Aamir Khan loves wandering
in the old, forgotten alleys of the Indian Cinema. Sreya Basu in conversation with the superstar in Mumbai
Is it true that you like studying various eras of Indian Cinema?
I am very interested in history, especially film history. And I feel that we don’t record our histories in form of biographies and autobiographies as much as they should be. As a reader, I miss those.
What attracts you the most about the history of Indian Cinema?
I have been working in the last 25 years of the 100 years of cinema. Now-a-days we think we face a lot of hardships while working on a film. But imagine the era when filmmaking began! I want to know about that era … what difficulties and challenges the first generation of actors, technicians and filmmakers went through, what kind of discussions used to take place among them, what kind of fights they used to have, what kind of life they had, what kind of entrepreneurs and risk-takers they were.
Do you think today’s film personalities should start recording their experiences for the future generation?
I will tell you a story here. I always used to tell my uncle Nasir Hussain (veteran film producer, director and screenwriter) that he should write his autobiography and share his experiences with us. But he did not write it. He might have felt that his life story did not interest him. But he did not understand that others were interested in knowing about his life. Hence I feel it is a responsibility of all of us creative people to leave behind something of our experiences so that people who are interested, especially, students of cinema, can enjoy it.
Dhoom 3 has created a history in Indian Cinema with a box office collection of over Rs 500 crore. Are you relaxed now?
When the first day’s numbers came in, I could not believe it. I am thrilled that people loved it. I stress myself with every film, not just Dhoom 3. So that’s normal. But as the figures started pouring in, I felt relieved and relaxed. I did not expect the film to collect so much.
You and Salman Khan seem to be really good friends in the industry as we often see you two promoting each other’s films.
Salman and I have a lot of respect for each other. I like his work very much. When his film releases, I get equally excited to watch it just like everyone.
Which actress in today’s generation do you like?
There are many of them. Everyone is super talented these days. I liked Deepika Padukone in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. I hope to work with her soon.
The industry being male dominated, do you think that even today the leading man is more talked about than the leading lady after a film’s release?
I don’t think any hero takes the credit and runs away. Filmmaking is an activity where a number of creative people come together and work together. And everyone contributes. But what happens is, we as an audience, look at a film and we, sometimes, tend to give credit as opposed to one person taking it. The audience might get attracted to a particular aspect of a film. So they might give credit to a particular actor, but the fact is, actually everyone has contributed together. (TWF)
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