The Aamir Khan You Don’t Know

‘Had
anyone
asked
me
if
I
was
Aamir
Khan,
I
would
have
admitted
to
it.’
Senior
movie
journalist
Roshmila
Bhattacharya
flips
through
the
pages
of
her
many
interactions
with
Aamir
Khan,
who
turned
60
on
March
14.

Sixteen
years
ago,
Aamir
Khan
went
on
a
Bharat
Darshan.

But
he
didn’t
go
as
Aamir
Khan,
the
movie
star.

He
attended
a sangeet in
a
small pind near
Ludhiana
as
a
Mexican
tourist.

In
Varanasi,
he
was
unrecognisable
as
an
old
man.

While
reflecting
on
his
travels
later,
the
actor
was
quick
to
point
out
that
at
no
point
during
the
trip
did
he
lie
about
his
identity
or
travel
as
someone
else. ‘Had
anyone
asked
me
if
I
was
Aamir
Khan,
I
would
have
admitted
to
it,’
he
said
then.
But
he
is
such
a
chameleon,
and
not
just
on
screen,
that
no
one
did.

In
fact,
everyone
he
met
in
the mohallah in
Varanasi
took
a
break
from
work
to
help
the
elderly
gentleman
find
the
house
where
his ammi had
lived
till
she
was
10
years
old.

The

Discover
India journey
was
a
part
of
the innovative
promotions
for




3
Idiots and
Aamir’s
game
plan
was
revealed
at
a
crowded
press
conference
I
attended
simply
because
the
invitation
had
come
from
the
man
himself.

A
surprise
call

The
previous
evening,
while
I
was
taking
my
usual
stroll,
my
cell
phone
rang.

I
didn’t
recognise
the
number
nor
the
voice
at
the
other
end,
claiming
to
be
Aamir
Khan.

I
thought
it
was
an
old
friend,
K
S
Sanjay,
playing
his
usual
pranks,
even
though
the
caller
insisted
that
he
was
really
Aamir.

It
wasn’t
till
his
publicist
confirmed
it
that
I
believed
him
and,
driven
by
curiosity,
went
haring
off
in
the
middle
of
edition
—
unthinkable
when
we
were
working
for
a
daily
newspaper
—
to
attend
his
press
conference
only
to
discover
that
Aamir,
like
his
character
in 3
Idiots,
Ranchhoddas
Shamaldas
Chanchad
aka
Rancho
aka
Phunsukh
Wangdu,
had
disappeared.

He
had
left
behind
a
recorded
message
daring
anyone
to
unmask
him
during
his
journey.

I
stormed
back
to
the
office,
livid
that
I
didn’t
even
have
a
story
to
explain
my
disappearance.

His
publicist
promised
that
Aamir
would
give
me
exclusive
details
when
he
returned.

I
didn’t
believe
her
till
he
called.

Laughing,
he
introduced
himself
as
Aamir
again
and
this
time
I
believed
him.
 

His
travels
had
taken
him
across
the
country,
from
Varanasi
to
Chanderi,
from
Kolkata
to
Ludhiana,
from
Palampur
to
Mahabalipuram.

In
a
small
school
in
Gujarat,
he
had
come
across
a
young
fan
who
carried
his
picture
in
his
shirt
pocket
while
in
Mahabalipuram,
his
guide,
Shankar,
who
had
seen
only
one
Hindi
film
in
his
life, Shalimar,
would
not
have
recognised
Aamir
even
without
the
wig
and
dentures.

He
however
ensured
that
Shankar
saw
his
second
Hindi
film,
inviting
him
to
a
special
screening
of 3
Idiots. 

Food
for
thought

While
in
Kolkata,
Aamir
was
invited
to
cricketer
Sourav
Ganguly’s
Behala
home.
Since
it
was
a
Thursday,
the
day
dedicated
to
the
Goddess
Lakshmi
in
most
Bengali
households,
he
was
served
a
traditional
vegetarian
meal.

It
surprised
me
how
much
Aamir,
who
admittedly
loved
his kebabs and biryani, relished
the
meal,
making
sure
he
got
the
names
and
pronunciation
of
the
dishes
right
by
enlisting
the
help
of
his
then
wife,
Kiran
Rao,
who
had
lived
in
Kolkata
till
she
was
18.

He
reeled
off
the
entire
menu,
from luchi and begun
bhaja to sukto and aloo
posto, ending
on
a
sweet
note
with mishti
doi,
sandesh and roshogollas, rolling
his
‘os’
over
the
latter
like
a
true-blue

babumoshai.

If
this
was
a
surprise,
then
an
even
bigger
one
was
to
see
him
happily
feasting
on
a
pile
of
vegetable
sandwiches
when
prepping
for Dangal,
a
film
that
gave
him
the
licence
to
binge.

Forget
meat
and
fish,
Aamir
wasn’t
even
eating
regular

mithai
and
chocolate
because,
on
the
eve
of
his
50th birthday,
he
had
decided
to
turn
vegan
after
watching
an
hour-long
video
by
a
doctor
who
listed
out
15
fatal
diseases
and
how
they
could
only
be
prevented
through
diet.

Even
his
tea
was
made
with
soya
milk.

He


tipped
the
scales
at
95
kilos to
play
wrestler
Mahavir
Singh
Phogat,
then
took
off
to
a
health
facility
in
the
US,
losing
13
kilos
in
three
weeks
through
hiking,
biking,
training,
mountain
climbing,
swimming,
tennis
and
a
healthy
diet.

When
he
cut
short
his
six-week
trip
and
returned
home
still
20
kilos
overweight
to
bring
in
his
51st birthday
with
his
82-year-old
mother,
his
only
wish
was
to
buy
back
Zeenat
Hussain’s
ancestral
home
in
Varanasi
from
its
present
owners
and
gift
it
to
her.
 

Inaccessible
yet
affable 

Aamir
has
always
been
careful
about
not
being
misinterpreted
or
misrepresented.

Years
ago,
when
he
was
shooting
for
Shekhar
Kapur’s
aborted
film Time
Machine,
an
interview
at
RK
Studio
had
gone
on
all
day
because,
after
answering
my
many
queries,
he
had
made
me
read
out
all
his
answers
and
then
set
about
reevaluating
them.

On
another
occasion,
while
offering
his
point
of
view
on
a
casting
controversy,
he
had
suddenly
whipped
out
a
bulky
tape
recorder
and
put
it
on
the
table
alongside
my
dictaphone,
pointing
out
that
this
way
we
would
be
doubly
sure
he
was
not
misunderstood.

He
used
to
be
so
wary
that
even
when
it
was
a
fun
feature,
he
was
overthinking
his
answers
till,
finally,
my
exasperated
colleague
snatched
the
list
of
20
questions
from
him
and
told
him
firmly
to
just
say
the
first
thing
that
came
to
his
mind
to
each. 

There
came
a
time
when,
to
quote
him,
he
was
‘shell-shocked
by
the
aggressive
stance
of
the
press
towards
personal
issues
and
their
lack
of
personal
responsibility’;
he
stopped
talking
to
certain
publications
for
almost
two
years.

His
inaccessibility
didn’t
affect
his
films
— Fanaa and Rang
De
Basanti were
huge
box
office
hits
—
but
his
absence
from
our
pages
didn’t
make
my
heart
grow
fonder.

But
Aamir
remained
affable
whenever
I
bumped
into
him
at
a
film
studio.

One
afternoon,
I
was
standing
under
the
sweltering
sun,
waiting
for
an
actress
I
had
come
to
meet
to
call
me
into
her
make-up
van,
when
he
passed
by.

Smiling
politely,
he
enquired
how
I
was
doing.

Five
minutes
later,
his
man
Friday
hurried
across
with
a
chair, asking
if
I
would
like
a
cup
of
tea.

Ban
and
after

The
impasse
ended
before
the
release
of
his
home
production
and
debut
directorial, Taare
Zameen
Par.

It’s
a
film
very
close
to
his
heart
and
his
well-wishers
reasoned
that
this
little
big
film
needed
all
the
publicity
he
could
muster
to
reach
as
many
people
as
possible.    

I
dashed
to
his
office,
then
trooped
to
his
home
since
Aamir
was
under
the
weather,
for
the
long-awaited
interview.

I
relentlessly
hurled
speculation,
allegations
and
accusations
at
him.

From
his
supposed
rift
with
Amole
Gupte
to
ghost-directing Lagaan,
Sarfarosh and Fanaa.

From
divorcing
with
Reena
to
rumours
to
the
fact
that
all
was
not
well
with
second
wife
Kiran
either.

From
Amitabh
Bachchan
being
upset
with
him
to
delaying Ghajini to
wrap
up Taare
Zameen
Par first.

I
didn’t
even
try
to
soften
the
blows.
I
was
aggressive,
abrasive
and
antagonistic.

Another
actor
might
have
ended
the
interaction
abruptly
and
prematurely
but
Aamir
took
all
the
questions
head
on.

When
I
finally
got
up
to
leave,
he
looked
ambushed.

When
the
publicist
wandered
in
asking
if
she
could
bring
in
the
next
journalist,
he
sighed
wearily,
saying
he
needed
a
break.

After
the
interview
came
out,
I
felt
no
pleasure
for
having
been
a
public
prosecutor,
judge
and
executor
all
at
once.

I
didn’t
stop
asking
the
hard
questions
but
I
adopted
a
softer
tone
and
approach
after
that.

When
Aamir
wanted
to
romance
Kiran…
onscreen

The
last
time
I
ran
into
Aamir
was
at
the
trailer
launch
of Laapataa
Ladies,
produced
by
him.

After
the
screening,
he
allowed
himself
to
be
swept
away
for
an
impromptu
interaction
with
the
media.

He
was
surrounded
by
almost
two
dozen
journalists
and
all
of
them
had
questions
on
why

Laal
Singh
Chaddha
had
failed,
his
son
Junaid’s
launch
and
his
reason
for
backing
Kiran
Rao’s
off-beat
film.

One
gentleman
in
particular
didn’t
even
give
Aamir
time
to
answer
before
posing
his
next.

He
also
shared
that
Junaid
and
his
daughter
had
studied
in
the
same
school
and
she
had
got
him
the
star’s
mobile
number.

‘Did
you
call
me?’
he
wondered,
and
when
the
journalist
shook
his
head,
shot
back,
‘Then
how
do
you
know
Junaid
gave
her
the
right
number?’

While
on
my
way
out,
I
spotted
Kiran
and
was
reminded
of
the
interview
I
had
done
with
Aamir
and
her
back
in
2011.

On
a
scale
of
10,
she
had
given
him
nine-and-a-half
and
half
as
an
actor
and
a
director
and
a
perfect
10
as
a
producer.

Aamir
himself
had
given
her
a
nine
as
a
writer,
director
and
actor,
admitting
that
he
had
tried
to
persuade
her
to
play
Yasmin
in Dhobi
Ghat.

But
Kiran
wouldn’t
bite
and
the
role
eventually
went
to
Kriti
Malhotra.

‘It
would
have
been
fun
to
romance
Kiran
on
screen,’
he
sighed
wistfully,
compensating
by
wooing
her
during
our
photo
session
instead.

Let’s
talk
Oscars

Kiran’s
journey
with
Aamir
began
with
his
first
production, Lagaan.

She
was
one
of
Director
Ashutosh
Gowariker’s
assistant
directors.

Lagaan was
India’s
official
entry
to
the
Oscars
in
the
Best
Film
in
a
Foreign
Language
category. It
was
nominated
but
narrowly


missed
out
to
the
Bosnian
war
film, No
Man’s
Land.

I
was
watching
the
ceremony
on
television
and
had
teared
up
when
the
award
hadn’t
gone
to
Aamir
and
Ashu
as
expected.

I
was
told
later
that
even
the
50-odd
unit
members
who
had
gathered
around
a
television
set
in
Aamir’s
office
to
watch
the
awards
live
had
started
crying
watching
history
slip
by.

Hope
flared
again
when
his Laapataa
Ladies marched
to
LA
last
year.

But
competition
was
fierce
and,
despite
winning
the
hearts
of
the
jury,
it
could
not
make
it
to
the
top
five.

I
was
disappointed
because
it
was
one
of
my
favourite
films
of
2024
but
this
time
there
were
no
tears.

I’m
saving
them
for
when
he
does
bring
the
Oscar
home.

I
have
no
doubts
that
he
will
one
day
soon
because
like
Rancho,
Aamir
does
not
chase
success.

He
chases
excellence
and
success
follows
excellence.

Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff.com