Aamir Khan is doing everything to promote his upcoming remake of Tamil Film "Gazni", which was influenced by "Memento" directed by Christopher Nolan, of "The Dark Knight" fame. The last I heard the actor-producer was walking on the ramp for a clothing brand. Before that, he got some under-paid staff at a Multiplex to sport the hairstyle his character sports in the movie and paraded them before the media, which is always eager to lap up everything to fill the 24*7 cycle.

I wasn't born when the Godfather was released but I bet Marlon Brando did not go about saying how he put marbles in his mouth to effect the unique dialog style. Amitabh Bachan copied that to disappointing style in 'Agnipath' in 1990.

Robert De Niro did not go around advertising how he gained weight for "Raging Bull".

Christian Bale first gained weight for "Batman Begins" and then lost it drastically to skeletal proportions in "The Machinist".

The point I am trying to make is why must a decent enough actor go to extreme lengths to advertise oneself as a 'serious' actor?

Aamir Khan sports a frankenstein haircut and body of pocket Hercules for "Gazni".
By doing that, the actor is trying to say that changing hairstyles is the epitome of acting excellence.
Do you remember the 'Dil Chahta Hai' facial hairstyle? How about the 'Rang De Basanti' hairdo?

Earlier, it was Kamal Hasan who went to lengths getting into a character (an oxymoron - if you get into the character, what will the character do?) but he wasn't so in-your-face about it.

The fantasy-absurd nature of popular Indian movies makes it very easy to for the one-eyed to stand out out among blinds.

I think Aamir Khan is trying very hard to break away from his chocolaty hero image and to conceal his limited acting range in his own smart style.
In most of his movie, Aamir Khan is either too loud and serious or grinning shyly. If he is not doing either of these two things, he says nothing, just like Amitabh Bacahan did and before him, Clint Eastwood did the same in the Spaghetti Westerns.

That, in essense is the definition of high class acting in India in modern times.

Wonder what Dilip Kumar, who turned 86 a couple of days ago, and the actor everyone looks up to, would say about it.

In comparison, ShahRukh Khan, an intelligent person who can articulate himself very well, is happy doing hammy roles and is quite candid about it, expalining this to be the demand of the industry.


But people, especially in media, love to pick issues with ShahRukh mainly because Candor is something people in the India do not understand or are not comfortable with.

Pretty boys in the Indian Film industry have so far been reluctant, or unable, depends on who's asking, to blend looks and good acting.
If you want good acting, Irfan Khan, Paresh Rawal, Nasiruddin Shah, Om Puri, Vinay Pathak, Ranbir Shorey ans some other male actors are the men to do it.


In Hollywood, a Brad Pitt or Johny Depp can easily alternate between bit roles in quirky movies like "Snatch", "Fear and Loathing in Vegas" and big budget entertainers such as "Ocean's Eleven" and "Pirates of the Carribean" without breaking into sweat.

I like Aamir Khan as an entertainer. He is the producer of Gazni so I can understand his insecurities.
Understand, like many others, I do not see hindi movies to admire and assess acting chops.

I am there for the fun and the songs.

Iif Aamir Khan really wants to show is he is a sincere actor, the right way for him would be to appear in quirky, small and real movies. His first film "Raakh" is an example.

These movies might not do well at the box office but that will also be a test for Aamir Khan the producer and the star.

If you ask Shahrukh Khan about doing small, experimental movies, he will say in your face that he is a brand and brands like Shahrukh Khan are in danger from failure. That is honesty.


If you ask Aamir Khan, he might say he hasn't received any good script so far.
Drop the pretense.