Aamir - The Perfectionist

Aamir Khan has been my favorite screen hero since he erupted as a bubblegummer craze in the late eighties in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. My preferences for films may have changed over the years, but my preference for my screen idol hasn't. It is largely because I have seen him grow too, the manner he has matured as an actor is absolutely amazing. He hasn't stuck to his romantic chocolate hero image. He keeps reinventing himself again and again. In film after film, he keeps surprising us pleasantly with his nuanced performances. He has become a producer, and has given one of the best films in recent years (Lagaan) which has earned Indian cinema a lot of respect and admiration, worldwide. He became an inspiration for Generation Y with the super trendy, super cool images that flooded our psyche, courtesy Dil Chahta Hai and Rang De Basanti. When he became Mangal Pandey in the mainstream historical of the same name, the youth of the nation doffed their hats at the spirit and zeal which made him essay the role of the freedom fighter who hadn't had an illuminated profile in our national history, in spite of the collective reckoning. He has always gone against the grain.
Aamir Khan is a true fighter, and a true icon for us Indians, as he essays his role, in real life, as a conscious humanitarian, throwing caution to the wind. He doesn't care to be politically correct when he opens his mouth at a public forum. He refuses flatly to suck up to the media. He remains elusive to the film-media, essentially to the gossip tabloids, as he chooses to keep his private life private. In the reel-life portrayals, he searches within himselffor answers. And through the years, his performances have thus been lined with self-control, reflection & wit. A sense of light humor alloyed with a stark seriousness is discernible in his welter of performances. Now that he has turned a director - his maiden directorial offering, Taare Zameen Par [pics on the top right], is expected to release in December! - here's wishing him all the best, may he continue to thrill us and entertain us for many more years to come.