Aamir: Rustic links

Mumbai, June 5: There are professional actors who claim to be farmers, and there are farmers who turn professional actors.

Unlike Amitabh Bachchan, whose claim of being a “farmer” was rejected by a Faizabad court last week, Aamir Khan claims that acting could be his profession, but he is a true farmer at heart.

Even as Bachchan filed an appeal challenging the Faizabad court’s order, Aamir promptly issued a clarification in the wake of Maharashtra revenue minister Narayan Rane’s statement that his department would probe if the Rang De Basanti star had bought agricultural land claiming to be a farmer.

Aamir owns a 13-acre plot in Mawal near Pune which he purchased giving a testi- monial that he was an agriculturist with land in Uttar Pradesh.

Other Bollywood personalities who own land in picturesque Mawal include Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Deepti Naval, Nana Patekar, and Bachchan’s brother Ajitabh.

“I am an actor and artiste by profession but, by birth, I am also an agriculturist in the true definition of the word. I come from an agricultural family. My father, along with his brothers and sisters, owns agricultural property in the form of mango orchards in Shahbaad, Uttar Pradesh,” Aamir said in an emailed statement.

Aamir said his grandfather and great grandfather were also farmers.

“By virtue of being the son of a bona fide agriculturist, I am also an agriculturist,” he said.

“Before firming up the idea of purchasing landed property, I conducted the due diligence required for this purchase and whether I was on the right side of the law. Only after having done that, did I proceed with the purchase,” Aamir said, adding cheekily that his investment should not be compared with those of “other” individuals.

The actor claimed that he possessed the valid documents to prove his “farmer” credentials, and would be willing to allow any appropriate authority to scrutinise them.