The first event of the year has been kicked off by Aamir Khan the dad who is as detail-conscious as Aamir the actor and filmmaker. Invitations to the wedding reception of his daughter Ira have been received by all the people he has been associated with down the years. After a registered marriage in Mumbai, the families are in Udaipur for three days of ceremonies and celebrations. Although the Net claimed there’d be receptions in Jaipur and Delhi, it is the swank Jio World Centre in Mumbai that has been chosen for the January 13 reception. Aamir has had a close, personal association with Mukesh and Nita for long; his younger son Azaad also goes to their school. So it’s like a family affair when he hosts the reception at an Ambani property.
Meanwhile, radical voices have tried to mar the happy occasion with customary unpleasant- ness. From Aamir’s community came noises over Ira’s first ceremony being a civil marriage while the other side also didn’t spare him. Calling him an “Islamist” on social media, they gloated that a Khan girl had married a Hindu Shikhare. The Cambridge Dictionary describes an Islamist as, “A person who believes strongly in Islam, especially one who believes that Islam should influence political systems.” Not a label one would stick on Aamir, who opted for a registered marriage with Kiran Rao and took the civil legal route for divorce.
Luckily for Aamir, he is too seasoned to let either of the voices cloud his decisions or his happiness.
But religion continues to trail him. He will be busy again orchestrating son Junaid’s acting debut, which is believed, has been put on hold for religious reasons. Producer Aditya Chopra decided to release Maharaj on Net-flix sometime after the Lok Sabha elections. The fear is that the subject may ruffle feathers since it’s the true story of a Gujarati godman who was outed by journalist Karsandas Mulji for his sexual liaisons devotees. Although the godman and the journalist were from the same community and the 1862 Maharaj Libel Case is out there for anyone who wants to read about it, it’s whispered that YRF didn’t want to take a chance with a Khan playing the journo who exposes a Hindu godman. A far-fetched and unfounded fear? Maybe. But it exists with “wait till the elections are over” tagline for many who’re making movies and shows with religious tinges.
Another rollover line from 2023: “What’s the genuine collection?” has gained momentum in thewake of the debatable box-office figures of Brahmastra and Pathaan. Karan, Adi and SRK may take the credit for getting a line drawn between pumped-up and genuine collections. Cited in the latter category are Gadar2 and Animal, both blockbusters for different reasons but drew real, ticket-buying crowds. So it seemed just deserts when clunky Dunki, written witlessly, had to quieten down after SRK and his Red Chillies initially went overboard posting buoyant collections. The year that began so raucously for SRK didn’t end too memorably.
It wasn’t all about figures. Thes uccess of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s12th Fail, which registered 2023’s most impressive return on investment, alongside the Raju Hirani’s lukewarm Dunki, opened up another debate. Ever since Munna Bhai MBBS brought to the fore Raju, the unassuming man of few words, and the louder, boastful Vidhu’s directorial efforts like Broken Horses and Shikara failed miserably, it was presumed that Hirani was infallible, Chopra a spent force. But with Vidhu as the producer of all of Raju’s blockbusters till Sanju, the twosome going their separate ways only for Dunki, there is a tiny voice that wonders if Chopra did indeed have a creative hand in Hirani’s success. Or maybe, sometimes an umbilical cord is meant to be for keeps.
