rattled off
box-office figures to prove that all of his movies had fared better than
SRK’s. The Aamir Khan I was now chatting with had shades of Satyajit
Ray’s protagonist Arindam Mukherjee, played by Uttam Kumar, in Nayak. A superstar at the helm of stardom, struggling to be at peace with himself.
I then advance a meek defence, saying, “Outlook has put you on its cover twice.” To which Aamir charged, “But India Today
had me on its cover three times.” I said, “Look Aamir, the dignity and
gravitas you bring with the characters you play and the high probity you
display in public life makes you the modern-day Balraj Sahni, a fine
actor and an exemplary citizen.”
The moment he heard the B-word, Aamir’s expression changed from an accommodative amiability to a grim grey.
By way of placation, I attempted another salvo. “When Amitabh
Bachchan, hailing from a literary family, wanted to join the debauched
film industry, his first director in Saat Hindustani, K.A.
Abbas, cited Balraj Sahni to AB’s father Harivanshrai: ‘An industry with
which a man like Balraj Sahni could associate himself, your son too
should be able to survive honourably’,” I said.
Aamir saw red. He was not aspiring to be Balraj Sahni. He was a
superstar and he wanted to be accorded his rightful place. Saat saal
baad, surely he has got it?
Bishwadeep Moitra is executive editor, Outlook
