Aamir Khan – The better actor or director ?

Aamir Khan – hasn’t he become a cult figure these days?  Selective by nature, a stickler for perfection, away from mainstream glamour and glitz  - all of which adds to the air of mysticism surrounding him.

It has become hard to ignore this man isn’t it? We all have been watching him from the days of QSQT, Dil et al – the days when he was more known for his chocolate face than anything else. I, for one, never took him seriously until around 10 years ago. That was when Sarfarosh came out. It was a good movie. Though I think the movie would have been a hit even if Aamir Khan was not in it. But by doing that movie, he certainly stamped his personality in bollywood. He wavered with some forgettable movies like Mela and Mann. But come the new millennium, you can’t help but agree that he has a parallel industry built for himself.

1947-Earth, Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Mangal Pandey (although many didn’t like this movie of his), Rang De Basanti, Fanaa (this movie did not impress me much) – the roster looks impressive.  These movies were very good. I admire Aamir’s choice of scripts. His presence may have embellished their scripts as well. But I do strongly feel that these movies were good because of their strong scripts and directors. If you leave out Fanaa (Kunal Kohli, according to me is a lousy director), I think the directors’ list looks impressive too. Deep Mehta, Ashutosh Gowariker, Farhan Akthar, Ketan Mehta, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra.

So what about Ghajini? This movie doesn’t boast of stellar director (some guy named Murugadoss from south). Well, I thought it was impressive. I was very very impressed by the fact that Aamir put in a year’s worth of effort in building that body of his. I have watched both the Tamil & Hindi versions of the movie. Aamir beats Surya (the guy who played the part in Tamil) hands down in the department of physical looks. But I cannot really say the same when it comes to acting. I thought both of them did equally well in their own unique style of execution. (By the way, a big thanks to Aamir for changing the climax and putting some sense & logic into some of the ridiculous scenes in the Tamil version).

Bottom-line I think Aamir is a good actor. But there are better actors (if you ask me, I think Amitabh Bachchan & Kamal Haasan are India’s best).

So what did I omit. Yes..the masterpiece.. Taare Zameen Par. As Himeshbai would have said – it was simply superb, fantastic, mind-blowing..historryyy (for those of you who watch Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.. you know what I am talking about right?). I thought that the movies was beyond brilliant. Aamir had overtaken himself.  The very fact that he comes in the second half of the movie shows how secure the man was with his script and story. Not once did he try outshining Darsheel (the young boy in the movie).  I couldn’t help shed a tear myself in the theatre and trust me, every guy who came out of the movie hall mocking his wife for crying had already wiped his eyes dry. (sorry guys…I had to spill it out)

Is Aamir a better director? I strongly think so.  Dude, I think he is made for it.  Eye for perfection, selective in choosing scripts – these are more traits of a brilliant director than an actor. I don’t know if TZP would get its due at the Oscars this year. The guys at the Academy are more into poverty, world war, Nazi et al. Not sure if this movie would pique their interest. I sure hope that I am proven wrong.

Aamir for once attended a few award functions for a change. He was given this award down South called the Gollapudi Srinivas award. Don’t ask me what that award is. But what touched me was the simplicity and sincerity of the whole award ceremony. That Aamir went for such a non-glamorous function speaks volumes about this guy. K. Balachander gives away this award to Aamir after a moving speech. For those of you who are not familiar with this figure, he is the doyen of the South Indian Film Industry, a master director who gave the Indian film industry names like Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan. In the Hindi circle, one of his biggest movies was Ek Duje Ke Liye. 

Anyways, here’s the video of the ceremony. Take a watch and look out for Aamir breaking down in between hearing Balachander’s speech.

I think Aamir still has a long way to go as a director. But we may have found the modern Satyajit Ray in him.