Not into too much of Hindi Cinema, I hardly watch any Hindi movies. I stopped watching Hindi movies in the middle of 1995 after I accidently saw JFK and The Power of One. My notion of cinema was changed overnight. My hunger for English movies and Movies transformed into obsession, which I still follow religiously.
Somewhere in the middle of August 1995, it was a rainy day in Delhi, I had convinced all my school friends to watch Rangeela together. It was not Aamir who had fascinated me into watching Rangeela, it was Urmila Matondkar. Watching Rangeela was an altogether a different experience. I came out not so much stunned by the beauty and performance of Urmila but by the sheer capability of Aamir (hitherto unknown) to develope and perfect the character that he had played in the movie. It was about being an actor rather than a star of hindi cinema. In retrospective an inkling of this hidden actor inside Aamir could be seen in Andaaz Apna Apna too. I had realized it watching Robert De Niro, Anthony Hopkins, Tommy Lee Jones etc. that being an actor is more difficult and prestigious than being a star. To become a star, in a country like ours, is funnily easy. It is also true for other countries, I presume.
I confess that I have not seen Mangal Pandey. Dil Chahta Hai, I have only partly seen. Whatever I have seen of Dil Chahta Hai is not so much about the acting capabilities of Aamir but about the fresh directorial approach of Farhaan Akhtar.
But I have seen Rang De Basanti (on the insistence of a female friend of mine who sometimes is so aggressively dominating that I cannot refuse her). During the first half I had the gut-feeling that the movie had something to do with Shantaraam (a book by David Gregory Roberts). And I was shocked to see, in a particular shot (in the middle of a song), Aamir holding the same book. I was vindicated. The movie I guess (infact I am damn sure, even if it was not intentionally done) had something to do with the saying "Doing the Wrong Things for Right Reasons" (Shantaraam) and also with the finale of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. The ironical and anti-climactic ending of Rand De Basant had a direct relation to Jaane Bhi do Yaaron - a watershed in Hindi Cinema, I believe.
Of late, I have learnt that a movie is more about the art of storytelling than art direction, music, dances, action etc. It is an art that has to be mastered to make a good movie. And Hindi cinema lack it very much. One has to watch Quentin's movies to understand the power that the art of storytelling has. Rang De Basanti did not have a good storytelling line. It was fractured. It was like an ice cream with crispy bits of flavoured chunks. Those chunks are meant to titillate our taste buds. The actual taste of ice-cream remains unknown. When the movie had finished with Aamir being shot, I was the first one to leave the cinema hall, but I had to stop just before exiting because the public gave a standing ovation to the movie (I thought it was for the movie alone). But later that day when I met some of my friends, everybody was gaga about Aamir's crying perfomance. Indeed, it was a perfect shot.
But when will the day come when Aamir will be Aamir without being Aamir. When will the day come when people will discuss characters (that Aamir had played in different movies) rather than Aamir. You have to be Anthony Hopkins to be Anthony Hopkins without being Anthony Hopkins in the Silence of the Lambs. You have to be Robert De Niro to be Robert De Niro without being Robert De Niro in Raging Bull.
I can compare the rise of Aamir Khan from being a star to being an actor with the history of Brad Pitt in Hollywood. One must admire him for his journey to Babel.
Aamir has felt the enlightenment. But he has still not achieved it. Oscar's will come India once the art of storytelling is given more importance than titillating the Indian masses with flavoured chunks.
Aamir is doing good, and I hope the day will come when I will again ask my group of friends to come and watch a hindi movie together.
Best of Luck! Aamir
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