After the telecast of Chale Chalo — the making of Lagaan ended on &Pictures at midnight on Sunday in Mumbai’s Yash Raj Studios, Aamir Khan sat down off camera to justify his latest marketing coup and why a documentary on the making of Mughal-e-Azam should be equally engrossing.

How shrewd was this marketing strategy not to reveal the name of the ‘film’ and let the hype build!

(Breaks into an impish smile and chuckles) As a creative person, main alag alag cheezein creatively banane ki koshish karta hoon. And I have faith that the things I am making would be liked by people. Par aksar woh aisi cheez hoti hai joh aam taur pe log dekhte nahin. The way I communicate the message should be such that they feel that they want to be a part of this.

Is that why you didn’t give out that it would be a documentary film?

If I tell people that I am making a socially relevant show on female foeticide toh shayad koi nahin dekhega. However, if I tell them that I am making a show called Satyamev Jayate but I will not tell you what the topic is, then people will sit down to watch it. If they like it, they will stay on... if they don’t they will switch off and go away. That is in their hands.

Hindustan mein koi documentary film dekhta nahin. Maybe it is not in our culture. I want to give a boost to documentaries. It is the first time that people in such large numbers watched a documentary on television. They got a taste of documentaries. This was my way to introduce documentaries. Had I been specific, people would have been wary of the very idea of watching one. So we thought the less they know the better. Once they start watching, let them decide whether to switch channels. Now that they have seen one, they will know that documentaries can be entertaining too. Tomorrow they will watch other documentaries on other subjects.

You called it an ‘unreleased film’!

Chale Chalo released in two halls for one week. Barely 2,000 people saw it. For all practical purposes, it was not released. In India there is no platform for releasing documentaries.

How did this telecast of Chale Chalo come about?

I loved Chale Chalo. I was wondering how to reach it to people. People of India love films and I knew they would surely enjoy it. This is the first film that has been made on the process of making a film, what all happens in the background. But no one is ready to release a documentary. We showed it to Zee and they had faith in the material. When they asked me about how it should be presented, I said I wanted to be a part of it. A documentary is about real-life happenings. So, people should get a chance to ask me questions. It should be interactive. I suggested Karan’s (Johar) name and I am so glad he accepted. He is a wonderful host.

What is your takeaway from the experience of being part of the telecast of Chale Chalo?

I was not sure whether people would like it. I am glad that they did. So many calls and tweets came in. The other reason why I am happy is something was tried for the first time — people watched the film in their homes and I watched here simultaneously with them. I had a lot of fun watching the film live with the audience and this is the first time that we responded live to their questions.

Are there any unfinished or abandoned projects of yours?

Time Machine (to be directed by Shekhar Kapur) is the only incomplete film in my career. It was ages, 20-25 years, ago. So there is no chance of it getting done now. Wish I did not have any incomplete films in my career.

Have you ever regretted refusing a film?

I never regret not doing a film that was offered to me. I think I was not right for the film. Even if it is successful, I think it is because it had some other star and he was supposed to do the film. And if I did it, since I did not believe in it, I would have spoilt it.

Do you see a documentary being made for any other film of yours?

All the films get documented. But we need a person like Satya (childhood friend Satyajit Bhatkal who has directed Satyamev Jayate for Aamir) who can see a story emerging from the documented material. We shoot behind-the-scenes for every film. But the makings are usually promotional films that you see before its release where everyone says how they enjoyed doing the film and how the story is different. In this film you will not find a single frame where we are praising each other. Yeh uss type ki making nahin hai. You need a person who’s behind the scenes to have that vision. We are lucky we had Satya.

Any other film which deserves a documentary on it?

I’d like to see the making of Mughal-e-Azam. It took 11 years to make and I know financially K Asif saab went through a lot of stress and tension. The scale of that film also was so grand. Today we use walkie talkies for shots. ‘Gaadi bhejo,’ the message goes and 10 cars troop in. In Mughal-e-Azam, they had war scenes. So they would have to say, ‘Haathi bhejo’. And if you had to cut the scene and take one more, how would you say it? There was no walkie talkie! The elephants have to turn and come back from the specific point. Can you imagine the difficulty? In those days, may be they had just flags for communication.

Will you do such a demanding film again?

Even after Lagaan, I have done films that are demanding. Like in 3 Idiots, I had to play an 18-year-old. As an actor it was very demanding. Dhoom:3 had a different challenge of scale. If I ever come across a script I like, I’d do it again as producer. Right now I am so engrossed in Satyamev Jayate that my mind is not functioning. I am doing Peekay (directed by Rajkumar Hirani) now. I have not chosen any script after that. I do things that I get satisfaction from. I strive for excellence and hope for success.

When did you and Kiran first meet?

Kiran Rao: About a month before shooting (of Lagaan) was to start, we were travelling in a bus to Bhuj. Aamir was seated in front and all the ADs (assistant directors), designers were at the back. In the course of the journey, Aamir came to the back and introduced himself. It struck me that he was so normal. I had never seen someone so famous but so uninhibited. He came across as pretty cool.

Aamir: Itni dosti thi nahin hamari Lagaan ke samay. But there is one incident that I remember. My costume had been finalised, but I was not getting the kind of earrings that I wanted. I wanted something thick and metallic. One day I saw the assistant director wearing such a pair of earrings. I asked her: ‘Can I try those earrings?’ She took them out and gave them to me. The earrings you see me wearing in the film are hers. (“I never got them back,” Kiran interjects.)

Are you satisfied that the government has taken note of the Satyamev Jayate episode on violence against women and is mulling setting up rape crisis centres?

Yes, the first episode (in Season 2) was on fighting rape. I am very happy that they have taken note. I spoke to Manekaji (Maneka Gandhi, union cabinet minister for women and child development) after that. I told her if any help is needed, we are ready to offer it.

You will be releasing a book on Dilip Kumar. Any thoughts on that and your relationship with him?

He has been one of the best actors in our industry. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the book to read how he made his way up. It is based on a series of interviews that Udaya Taraji (Nayar) did on him but she has written it in his voice. Yusuf (Khan, Dilip Kumar’s real name) saab itne bade star hain that I get scared of what to tell him. But whenever we have met, he has given a lot of affection to me and Kiran. I had met him before Lagaan at a programme hosted by Subhashji (Ghai). He had spoken Bhojpuri in Ganga Jumna. I told him that I’d be speaking Awadhi in Lagaan. So we had talked about that.

Do you want to write an autobiography some day?

Sometimes I feel I should write one.

Let’s see.

What kind of fitness regimen are you on now?

Dhoom:3 kuch zyada hi successful ho gayi. Workouts had stopped. Kayee maheene sirf achchha khana peena chala! Par ab roz tennis khel raha hoon, workout kar raha hoon, diet bhi chaalu kiya. In three months, hopefully you will see me in better shape.

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao with Chale Chalo director Satyajit Bhatkal and Karan Johar at the screening of Chale Chalo

Aamir Khan’s first unreleased film to be premiered on TV! Not a word on the title, nor a hint of the co-stars or the year of production. The result was

inevitable. Fans went into a tizzy, his filmography was Google searched and scanned, and when it yielded nothing conclusive, the guessing game started.

As a member of a select audience which would get to watch the mystery film with Aamir, when one walked into the Yash Raj Studios screening theatre in Mumbai on Sunday evening, only then did the tell-tale clues manifest themselves — an instrumental rendition of the Chale chalo track from Lagaan playing softly and stills from the film adorning the backdrop of the stage, the centrepiece of which was a blowout of Aamir, sporting a naughty grin that had “Gotcha!” written all over it.

Yes, Aamir Khan, master marketer, had tricked the nation into watching a documentary film on the making of his milestone Lagaan, made by his childhood friend Satyajit Bhatkal. And people loved it, as the unending tweets and live call-ins to &Pictures, the channel on which it was telecast, proved and the show’s ratings would surely endorse.

“Kya karein, Hindustan mein koi documentary film dekhta nahin,” mission achieved, he would justify the move later (see interview).

But the screening revealed other facets of the man, who seems adept at moving on as well as nurturing ties forged years ago. The Lagaan team, it was revealed, meets every Diwali at Aamir’s Bandra home. “We haven’t missed a single year,” he says. And when villagers of Bhuj, who had provided the numbers for the crowd scenes day in and day out, were shown in video clips making a wish for Bhuvan to return, he was so moved that he decided on the spot that he was making the trip.

And he loves to play ball. When a ball appeared for Kachra (Aditya Lakhia) from Lagaan XI to bowl his special delivery on the show, Aamir picked it up to start a game of catch-catch during the break.

And he is also a man in love. Barely 20 minutes into the four-hour show, he exclaims: “What am I doing here?” and walks up from the single chair centre stage to the galleries where Kiran, his “K”, is seated. And there he stays put next to her, talking to others but mindful of and drawing from her presence through a quick clasp of the hand, rolling onto her lap while laughing at someone else’s joke and looking content as she drums her fingers on his shoulders.

Was it more so because Reena Datta, his first wife, was such an overwhelming presence in Chale Chalo? The mother of his two kids Junaid and Ira, who Aamir made the film’s executive producer overnight, was on screen every now and then, and during the live chat with Karan Johar, Aamir took her name four times, starting with a formal “Reenaji without who the film could not have been made”, and finally, as he spent hours journeying down memory lane with the film, a candid “Reena ko bahut miss kar raha hoon. I hope she is watching this.”

It could not be known whether she had been invited. Lagaan director Ashutosh Gowariker was, but could not make it. A.R. Rahman, who scored the music, is abroad. Otherwise, Team Lagaan was there in full force, including lyricist Javed Akhtar. But the woman who mothered Lagaan was not. Instead, one of the film’s assistant directors — Kiran, now Aamir’s wife — who merited barely three fleeting shots in Chale Chalo is now firmly in focus.

Rather than years, this one telling shift measures the vintage of Chale Chalo and the world of Lagaan.

Sudeshna Banerjee

Pictures: Sudeshna Banerjee

Which Bollywood film deserves a documentary on its making? Tell t2@abp.in