Friday, May 26, 2006

Citizen Aamir Khan

(Psst.. The comments section is
turning into Fanaa comments
)

Democracy is under seige.Clearly.

Aamir Khan has raised his voice for a social cause. He is being targetted by the BJP for simply endorsing the order of the supreme court, simply reiterating the need to rehabilitate the villagers threatened to be displaced by the dam.

What is ludicrous is the blatant flouting of democratic principles by a party which is the leader of the opposition.

What is common between Fanaa, the film, Titan watches, Coke and Innova? Aamir khan. So the BJP reckons that all these ought to be banned in their stronghold Gujarat. Apparently this seems to be a power struggle by Modi and his loyalists in attempting to prove who is the bigger star, Narendra Modi the politician, or Aamir khan the star.

As of now, round one goes in favour of Narendra Modi. Fanaa was not allowed to be released and a bunch of BJP activists, sporadically have gone around smashing coke bottles, while reading out a prepared speech , with a hidden smirk , at the thrill of being on National T.V. That is what they diligently assured. Media was present for this staged demonstration. More fake than the ketchup masquerading as blood in Bollywood.

While the Film industry openly expressed support for Salman khan, when he was indicted for killing the buck, no such luck for Aamir. It is not surprising. He has been reclusive and private. In fact the continuous appearances on television channels in the past couple of days by Aamir would equal those he may have relented in his whole career of 20 years, A chink in the armour here Aamir. Green light a-blink now on chat mode eh?

No major harm done for the star though. He has the support of the masses on this one. The ludicrousness of the political party and its activism is glaringly under focus. In the long run, the film is gaining publicity, curiosity has tripled and sympathy vote goes for Aamir.The channels rake in the moolah, with TRPs having spiralled. So the bottom line .. all is well.



Where is Arundhati Roy, Medha patkar? Has the media intentionally sidelined them?

Updates

* Taran Adarsh's hugely popular and widely read website "IndiaFM" reports this news.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rahul Bose said something yesterday...the other celebrities are too scared to come out on a limb for Aamir.. after all its politicians and their power which is in question.So all they seem to be doing is make polite sympathetic noises to aamir on his cell.

Anonymous said...

It was a non-issue exploited by politicians in their self serving interests.Aamir is only an excuse for gaining attentionand media space. The film industry is not going to stick its neck out for aamir..jealousy is supreme

Kaveetaa Kaul said...

Anonymous..Yes I heard that too. But I reckon he is on safe ground here. Masses support is substantial. However this may have proved to be quite a learning experience. It will be quite a while before he gets carried away with his RDB hangover and crusader ways. I think detractors were not impressed with his suden involvement in social issuesand reacted to it as fake.

Neha,

It was a non issue..and my contention was in reference to this aspect majorly. Sometimes we get harsh on celebrities.. unduly harsh. That rankles me. Criticise, by all means.. but to use political clout to hurt professionally is adding insult to injury and arbitrary.

Anonymous said...

If the decision of aamir khans to work in a flic as fanaaa is any indication of his instinctive actions.. then it is under serious review. Fanaa is one of the most illogical, absurd, disoriented films i have seen. What is unforgiving is the fact that the director had an outstanding cast, great banner and the works , at his disposal. Yet what he has churned out is trash.

For petes sake.. what was aamir thinking when he accepted this script? Since i do not wish this to be a spoiler for you, in case you have not seen the film, all I can say is that see it on dvd.. it is definitely not worth spending bucks on. Hype does not make a film. It may draw in the crowds, but cannot guarantee a hit. Unless ofcourse, yashraj decides to manipulate , as they regularly do to convert it into a hit, by buying off seats and putting house full boards all over or bribing the media to shout at every occasion .. "It is a hit"... Bull shit.

Anonymous said...

db,
its funny, you sound so angry.. over a film! But you kno what.. I have to agree. I saw it too..tickets were easily available as oposed to what was being continuously aired on t.v...in fact they were available for all the shows yesterday. It is a bad film.No doubt. Around me people were constantly complaining that its boring. This was one movie where not a single reaction from the audience was noticed.. no laughing, crying, clapping.. whistling, nothing.. just a plain dull silence.and it was just the second day. Disaapointing is one word i can use. So MANY flaws in the script. Yet Kajol and aamir are going around giving intervies that it is the script that they first approve. Kajol came across as a blind girl so desperate for a man, that the first tapori she came across, mouthing shairi, she agrees to jump off the train and go to bed with him!!Of course you know she'll get preg..

had the star cast been absent, this movie would have been out of the thatres in 4 days. I agree Yash Raj do not allow their movies to get shunted out. Look what they did to Neil n nikki. It was a flop from day one.. but the theatres ran it to empty halls for 4-5 weeks..When you have the money and the clout, you can do anything.. But make a good film. Pitiable really.

Anonymous said...

db, puja,

I was the smart one... didnt go in with any expectations, so got no disaapointments. basically. it was kajol all the way for me. She looked really hot in some shots, though age is a leveller. It spares nobody. And it did sho in her close ups as also in aamirs.. He seriously needs to do something about his weight and lines ..lookking like a fattened turkey is definitely not professional. As for the film.. well..The last film i liked from Yashraj was DDLJ... this was just another of their scams. .35 crores.. I believe.And none of it spent on any r&d for the film. Retinas get exchanged and fixed in a matter of hours.. and hey presto.. she opens her eyes a few hours later..Wow, cinematic liberty goes way beyond any other. Why even get into the non existent plot. Hackneyed, borrowed and as old as the hills. But again.. Kajol..aahh

Anonymous said...

A bunch of sickos here.. tearing apart a film for the heck of it.. Are any of you capable of making anything even resembling art? I enjoyed it and b**** 2 u guys.

Anonymous said...

Whats your problem anonymous??

Its clear as day who is the sicko here! Control freak is more like it. Go buy season tics for the film for all i care.. You a paid crony of the makers or summing?

Anonymous said...

If it wasnt hyped as much, it would have passed off as a time pass film. aamir was fun in the first half.. second half was long and boring. Songs were not needed, since they were not melodious. And the worst was the fact that all the adorability of Aamir in the first half is a forgotten story in the second. You actually end up finding him a weak wimp. Kajol acted well and looked good too. But as a woman she was a scream. Puhleease.. she just goes into the arms of anyone wiggling his pinky at her. Playing hard to get was what our heroines were about. Suddenly you have this one just waiting to be flirted with. Did not engage me. Just my 2 cents.

Anonymous said...

Just an ok film..not as good as Black and RDB. For an aamir khan film.. his worst.

Anonymous said...

This site seems to be relatively free of yash Chopra and his cronies.. they are everywhere.. trying to stamp out any negative reviews of Fanaa by dousing every one bad with ten good. whether it will prove to make the movie a hit is doubtful. The collections in the first day have been stupendous..3.5 crores, even without Gujarat. But that is a reflection of the box office draw of Aamir, more than a show of public approval for the film. This is a fact which is not being allowed to come out openly. The channels have been instructed to dub the film a hit on the basis of the box office tingling.. for the first 3-4 days. The crucial week is next..unless it is manipulated.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

I am willing to take you on anytime buddy. Not even begging to be heard or asserting my right to have an opinion, I urge you to refute this.

Every yash raj film has one thing in common. Mention of the previous films by yash Chopra. This is psychophancy at its worst. All the directors who work there are those continuously licking ass, by either bringing in songs, dialogues or references of Yash's films. This is their tribute to the Godfather and a meal ticket. Have we gone to see a film with a story or a perpetuation exercise of yash chopra? It is pathetic and irritating.

I agree with the comment of this being the worst ever work of Aamir khan. His character was badly graphed, motivations were not even attempted to have been displayed.

If seeing a new pair cavorting in the snow is the sum total of your claim to a good film .. well then you got it. For those who were expecting a film worthy of standards that Films should be in India, especially for a production house which does not have to succumb to constraints of any kind, this was a embarassingly poor model.

What the hell was the need to have lata crooning a 1960s song..Lag ja galle.. repeatedly?? Now this is psycophancy for lata. Are you aware that she is a apartner with him? Also that since she hasnt sung any song in the film, her older ones are forced in, irrtatingly screwing up the scene.

Anonymous said...

I like very much movie fanaa..Amir and kajol are best..all people who say movie is so-so are talking nonsense.

Kaveetaa Kaul said...

Saw the film.

Went coz Aamir is finnicky about script selection.

Kajols comeback film.. therefore script ought to be mind blowing.

Within the first half hour had a sense of doom. The character sketching of the two main protagonists was outdated, and hopelessly shallow. the logicality of the progression of the story got bad each minute. Soon it was a tale of boredom that was in a state of suspended denial.. a cant believe this is it kinda feeling. One was waiting....for the redeeming feature. It never came.

Unless you consider the location of Finland and to a certain extent ravi Chandrans camera work..as also the background music, that.

In one word...disappointing.

Kaveetaa Kaul said...

Hey dim poetry,

Thanks.. yeah he is for real and in real deep trouble ..from the looks of it:)

A muslim and an actor combination spells trouble. Can think of no other reason why his utterings have fetched him this reaction, while Arundhati Roy, for one has been at it for long and gone unscathed professionally.

Shudder to think what would happen to the country if this political agenda turns infectious.

Anonymous said...

I came across your blog while browsing at random.I'm an aamir fan,and also one who feels that he is being unnecessarily criticized for his recent activism.I seriously feel that he comes across as sincere and genuine on and off the screen[in the media].The fact that he doesn't do cheesy stage shows or attend film awards is enough for me.About his stand on Narmada displaced--is he the only celebrity to have supported the displaced?How about Rahul Bose?So many people known and unknown have lent support.Yet Aamir is treated as a criminal,or worse,a fool--by politicians,messageboard posters,anybody with half-knowledge and a headload of bigotry.It's a sad reflection of India today[read the June12 issue of the mag of this name for one highly biased artcle on this topic].As for Fanaa,well, I and my friends found it to be sweet,funny and feelgood.Not great cinema,not up to usual AK movie level,but ok.But please,let his next film be up to par.