Aamir Khan has spent over three decades in cinema, playing characters that break away from the typical Bollywood storytelling. From playing an alien in PK to a retired wrestler in Dangal, and a basketball coach in his latest release Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan knows how to push boundaries. Even the OTT release of his latest film was an approach never seen or tried before in Bollywood.
However, in a candid interview with ETimes, the actor admitted that these decisions often come with a fair share of apprehension. He also explained why he decided to release Sitaare Zameen Par on YouTube with a pay-per-view format.
Aamir Khan on his unconventional roles
When asked how he is so fearless as a creative person in an industry that is known for playing safe, Aamir revealed, “No, no, there is a lot of fear. There is fear every time I am doing a film, and unfortunately, my choices are also unusual. But I can’t help but make them. When I was doing Dangal, I felt that dus saal baad karte hain, abhi mein itna mota, buddha dikh raha hoon. Just before that, I had done PK and Dhoom 3. People thought I was 30-35; they didn’t know I was 55. I thought, ‘Yeh film karoonga toh meri asliyat saamne aa jayegi’ (laughs). It was in my blood; I had to do it.”
“I am not a fearless person. Before the release, you can’t assume the film will work, at least my films. There were exceptions like Ghajini and Dhoom 3, where you could say yeh kuch toh karegi. But with the unusual ones, it’s difficult to tell. I go with my instinct and my heart. So, I am not thinking about what the audience wants to see. I am thinking mujhe kya banana hai,” he added.
Aamir Khan prioritises films over anything
While talking about the changing dynamics of the film industry, Aamir added an interesting point, He said, “My loyalty is to cinema. Cinemas came first, then theatres came to serve cinema. Earlier, there was no theatre. Cinema dikhane ke liye pardah laga dete the, and it would be shown through a projector. Phir tent aaya, wahan dikhate the. Then permanent theatres came about. Cinema is what I am protecting, and emotionally, I am very tied to theatres. I believe that the theatrical experience cannot be replaced by anything else.”
Sitaare Zameen Par’s pay-per-view model
After its theatrical release in June, Sitaare Zameen Par started streaming on Aamir Khan’s YouTube channel for Rs 100 per viewing. The actor believes that this approach can increase the reach of the film in a country where theatre infrastructure is limited.
“We are able to reach only 2-3 per cent of our population in the theatrical business, and this is for the biggest hit. For a film like Sitaare Zameen Par, around one crore people would have watched it by the end of its theatrical run. In the absence of enough theatres being built, this model is perhaps the only way to reach the vast majority of India, especially with rising internet penetration,” he said.
About Sitaare Zameen Par
Directed by RS Prasanna, Sitaare Zameen Par is the story of Gulshan Arora (Aamir Khan), a short-tempered basketball coach who gets assigned the task of training a group of adults with intellectual disabilities. The task soon turns into an endearing story, one that speaks of empathy, resilience, and inclusion. The film is the spiritual successor to 2007’s Taare Zameen Par and is the official Hindi adaptation of the Spanish film Campeones.