'Citizen Khan' Takes a Stand !
For those of you who missed the exclusive interview of Aamir Khan with Rajdeep Sardesai on CNN-IBN at 21:30 hrs on 26th May.Here goes the discussion... His film Rang De Basanti made waves and received rave reviews. But now, the actor – considered Bollywood's method actor - has come under sharp criticism for taking his reel-life character too seriously. His involvement and comments on the Sardar Sarovar Dam issue invited the wrath of Gujarat's polity and his latest film Fanaa has been blacked-out in the state. In a candid interview with CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Aamir 'Citizen' Khan clarifies his stand.
Rajdeep: Hello and welcome to a very special programme with a very special guest. He is the man in the news, a celebrated actor, a producer and also importantly a citizen of India. Tonight, we bring you 'Citizen Khan' - the one and only Aamir Khan. Thank you very much for joining us. Is that a fair thing to say that you are a citizen first and then an actor?
Aamir: Yes, I think that is very fair. I'd like to look upon myself as a citizen first-of the country and of the society.
Rajdeep: And does that drive everything that you do, both off-screen and on-screen? Is there a passion for being involved in life, in civil society, in public life?
Aamir: I would like to be.
Rajdeep: You would like to be involved in public life?
Aamir: Well, in society definitely.
Rajdeep: And reflect that even perhaps through your cinema...
Aamir: I am sure that it is something that happens automatically. It is something that gets into my subconscious. Whatever happens around us in the society affects us and then it comes out in the way we live, the way we behave and in the work that we do.
Rajdeep: Let's then go straight to the big thing that you are doing at the moment. You are the man in the controversy. I want to start this programme by playing what exactly you said on the Narmada issue, which has lead to your film Fanaa being banned in Gujarat, which has made you a target or a 'hate figure' for some. Let's just hear what you said originally on the Narmada issue. You took up the Narmada issue or atleast you identified yourself with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Was that a spontaneous, on the spur decision or did you think it over through?
Aamir: It was a very spontaneous decision actually. I was in Delhi a week before I gave this interview for the release of a book. When I was going to the venue of the release, I saw these protests happening on the road. There were two protests happening - one was for the Narmada Bachao Andolan and on the other side of the road were the Bhopal Gas victims. I enquired about both these protests to find out what is happening. They had been in the news for some time, but since I saw it first hand, I thought I should learn more about it and understand more about it.
Having got a fair idea about what the two were trying to say, I thought that I should lend my support and join them, meet them.
Rajdeep: Was it ideological? Did you feel ideologically inclined to those groups, did you feel a strong sense of being connected?
Aamir: I am not connected to either of the groups. But my common sense told me that the people who have been affected by the gas tragedy should be properly compensated. And the people who are affected because of the dam should be rehabilitated. My common sense told me that.
Rajdeep: Your common sense may have told you that. But was it a little naive? Because the moment you associate yourself with any group like the Narmada Bachao Andolan, which is a complicated issue, is deeply emotional and emotive in Gujarat in particular and is a political issue, you are open to being targeted. Were you ready for that?
Aamir: Maybe I was naive. But given a second chance, I would do the same thing again. I do not think things through. In fact, I had thought that the political parties would come out and say, ‘Yes, Aamir is right, we should rehabilitate the people who are losing their land because that is why we are here for, that is why we have been elected’. That is what my common sense told me.
Rajdeep: You know how politics plays out. Surely Aamir Khan is not completely divorced from the way politics plays out. In a state like Gujarat, whether it is BJP or Congress, everyone speaks in one voice on the Narmada issue-everyone speaks 'for' the dam.
Aamir: I am not speaking against the dam in any case. For the past one month I have not been speaking against the dam. I have very clearly said that I am speaking only for the rehabilitation of the people who are affected by the dam.
Rajdeep: Critics say that Aamir was not just naive, but got a little carried away. It was the Rang de Basanti effect. You were an anti-establishment hero in Rang de Basanti. You were again playing that role, though this time 'off-screen'. In a sense you were translating what you did in Rang de Basanti. In fact, you came to the protest with Atul Kulkarni and others. It almost became cinema in real life.
Aamir: Perhaps. Rakeysh Mehra, Atul or Kunal are all friends of mine and when they heard that I was going there, they wanted to come along to support me.
Rajdeep: A bit of the anti-establishment hero?
Aamir: Well, may be. But I don't think that it is relevant. I think that we are going away from the point. The point is that people who have lost their villages, houses and lands have not been properly rehabilitated and still that process is not complete. There is a report that has come out which The Hindu published. It said that a lot of the rehabilitation work is still to be completed.
Rajdeep: There are two sides to this issue. Did you try and read up and then decide that this is what I wanted to say.
Aamir: Yes, I did actually. I have read as much material as I could find on the net regarding this issue. In the report, which the Committee did that went for investigation to find out whether the rehabilitation work is going to happen or not or to what extent is it happening present.
Rajdeep: You have made your point. Now let’s just hear what the BJP had to say, particularly in Gujarat, since that is the place where the target has taken place. Let’s hear what the BJP Yuva Morcha leader, Amish Thakkar had to say about Aamir’s involvement on Namarda:
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra sab logo ko isse faida honewla hai. Sab isthapith ka kaam hone wala hai. Aamir Khan ki salaah ki aur Aamir Khan ki madat ki Gujarat ko zarurat nahih hai.(The people of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are going to be benefited by it. There are going to be works of establishments. Gujarat doesn’t need Aamir Khan’s help or advice.)
Rajdeep: When you hear those angry voices out in the streets, they were burning effigies of Aamir Khan in Gujarat. Did you feel targeted or isolated?
Aamir: Yes. I certainly felt targeted but I did not feel isolated because a lot of people came in support of me. I got innumerable text messages wherever I went, in the public, on the road, in the flights that I took, everyone kept saying that we completely support what you are saying. So I did not feel isolated but I felt targeted. And what I want to say in response to this clip is that certainly a political party or a group can disagree with me. If I say that people who have lost their land should be rehabilitated and suppose somebody disagrees with me, they should voice their opinions and say what they feel. I don’t think there is a need to target me because this is a democracy after all and every person has a right to say what he feels. Secondly I don’t think there is any thing wrong in the first place. BJP has been trying to say that I am against the dam when I am not against the dam. I hear in the TV that BJP is trying to say that I am against the dam and I do not want the people of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to get water. I live in Maharashtra and I want everyone to have water. I have nothing against the dam. All I am saying is that the people who are affected by the dam should be rehabilitated; they cannot be left to die. They are poor farmers because of whom we eat our food, we cannot leave them to die. Are we so insensitive?
Rajdeep: But the moment you do that, you are taking a political position You are saying that you are taking a social position but only a week or two after that there were riots in Vadodara and again you made a statement. You were quoted as saying that you were upset with the fact the government had not done enough to protect the life of innocent citizens.
Aamir:No, I did not make any statement.
Rajdeep: You made no statements on Vadodara but it was there in the papers.
Aamir: I did not make any statement.
Rajdeep: So the only statement which you are saying that you have made politically is on the Narmada issue.
Aamir: Yes.
Rajdeep: When the Vadodara statement at least reflected in the papers and coming on the back of Narmada, there was a feeling that it was Aamir Khan versus the State of Gujarat. And some even said Aamir Khan versus Narendra Modi.
Aamir: I have nothing against the state of Gujarat. I have only love and respect in my heart for the people of Gujarat and that apart I would like to tell them and ask them what is it that I am saying is wrong. When I speak in favour of people in Gujarat who are affected that what I am saying is wrong. When the Supreme Court has even said the same thing that the people affected by the dam must be rehabilitated, what is it that I am saying is wrong?
Rajdeep: What is it that Aamir Khan is saying is wrong? We have a couple of Gujaratis who may want to ask a question.
Audience Question: I completely agree with Aamir regarding what he say about the rehabilitation of the people. So I think that the BJP has misunderstood him and politically he has been made a target.
Rajdeep to Audience member: So as a Gujarati do you have no problem?
Audience: The one thing I want to say about the Vadodara riots is that Aamir is saying something, which is against the Gujarati Government or Narandra Modi may not be true.
Aamir: Actually I did not give any comments in the Vadodara issue, I did not make any comments at all. And I will make it right now, I just want to clarify that till now I have not made any statement. However, the statement that I do want to make is that in the name of religion innocent people die and I am against any group, whether it is a Hindu group, an Islamic group, any terrorist group, any organisation or a political party also, which in the name of religion kills and attacks innocents. Innocents lives are lost of any religion of India are lost and I am against that happening in Kashmir, Gujarat, Mumbai, Chennai or any part of the country.
Rajdeep: Is this Aamir citizen talking or the actor talking?
Aamir: I am saying this as a citizen and I want to know what is wrong in my saying this. Does the public (audience) agree with me here?
Rajdeep: Do you agree with what Aamir says?
The audience agrees.
Rajdeep: Well you have the support of the people of India but what about the film industry? Here is a film Fanaa, which is stopped in Gujarat. Why doesn’t the film industry come as one and say that no we won’t allow the Gujarat Government to dictate terms. In that sense aren’t you feeling isolated?
Aamir: I think that the film industry should do that. I personally feel that the film industry should be united on the stand. I have received a lot of support from the film industry. However, no official step has been taken.
Rajdeep: That is the problem, the people in the film industry do not want to come out and take on a Government or take on a strong position.
Aamir: I am a member of the actors’ association and I think that the association should take a look at this matter and I am sure that they are aware of what is happening. I would like to write to then and in the coming days see what action they will take.
Rajdeep: You are someone whose evolution started in Bollywood many years from the film Yaado Ki Baarat as a child actor ago and you have today reached a stage where you are influencing the minds of several people. Let me just refresh about what you said that when the BJP said that you must apologise for your stand on Narmada on the context of the Fanaa controversy. Let us hear it:
In loge ke ghar jal rahi hai, kheti badi jal rahi hai, inke school ja rahi hai, mandir masjid ja rahi hai. Ab aap inko ek dafa phir rehabilitate karea, yehi main ne kaha hai. Is ke liye main mafi mangu, sawal hi nahi uttha.
(Their houses are burning, their fields are burning, their schools are burning and their mandirs and masjids are burning. Now if I say that you rehabilitate them once more. There is no question of me apologising.)
Rajdeep: You like playing tough ‘guys’ right?
Aamir: No, I don’t think I like playing anything.
Rajdeep: You were the chocolate box hero. You started off as a chocolate box hero and are increasingly becoming an anti-establishment even in films. Even in Lagaan andRang De Basanti.
Aamir: Well I am just saying that I am a plain speaking person. I speak from my heart and I am honest in being what I feel and I am saying what I feel.
Rajdeep: But the world outside is much tougher.
Aamir: I am sure that the world is very tough. For example, the BJP is very upset with me at this point of time. BJP is a national political party, an extremely powerful entity and I am completely aware of that. However, I am the kind of person who would like to do what one believes in. In the process if I get harmed in any way, so be it. I cannot change what I feel, I cannot change they way I am.
Rajdeep: You are an interesting person because you are very different in a sense from the average Bollywood stars. You want to do one film a year, you do not attend film awards and you are a strange kind of person. You pay your taxes, which doesn’t happen too often in Bollywood. Is that a conscious decision that Aamir Khan is part of Bollywood and yet not part of it?
Aamir: I just want to clarify one thing over here. You have said that I am very different from other people in Bollywood, as if Bollywood is some strange group of people who have come from Jupiter and Mars. I want to clarify that the people in this Indian film industry belong to the very society that you and I belong to. We are the same human beings, a part of us become film people and a part of us go into other fields but we are the very same people. So what I am trying to say here is that in society as a whole, I think we need more people to take a stance, not only in the film industry but people from in every walk of life and every part of society should be more responsible.
Rajdeep: But yet you are different from most film stars. Most of then do their films, go home and will only talk their film roles. You want to talk about other issues as well. Only the other day for example, you spoke about the media. You are extremely critical of the media and you felt it was becoming sensationalist. You seem to be a man of opinions as you have lot of opinions.
Aamir: I have to say that I am reacting. I am not somebody who likes to go out and say things. I would like to react and say what I feel and say what I feel when something happens.
Rajdeep: Why do you take up the issue for example, on the media? You had said that the media had become a sensationalist. Was that because of the manner it covered your wedding that took place recently? You felt it was the violation of the right to privacy.
Aamir: It was a mixture of a lot a lot of things and a lot of those issues did not have anything to do with me. The way that the national news is being reported today is shocking for me. Personal lives of film stars become headline news. The role of the media is to be a watchdog. The media is to be watchdog on national issues like, where the money of the country is being spent? What are the various schemes that the Government is coming up with? Where is the money we are paying as tax going or where is it being used? Some Karisma Kapoor’s wedding is in a problem and the media shows it national news. Some IPS person wants to become Radha and the media thinks that is news. What is this?
Rajdeep: As a media person, what if I say Aamir Khan the industry is being hypocritical. You use the media when a big film is there, you call the them in the place and use the media. And now you are telling that you are sensationalist. Is that fair?
Aamir: I think that you are evading the issue. Right now I think we should discuss one thing, is the media what is national news or not, otherwise don’t call yourself a news channel but call yourself an entertainment channel instead.
Rajdeep: You are saying that there is a crisis of content. To an extent you have a point but you also accept that the media has exploited u ruthlessly by the profession, which you belong.
Aamir: I think that the media is used by each and every individual who feels that he can gain from the media, it could be a film person, it could be a politician and it could be a businessman. All of these people in these various news channels that you have on business etc. The newspapers have come out with news of shares and all that. When they have to gain something from the media or from the people, they like to use the media at the end.
Rajdeep: I want to raise a contagious issue, Aamir Khan as an Indian-Muslim. Do you sense your identity as an Indian-Muslim? I am asking this particularly in reference to Gujarat since that is the issue you have chosen, in a sense that people have chosen to link back. I have often wondered and I only think about it sometime is that had you been perhaps, not a Muslim. Would the reaction in Gujarat be in the manner it was and are you conscious of that?
Aamir: I would like to say that whether I was a Hindu or a Muslim, a Christian or a Sikh, I would have behaved in exactly the same way and no other way.
Rajdeep: Do you see yourself as purely as an Indian citizen?
Aamir: I see myself purely as an Indian citizen. I am reacting as an Indian citizen. My heart goes out to those people, who lose a member of their family because of some religious person who is trying to be an extremist blows up a bomb somewhere or something like that, or some innocent person dying in a riot. My heart goes out to the family members of the person. It is very sad and it should not happen. I strongly condemn it.
Rajdeep: You don’t want to take on Narendra Modi right? What do you think of Narendra Modi?
Aamir: I really feel that there is no need of me to comment on Mr Modi.
Rajdeep: Are you a political person to an extent?
Aamir: No I am not a political person. I feel that each person should do what his karma is.
I am a strong believer of that because we are not in control of what happens but we are in control of what we do. I feel that if I should do what is my karma, what I believe I should honestly be doing, I would want to do that. And other people, whether it is a politician or any other individual in the country should do what he feels, is his karma.
Rajdeep: If I were to talk to you five years from now, would it be as citizen Khan or neta Khan that I would be talking to?
Aamir: I have absolutely no interest in politics and as I am understanding, it is an arena which I would keep away from. I would prefer to be a citizen who can comment on how the country is being run.
Rajdeep: But when you are an observer, why not go beyond being an observer to actually be in politics? It happens in the West. You have the Arnold Schwarzeneggers, you have had the Ronald Regans. It has happened in this country in the South particularly, the MGRs, the Jayalalithaas and the NTRs.
Aamir: I am a creative person basically and I want to make films, I want to entertain people. I enjoy and I like doing that and that is what I know how to do. And in my own way, if I can make films and create awareness in people, actually that is what I would like to do.
Rajdeep: So you are more of a social activist in that sense. Do you see yourself in that role?
Aamir: I don’t even know that I could call myself as an activist. I am a creative person and when I do feel strongly about something, I would as a common citizen of the country voice my opinion.
Rajdeep: Will Aamir Khan will never join a political party. Will Aamir Khan never contest an election or never start a political party.
Aamir: No.
Rajdeep: You have become a larger than life figure. As you were coming to the studio, some of the girls said "So cute!" but the others were looking at you with awe. A larger than life figure who has an opinion could be used by people for various social reasons or may be for joining politics.
Aamir: No, I am not really not interested in politics because I feel that I am a creative person and that is what I want to do.
Rajdeep: What about an ambassador for social causes?
Aamir: I would certainly like to be an ambassador for social cause. I think that if there is any way that I can help society or any way I can help for causes, then I would love to do that.
Rajdeep: Do you not see yourself imprisoned by any ideology? It could be Narmada today, it could be Vadodara second or it could be another issue third.
Aamir: Any thing that affects people’s life at the moment and I feel have something that I have to contribute or say, I will like to speak on it.
Rajdeep: Let’s get a girl in the audience to ask a question.
Audience Question: You say that you wouldn’t like to get in politics but isn’t that the problem now. Every one just wants to comment or even help basically you said but no one wants to get down and clean the so-called gutter as we call it. You know you have got corruption and you have got red-tapism but no one takes initiative.
Rajdeep: But do you want Aamir Khan to get into politics?
Audience to Rajdeep: Yes, if you are headstrong on certain issues and if you have the masses with you why not? You are an amazing actor but probably you will do a much better job as a politician, don’t you think so?
Rajdeep: It is not so easy, I haven’t seen several middle class heroes, who become anti-establishment. We have seen it with T N Seshan. When they get into politics for example, Seshan lost his deposit. I sometimes wonder whether you are safer at the moment being an anti-establishment hero without joining politics.
Aamir: Let me answer the girl in the audience. What I would like to say is that I appreciate what you are saying but I don’t think that it is something that I would like to do. That is not something that comes from my heart. I think that to be a statesman a politician and an administrator you need be a different kind of person with a different kind of training, I don’t think that I have had that kind of training, so I can comment on social issues like everyone else can. In your life in any case, you can do what your heart tells you and only then you can do it well.
Rajdeep: Aamir Khan is a man driven by his heart. So let me ask someone in the audience to ask a question.
Audience Question: There was a dialogue in your film Rang De Basanti "If you want to be in the system you have to be in the system."
Aamir: I am being part of the system by coming out and commenting and that is what the film is also saying. We should not keep quiet, as the people have a lot of power. Whenever we elect a political party, we vote for the party because they are our representatives and they are supposed to look after the society for us. So when they are doing something wrong, it is our duty to tell them that they are doing something wrong. It is our duty to convey to them through our next election, our vote that you are doing something wrong and I do not agree with you, that is our social duty to do, half of us don’t go to vote but it is a must that everyone should vote for what we believe in. We should be involved in out social lives.
Rajdeep: That’s why we have called this programme Citizen Khan and we have seen the evolution of the man to a Bollywood star to some would say conscience keeper, others would say anti-establishment hero. Whatever you are Aamir Khan, you are a very special person. Thank you very much for joining us.
Aamir: Thank you very much.
Aamir: Yes, I think that is very fair. I'd like to look upon myself as a citizen first-of the country and of the society.
Rajdeep: And does that drive everything that you do, both off-screen and on-screen? Is there a passion for being involved in life, in civil society, in public life?
Aamir: I would like to be.
Rajdeep: You would like to be involved in public life?
Aamir: Well, in society definitely.
Rajdeep: And reflect that even perhaps through your cinema...
Aamir: I am sure that it is something that happens automatically. It is something that gets into my subconscious. Whatever happens around us in the society affects us and then it comes out in the way we live, the way we behave and in the work that we do.
Rajdeep: Let's then go straight to the big thing that you are doing at the moment. You are the man in the controversy. I want to start this programme by playing what exactly you said on the Narmada issue, which has lead to your film Fanaa being banned in Gujarat, which has made you a target or a 'hate figure' for some. Let's just hear what you said originally on the Narmada issue. You took up the Narmada issue or atleast you identified yourself with the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Was that a spontaneous, on the spur decision or did you think it over through?
Aamir: It was a very spontaneous decision actually. I was in Delhi a week before I gave this interview for the release of a book. When I was going to the venue of the release, I saw these protests happening on the road. There were two protests happening - one was for the Narmada Bachao Andolan and on the other side of the road were the Bhopal Gas victims. I enquired about both these protests to find out what is happening. They had been in the news for some time, but since I saw it first hand, I thought I should learn more about it and understand more about it.
Having got a fair idea about what the two were trying to say, I thought that I should lend my support and join them, meet them.
Rajdeep: Was it ideological? Did you feel ideologically inclined to those groups, did you feel a strong sense of being connected?
Aamir: I am not connected to either of the groups. But my common sense told me that the people who have been affected by the gas tragedy should be properly compensated. And the people who are affected because of the dam should be rehabilitated. My common sense told me that.
Rajdeep: Your common sense may have told you that. But was it a little naive? Because the moment you associate yourself with any group like the Narmada Bachao Andolan, which is a complicated issue, is deeply emotional and emotive in Gujarat in particular and is a political issue, you are open to being targeted. Were you ready for that?
Aamir: Maybe I was naive. But given a second chance, I would do the same thing again. I do not think things through. In fact, I had thought that the political parties would come out and say, ‘Yes, Aamir is right, we should rehabilitate the people who are losing their land because that is why we are here for, that is why we have been elected’. That is what my common sense told me.
Rajdeep: You know how politics plays out. Surely Aamir Khan is not completely divorced from the way politics plays out. In a state like Gujarat, whether it is BJP or Congress, everyone speaks in one voice on the Narmada issue-everyone speaks 'for' the dam.
Aamir: I am not speaking against the dam in any case. For the past one month I have not been speaking against the dam. I have very clearly said that I am speaking only for the rehabilitation of the people who are affected by the dam.
Rajdeep: Critics say that Aamir was not just naive, but got a little carried away. It was the Rang de Basanti effect. You were an anti-establishment hero in Rang de Basanti. You were again playing that role, though this time 'off-screen'. In a sense you were translating what you did in Rang de Basanti. In fact, you came to the protest with Atul Kulkarni and others. It almost became cinema in real life.
Aamir: Perhaps. Rakeysh Mehra, Atul or Kunal are all friends of mine and when they heard that I was going there, they wanted to come along to support me.
Rajdeep: A bit of the anti-establishment hero?
Aamir: Well, may be. But I don't think that it is relevant. I think that we are going away from the point. The point is that people who have lost their villages, houses and lands have not been properly rehabilitated and still that process is not complete. There is a report that has come out which The Hindu published. It said that a lot of the rehabilitation work is still to be completed.
Rajdeep: There are two sides to this issue. Did you try and read up and then decide that this is what I wanted to say.
Aamir: Yes, I did actually. I have read as much material as I could find on the net regarding this issue. In the report, which the Committee did that went for investigation to find out whether the rehabilitation work is going to happen or not or to what extent is it happening present.
Rajdeep: You have made your point. Now let’s just hear what the BJP had to say, particularly in Gujarat, since that is the place where the target has taken place. Let’s hear what the BJP Yuva Morcha leader, Amish Thakkar had to say about Aamir’s involvement on Namarda:
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra sab logo ko isse faida honewla hai. Sab isthapith ka kaam hone wala hai. Aamir Khan ki salaah ki aur Aamir Khan ki madat ki Gujarat ko zarurat nahih hai.(The people of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are going to be benefited by it. There are going to be works of establishments. Gujarat doesn’t need Aamir Khan’s help or advice.)
Rajdeep: When you hear those angry voices out in the streets, they were burning effigies of Aamir Khan in Gujarat. Did you feel targeted or isolated?
Aamir: Yes. I certainly felt targeted but I did not feel isolated because a lot of people came in support of me. I got innumerable text messages wherever I went, in the public, on the road, in the flights that I took, everyone kept saying that we completely support what you are saying. So I did not feel isolated but I felt targeted. And what I want to say in response to this clip is that certainly a political party or a group can disagree with me. If I say that people who have lost their land should be rehabilitated and suppose somebody disagrees with me, they should voice their opinions and say what they feel. I don’t think there is a need to target me because this is a democracy after all and every person has a right to say what he feels. Secondly I don’t think there is any thing wrong in the first place. BJP has been trying to say that I am against the dam when I am not against the dam. I hear in the TV that BJP is trying to say that I am against the dam and I do not want the people of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to get water. I live in Maharashtra and I want everyone to have water. I have nothing against the dam. All I am saying is that the people who are affected by the dam should be rehabilitated; they cannot be left to die. They are poor farmers because of whom we eat our food, we cannot leave them to die. Are we so insensitive?
Rajdeep: But the moment you do that, you are taking a political position You are saying that you are taking a social position but only a week or two after that there were riots in Vadodara and again you made a statement. You were quoted as saying that you were upset with the fact the government had not done enough to protect the life of innocent citizens.
Aamir:No, I did not make any statement.
Rajdeep: You made no statements on Vadodara but it was there in the papers.
Aamir: I did not make any statement.
Rajdeep: So the only statement which you are saying that you have made politically is on the Narmada issue.
Aamir: Yes.
Rajdeep: When the Vadodara statement at least reflected in the papers and coming on the back of Narmada, there was a feeling that it was Aamir Khan versus the State of Gujarat. And some even said Aamir Khan versus Narendra Modi.
Aamir: I have nothing against the state of Gujarat. I have only love and respect in my heart for the people of Gujarat and that apart I would like to tell them and ask them what is it that I am saying is wrong. When I speak in favour of people in Gujarat who are affected that what I am saying is wrong. When the Supreme Court has even said the same thing that the people affected by the dam must be rehabilitated, what is it that I am saying is wrong?
Rajdeep: What is it that Aamir Khan is saying is wrong? We have a couple of Gujaratis who may want to ask a question.
Audience Question: I completely agree with Aamir regarding what he say about the rehabilitation of the people. So I think that the BJP has misunderstood him and politically he has been made a target.
Rajdeep to Audience member: So as a Gujarati do you have no problem?
Audience: The one thing I want to say about the Vadodara riots is that Aamir is saying something, which is against the Gujarati Government or Narandra Modi may not be true.
Aamir: Actually I did not give any comments in the Vadodara issue, I did not make any comments at all. And I will make it right now, I just want to clarify that till now I have not made any statement. However, the statement that I do want to make is that in the name of religion innocent people die and I am against any group, whether it is a Hindu group, an Islamic group, any terrorist group, any organisation or a political party also, which in the name of religion kills and attacks innocents. Innocents lives are lost of any religion of India are lost and I am against that happening in Kashmir, Gujarat, Mumbai, Chennai or any part of the country.
Rajdeep: Is this Aamir citizen talking or the actor talking?
Aamir: I am saying this as a citizen and I want to know what is wrong in my saying this. Does the public (audience) agree with me here?
Rajdeep: Do you agree with what Aamir says?
The audience agrees.
Rajdeep: Well you have the support of the people of India but what about the film industry? Here is a film Fanaa, which is stopped in Gujarat. Why doesn’t the film industry come as one and say that no we won’t allow the Gujarat Government to dictate terms. In that sense aren’t you feeling isolated?
Aamir: I think that the film industry should do that. I personally feel that the film industry should be united on the stand. I have received a lot of support from the film industry. However, no official step has been taken.
Rajdeep: That is the problem, the people in the film industry do not want to come out and take on a Government or take on a strong position.
Aamir: I am a member of the actors’ association and I think that the association should take a look at this matter and I am sure that they are aware of what is happening. I would like to write to then and in the coming days see what action they will take.
Rajdeep: You are someone whose evolution started in Bollywood many years from the film Yaado Ki Baarat as a child actor ago and you have today reached a stage where you are influencing the minds of several people. Let me just refresh about what you said that when the BJP said that you must apologise for your stand on Narmada on the context of the Fanaa controversy. Let us hear it:
In loge ke ghar jal rahi hai, kheti badi jal rahi hai, inke school ja rahi hai, mandir masjid ja rahi hai. Ab aap inko ek dafa phir rehabilitate karea, yehi main ne kaha hai. Is ke liye main mafi mangu, sawal hi nahi uttha.
(Their houses are burning, their fields are burning, their schools are burning and their mandirs and masjids are burning. Now if I say that you rehabilitate them once more. There is no question of me apologising.)
Rajdeep: You like playing tough ‘guys’ right?
Aamir: No, I don’t think I like playing anything.
Rajdeep: You were the chocolate box hero. You started off as a chocolate box hero and are increasingly becoming an anti-establishment even in films. Even in Lagaan andRang De Basanti.
Aamir: Well I am just saying that I am a plain speaking person. I speak from my heart and I am honest in being what I feel and I am saying what I feel.
Rajdeep: But the world outside is much tougher.
Aamir: I am sure that the world is very tough. For example, the BJP is very upset with me at this point of time. BJP is a national political party, an extremely powerful entity and I am completely aware of that. However, I am the kind of person who would like to do what one believes in. In the process if I get harmed in any way, so be it. I cannot change what I feel, I cannot change they way I am.
Rajdeep: You are an interesting person because you are very different in a sense from the average Bollywood stars. You want to do one film a year, you do not attend film awards and you are a strange kind of person. You pay your taxes, which doesn’t happen too often in Bollywood. Is that a conscious decision that Aamir Khan is part of Bollywood and yet not part of it?
Aamir: I just want to clarify one thing over here. You have said that I am very different from other people in Bollywood, as if Bollywood is some strange group of people who have come from Jupiter and Mars. I want to clarify that the people in this Indian film industry belong to the very society that you and I belong to. We are the same human beings, a part of us become film people and a part of us go into other fields but we are the very same people. So what I am trying to say here is that in society as a whole, I think we need more people to take a stance, not only in the film industry but people from in every walk of life and every part of society should be more responsible.
Rajdeep: But yet you are different from most film stars. Most of then do their films, go home and will only talk their film roles. You want to talk about other issues as well. Only the other day for example, you spoke about the media. You are extremely critical of the media and you felt it was becoming sensationalist. You seem to be a man of opinions as you have lot of opinions.
Aamir: I have to say that I am reacting. I am not somebody who likes to go out and say things. I would like to react and say what I feel and say what I feel when something happens.
Rajdeep: Why do you take up the issue for example, on the media? You had said that the media had become a sensationalist. Was that because of the manner it covered your wedding that took place recently? You felt it was the violation of the right to privacy.
Aamir: It was a mixture of a lot a lot of things and a lot of those issues did not have anything to do with me. The way that the national news is being reported today is shocking for me. Personal lives of film stars become headline news. The role of the media is to be a watchdog. The media is to be watchdog on national issues like, where the money of the country is being spent? What are the various schemes that the Government is coming up with? Where is the money we are paying as tax going or where is it being used? Some Karisma Kapoor’s wedding is in a problem and the media shows it national news. Some IPS person wants to become Radha and the media thinks that is news. What is this?
Rajdeep: As a media person, what if I say Aamir Khan the industry is being hypocritical. You use the media when a big film is there, you call the them in the place and use the media. And now you are telling that you are sensationalist. Is that fair?
Aamir: I think that you are evading the issue. Right now I think we should discuss one thing, is the media what is national news or not, otherwise don’t call yourself a news channel but call yourself an entertainment channel instead.
Rajdeep: You are saying that there is a crisis of content. To an extent you have a point but you also accept that the media has exploited u ruthlessly by the profession, which you belong.
Aamir: I think that the media is used by each and every individual who feels that he can gain from the media, it could be a film person, it could be a politician and it could be a businessman. All of these people in these various news channels that you have on business etc. The newspapers have come out with news of shares and all that. When they have to gain something from the media or from the people, they like to use the media at the end.
Rajdeep: I want to raise a contagious issue, Aamir Khan as an Indian-Muslim. Do you sense your identity as an Indian-Muslim? I am asking this particularly in reference to Gujarat since that is the issue you have chosen, in a sense that people have chosen to link back. I have often wondered and I only think about it sometime is that had you been perhaps, not a Muslim. Would the reaction in Gujarat be in the manner it was and are you conscious of that?
Aamir: I would like to say that whether I was a Hindu or a Muslim, a Christian or a Sikh, I would have behaved in exactly the same way and no other way.
Rajdeep: Do you see yourself as purely as an Indian citizen?
Aamir: I see myself purely as an Indian citizen. I am reacting as an Indian citizen. My heart goes out to those people, who lose a member of their family because of some religious person who is trying to be an extremist blows up a bomb somewhere or something like that, or some innocent person dying in a riot. My heart goes out to the family members of the person. It is very sad and it should not happen. I strongly condemn it.
Rajdeep: You don’t want to take on Narendra Modi right? What do you think of Narendra Modi?
Aamir: I really feel that there is no need of me to comment on Mr Modi.
Rajdeep: Are you a political person to an extent?
Aamir: No I am not a political person. I feel that each person should do what his karma is.
I am a strong believer of that because we are not in control of what happens but we are in control of what we do. I feel that if I should do what is my karma, what I believe I should honestly be doing, I would want to do that. And other people, whether it is a politician or any other individual in the country should do what he feels, is his karma.
Rajdeep: If I were to talk to you five years from now, would it be as citizen Khan or neta Khan that I would be talking to?
Aamir: I have absolutely no interest in politics and as I am understanding, it is an arena which I would keep away from. I would prefer to be a citizen who can comment on how the country is being run.
Rajdeep: But when you are an observer, why not go beyond being an observer to actually be in politics? It happens in the West. You have the Arnold Schwarzeneggers, you have had the Ronald Regans. It has happened in this country in the South particularly, the MGRs, the Jayalalithaas and the NTRs.
Aamir: I am a creative person basically and I want to make films, I want to entertain people. I enjoy and I like doing that and that is what I know how to do. And in my own way, if I can make films and create awareness in people, actually that is what I would like to do.
Rajdeep: So you are more of a social activist in that sense. Do you see yourself in that role?
Aamir: I don’t even know that I could call myself as an activist. I am a creative person and when I do feel strongly about something, I would as a common citizen of the country voice my opinion.
Rajdeep: Will Aamir Khan will never join a political party. Will Aamir Khan never contest an election or never start a political party.
Aamir: No.
Rajdeep: You have become a larger than life figure. As you were coming to the studio, some of the girls said "So cute!" but the others were looking at you with awe. A larger than life figure who has an opinion could be used by people for various social reasons or may be for joining politics.
Aamir: No, I am not really not interested in politics because I feel that I am a creative person and that is what I want to do.
Rajdeep: What about an ambassador for social causes?
Aamir: I would certainly like to be an ambassador for social cause. I think that if there is any way that I can help society or any way I can help for causes, then I would love to do that.
Rajdeep: Do you not see yourself imprisoned by any ideology? It could be Narmada today, it could be Vadodara second or it could be another issue third.
Aamir: Any thing that affects people’s life at the moment and I feel have something that I have to contribute or say, I will like to speak on it.
Rajdeep: Let’s get a girl in the audience to ask a question.
Audience Question: You say that you wouldn’t like to get in politics but isn’t that the problem now. Every one just wants to comment or even help basically you said but no one wants to get down and clean the so-called gutter as we call it. You know you have got corruption and you have got red-tapism but no one takes initiative.
Rajdeep: But do you want Aamir Khan to get into politics?
Audience to Rajdeep: Yes, if you are headstrong on certain issues and if you have the masses with you why not? You are an amazing actor but probably you will do a much better job as a politician, don’t you think so?
Rajdeep: It is not so easy, I haven’t seen several middle class heroes, who become anti-establishment. We have seen it with T N Seshan. When they get into politics for example, Seshan lost his deposit. I sometimes wonder whether you are safer at the moment being an anti-establishment hero without joining politics.
Aamir: Let me answer the girl in the audience. What I would like to say is that I appreciate what you are saying but I don’t think that it is something that I would like to do. That is not something that comes from my heart. I think that to be a statesman a politician and an administrator you need be a different kind of person with a different kind of training, I don’t think that I have had that kind of training, so I can comment on social issues like everyone else can. In your life in any case, you can do what your heart tells you and only then you can do it well.
Rajdeep: Aamir Khan is a man driven by his heart. So let me ask someone in the audience to ask a question.
Audience Question: There was a dialogue in your film Rang De Basanti "If you want to be in the system you have to be in the system."
Aamir: I am being part of the system by coming out and commenting and that is what the film is also saying. We should not keep quiet, as the people have a lot of power. Whenever we elect a political party, we vote for the party because they are our representatives and they are supposed to look after the society for us. So when they are doing something wrong, it is our duty to tell them that they are doing something wrong. It is our duty to convey to them through our next election, our vote that you are doing something wrong and I do not agree with you, that is our social duty to do, half of us don’t go to vote but it is a must that everyone should vote for what we believe in. We should be involved in out social lives.
Rajdeep: That’s why we have called this programme Citizen Khan and we have seen the evolution of the man to a Bollywood star to some would say conscience keeper, others would say anti-establishment hero. Whatever you are Aamir Khan, you are a very special person. Thank you very much for joining us.
Aamir: Thank you very much.
posted by S@M at 6:47 AM
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