Aamir Khan fields some questions and cleverly dodges some relating to recent controversies, about him and his movie...
Just as he is preparing to celebrate the completion of ten years of Lagaan, Aamir Khan looked at ease, and thanks to his newly acquired moustache (for Reema Kagti's film), a little older. An excerpt from the interview with the awe-inspiring superstar...Ten years... how have things changed for you?
So many things have happened, so many things have opened up, within me and outside. I didn't want to be a
producer at any cost. I have seen my father go through hell as a producer, and I didn't want to go through it. But when Lagaan came up, I couldn't let anyone produce the film. After Lagaan, my wife Reena and I divorced, and I didn't want to produce a film without her. But then five years later, Taare Zameen Par came up and I had to produce it. For me it was always a decision from my heart, never really a business.
And to think you are looked at as one of the best businessmen in the industry...
Yeah, but believe me, it has always been a decision taken with heart. Do you think we would have waited for five years to produce a film after Lagaan? Business is important, but for me it has always been the kind of movies I want to make.
Some people who have worked with you, like Anusha Rizvi and Amole Gupte don't really like you. Would you know why?
I don't know why. They might have not liked the way I have worked, but that's their way of looking at it. I am not obliged to anyone. I have worked in this industry for 22 years and there are two people who don't like me. That's a good track record isn't it? I have worked with so many producers, directors, unit members, actors ¦ no one seemed to have major problems with me. Only two people don't approve of my style of working. We do our work, according to how we think it should be done, and I am not really looking for anyone's approval.
Whose approval are you looking for then?
My audience and a few people I trust.
Have you watched Amole Gupte's Stanley Ka Dabba?
No, not yet.
It is said that Gupte made with the sensitive Stanley Ka Dabba, what he could have done with Taare Zameen Par...
(Smiling) Does that mean Taare Zameen Par was not sensitive?
And about Anusha Rizvi, she has also expressed her anguish at Peepli [Live] not being entered for National Awards...
We decided not to enter our films Peepli Live or Dhobhi Ghat for the National Awards as a matter of policy. We have got National Awards for Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, but now we want to concentrate on the creative aspects and not winning awards. Not entering the film has nothing to do with who has directed the film. Dhobhi Ghat was directed by Kiran.
Anubhav Sinha, and now we hear Shankar Ehsaan Loy, have taken a moralistic stand about the song Bhaag DK Bose in Delhi Belly...
(Smiling) But it is just a name. What is their objection to the mention of a name in the song? If they are reading too much into it and are objecting, it talks about their mind. As far as we are concerned, it is just a name.
