Aamir Khan
| Aamir Khan | |
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Khan at the DVD launch of PK, March 2015
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| Born | Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan 14 March 1965 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1984–present |
| Religion | Islam[1] |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Tahir Hussain Zeenat Hussain |
| Relatives | Faisal Khan (brother) Nikhat Khan (sister) Nasir Hussain (uncle) Imran Khan (nephew) |
| Awards | Full list |
| Signature | |
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Aamir Khan (pronounced [ˈaːmɪr ˈxaːn]; born Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan on 14 March 1965) is an Indian film actor, director, producer, television personality, social worker, screenwriter and philanthropist. Through his successful career in Hindi films, Khan has established himself as one of the most popular and influential actors of Indian cinema.[2][3] He is the recipient ofnumerous awards, including four National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. He was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri in 2003 and the Padma Bhushan in 2010.[4]
Khan first appeared on screen as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's filmYaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). His first feature film role came with the experimental film Holi (1984), and he began a full-time acting career with a leading role in the highly successful tragic romance Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). His performance in the film and in the thriller Raakh (1989) earned him a Special Jury Award at the National Film Award ceremony. He established himself as a leading actor of Hindi cinema in the 1990s by appearing in several commercially successful films, including the romantic drama Dil (1990), the romance Raja Hindustani (1996), for which he won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor, and the drama Sarfarosh (1999).[5][6] He was also noted for playing against type in the critically acclaimed Canadian-Indian film Earth (1998).
In 2001, Khan started a production company, whose first release, Lagaan, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and earned him a National Film Award for Best Popular Film and two more Filmfare Awards (Best Actor and Best Film). After a four-year absence from the screen, Khan continued to portray leading roles, most notably in the 2006 box-office hitsFanaa and Rang De Basanti. The following year, he made his directorial debut with Taare Zameen Par, a major success that garnered him the Filmfare Awards for Best Film and Best Director. Khan's greatest commercial successes came with the thriller Ghajini (2008), the comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009), the adventure film Dhoom 3 (2013), and the satire PK (2014), all of which held records for being the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time.[7]
In addition to acting, Khan is a humanitarian and has participated and spoken out for various social causes, some of which have sparked political controversy. He has created, and featured as the host of the television talk show Satyamev Jayate through which he highlights sensitive social issues in India. Khan was married to his first wife, Reena Dutta, for fifteen years after which he married the film director Kiran Rao. He has three children—two with Dutta, and one with Rao through surrogacy.
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Early life and background
Khan was born on 14 March 1965 in Mumbai to Tahir Hussain, a film producer, and Zeenat Hussain.[8][9][10] Several of his relatives were members of the Hindi film industry, including his late paternal uncle, the producer-director Nasir Hussain.[10]He is related to the Indian philosopher Abul Kalam Azad who is related to him through his grandmother.[11][12] Khan is the eldest of four siblings; he has a brother, the actor Faisal Khan, and two sisters, Farhat and Nikhat Khan.[13] His nephew,Imran Khan, is a contemporary Hindi film actor.[14]
As a child, Khan appeared on screen in two minor roles. At the age of eight, he appeared in a highly popular song in the Nasir Hussain-directed musical film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).[15][16] The following year, he portrayed the younger version ofMahendra Sandhu's character in his father's production Madhosh.[15] Khan attended J.B. Petit School for his pre-primary education, later switching to St. Anne's High School, Bandra till the eight grade, and completed his ninth and tenth grade at the Bombay Scottish School, Mahim.[17] He played tennis in state level championships, and has professed being "much more into sports than studies".[17][18] He completed his twelfth grade from Mumbai's Narsee Monjee College.[19] Khan described his childhood as "tough" due to the financial problems faced by his father whose film productions were mostly unsuccessful; he said, "there would be at least 30 calls a day from creditors calling for their money" and he was always at risk of being expelled from school for non-payment of fees.[20]
At the age of sixteen, Khan was involved in the experimental process of making a 40-minute silent film, entitled Paranoia, that was directed by his school friend Aditya Bhattacharya.[21] The film was funded by the filmmaker Shriram Lagoo, an acquaintance of Bhattacharya, who provided them with a few thousand rupees.[22] Khan's parents opposed to his joining films due to their own experiences, wishing that he would instead pursue a "steady" career of an engineer or doctor,[21] and thus the shooting schedule of Paranoia was a clandestine one.[23] In the film, he played the lead role alongside actorsNeena Gupta and Victor Banerjee, while simultaneously assisting Bhattacharya.[22] He said that the experience of working on it encouraged him to pursue a career in film.[24]
Khan subsequently joined a theatre group called Avantar, where he performed backstage activities for over a year. He made his stage debut with a small role in the company's Gujarati play, Kesar Bina, at Prithvi Theatre.[22][25] He went on to two of their Hindi plays, and one English play, which was titled Clearing House.[26] After completing his high-school education Khan decided to discontinue studying, despite the objection of his parents, choosing instead to work as an assistant director to Nasir Hussain on two Hindi films—Manzil Manzil (1984) and Zabardast (1985).[21][27]
Career
Actor
Early career
In addition to assisting Hussain, Khan acted in documentaries directed by the students of FTII, Pune.[28] The director Ketan Mehta noticed Khan in those films, and he offered him a role in the low-budget experimental film Holi (1984).[28][29] Featuring an ensemble cast of newcomers, Holi was based on a play by Mahesh Elkunchwar, and dealt with the practice of ragging in India.[30] The New York Times published that the film was "melodramatic" but "very decently and exuberantly performed by the nonprofessional actors".[31] Khan's role was that of a rowdy college student, an "insignificant" role,[30] that was described by CNN-IBN as "lack[ing] in finesse".[32] Holi failed to garner a broad audience, but Nasir Hussain and his son Mansoorsigned him as the leading man in Mansoor's directorial debut Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) alongside Juhi Chawla.[30]The film was a tale of unrequited love and parental opposition based on the Shakespearean tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, with Khan portraying Raj, a "clean-cut, wholesome boy-next-door".[33] Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak proved to be a major commercial success, catapulting both Khan and Chawla to stardom.[34] It was awarded seven Filmfare Awards including aBest Male Debut trophy for Khan.[35] The film has since attained cult status,[32] with the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama crediting it as a "path-breaking and trend setting film" for Indian cinema.[36]
The year 1989 saw the release of Raakh, a crime thriller from Aditya Bhattacharya that was filmed before the production ofQayamat Se Qayamat Tak.[37] The film tells the story of a young man avenging the rape of his ex-girlfriend (played bySupriya Pathak). Despite a poor reception at the box-office, the film was critically acclaimed.[38] Khan was awarded aNational Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention for his performances in both Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak andRaakh.[39] Later that year he reunited with Chawla for the romantic comedy Love Love Love, a commercial failure.[40]
Khan had five film releases in 1990. He found no success in the sport film Awwal Number, the mythological thriller Tum Mere Ho, the romance Deewana Mujh Sa Nahin and the social drama Jawani Zindabad.[41] However, the Indra Kumar-directed romantic drama Dil (opposite Madhuri Dixit) was a major success.[42] A tale of parental opposition to teenage love, Dil was highly popular among the youth,[41] and emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.[43][44] He followed this success with a leading role alongside Pooja Bhatt in the romantic comedy Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), a remake of the Hollywood film It Happened One Night (1934), which proved to be a box office hit.[45]
After that, he went on to appear in several other films in the late '80s and early '90s: Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) (for which he also wrote the screenplay), and Rangeela (1995). Most of these films were successful critically and commercially.[46][47][48] Other successes include Andaz Apna Apna, co-starring Salman Khan. At the time of its release the movie was reviewed unfavorably by critics, but over the years has gained cult status.[49]
Back-to-back success
Khan continued to act in just one or two films a year, then an unusual trait for a mainstream Hindi cinema actor. His only release in 1996 was the Dharmesh Darshan directed commercial blockbuster Raja Hindustani in which he was paired opposite Karisma Kapoor. The film earned him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award, after seven previous nominations, and went on to become the biggest hit of the year, as well as the third-highest grossing Indian film of the 1990s.[50] Khan's career had seemed to hit a plateau at this point of time, and most of the films to follow for the next few years were only partially successful. In 1997, he co-starred alongside Ajay Devgn, Kajol and Juhi Chawla in Ishq, which performed well at the box office. The following year, Khan appeared in the moderately successful Ghulam, for which he also did playback singing.[51]John Mathew Matthan's Sarfarosh (1999), Khan's first release in 1999, was also moderately successful, gaining an above average box office verdict.[52] The film and Khan's role in it were highly appreciated by movie critics, as was his role inDeepa Mehta's art house film Earth. His first release for the new millennium, Mela, in which he acted alongside his real-life brother Faisal Khan, was both a box-office and critical bomb.[53]
In 2001 he appeared in Lagaan. The film was a major critical and commercial success,[54] and received a nomination forBest Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards. Additionally, the film gathered critical acclaim at several international film festivals, in addition to winning numerous Indian awards, including the National Film Awards. Khan himself won his second Filmfare Best Actor Award.[citation needed]
The success of Lagaan was followed by Dil Chahta Hai later that year, in which Khan co-starred with Saif Ali Khan andAkshaye Khanna, with Preity Zinta playing his love interest. The film was written and directed by the then newcomer Farhan Akhtar.
Khan then took a four-year break citing personal problems, and returned in 2005 with Ketan Mehta's Mangal Pandey: The Rising playing the title role of the real-life sepoy and martyr who helped spark the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[55]
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's award-winning Rang De Basanti was Khan's first release in 2006. His performance was critically acclaimed,[56] earning him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor and various nominations for Best Actor. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year,[57] and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. Although the film was not shortlisted as a nominee for the Oscar, it received a nomination for Best Foreign Film at theBAFTA Awards in England. Khan's work in his next movie, Fanaa (2006), co-starred with Kajol, was also appreciated,[58] and the film went on to become one of the highest grossing Indian films of 2006.[57]
His 2007 film, Taare Zameen Par was also produced by him and marked his directorial debut.[59] The film, which was the second offering from Aamir Khan Productions, starred Khan in a supporting role as a teacher who befriends and helps adyslexic child. It opened to excellent responses from critics and audiences alike. Khan's performance was well-received, although he was particularly applauded for his directing.[60]
Blockbuster films
In 2008, Khan appeared in the movie Ghajini. The film was a major commercial success[61] and became the highest grossing Bollywood movie of that year. For his performance in the film, Khan received several Best Actor nominations at various award ceremonies as well as his fifteenth Filmfare Best Actor nomination.[62]
In 2009, Khan appeared in the commercially and critically acclaimed film 3 Idiots as Ranchodas Chanchad. 3 Idiots became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in India at that time,[63][64] breaking the previous record set by Ghajini which also starred Aamir Khan.3 Idiots also became one of the few Indian films to become a major success in East Asian markets such as China,[65] eventually bringing its overseas total to US$25 million—the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in overseas markets.[66][67] It was expected to be the first Indian film to be officially released on YouTube, within 12 weeks of releasing in theatres on 25 March 2010, but finally got officially released on YouTube in May 2012.[68] The film also went on to win many awards, winning six Filmfare Awards including best film and best director, ten Star Screen Awards and sixteenIIFA Awards[69]
There was speculation that Khan had disagreements with director Reema Kagti over the tone of his 2012 film Talaash, causing significant delays in the film release.[70] However, Khan said that the claims were baseless.[71] The film was released and was a hit.[citation needed]
Khan's next venture was Dhoom 3 with Yash Raj Films. He has considered this to be the most difficult role of his career to date.[72][73] The film was released worldwide on 20 December 2013.[74][75] Box Office India declared Dhoom 3 "the biggest hit of 2013" after two days of release,[76] with the film grossing ₹2 billion (US$30 million) worldwide in three days[77] and₹4 billion (US$60 million) worldwide in ten days, making it the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time.[77][78][79]
In 2014, Khan appeared as the eponymous alien in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy-drama PK. It also starred Anushka Sharma,Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani and Sanjay Dutt in pivotal roles.[80][81] The film received critical acclaim and emerged as the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time (the fourth time Khan achieved this feat).[7][82][83] Khan's performance was unanimously praised by critics. Raja Sen called the film a "triumph" and said: "Aamir Khan is exceptional in PK, creating an irresistibly goofy character and playing him with absolute conviction."[84]
Film production and direction
In 2001 Khan set up a production company known as Aamir Khan Productions. Its first film was Lagaan. The movie was released in 2001, starring Khan as the lead actor. The film was selected as India's official entry to the 74th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It was eventually chosen and nominated in that category but lost to No Man's Land. The film won numerous awards at several Indian award functions such as Filmfare andIIFA, and won the National Film Award for Most Popular Film, an award shared between Khan and the film's director, Ashutosh Gowariker.[85] Khan later commented on the loss ofLagaan at the Oscars: "Certainly we were disappointed. But the thing that really kept us in our spirits was that the entire country was behind us".
For producing the documentary, Madness in the Desert, on the making of Lagaan, Khan and director Satyajit Bhatkal were awarded the National Film Award for Best Exploration/Adventure Film at the 51st National Film Awards ceremony.[86]
In 2007 he produced the drama Taare Zameen Par which marked his directorial debut. Khan also played a supporting role in the film, sharing the screen with the debut of child actor Darsheel Safary. The film was initially conceived of and developed by the husband and wife team, Amole Gupte and Deepa Bhatia. It is the story of a young child who suffers in school until a teacher identifies him as dyslexic. The movie was critically acclaimed,[87] as well as a box office success. Taare Zameen Par won the 2008 Filmfare Best Movie Award as well as a number of other Filmfare and Star Screen Awards. Khan's work also won him the Best Director. In 2008, Khan launched his nephew Imran Khan's debut in the film Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na under his production house. The film was a big hit in India, and eventually earned Khan another nomination for Best Movie at the Filmfare.[88]
In 2011, Khan released his home production Dhobi Ghat.[89] which was directed by his wife, Kiran Rao. In 2012, Khan starred in Reema Kagti's neo-noir mystery film, Talaash which was joint production by Excel Entertainment and Aamir Khan Productions. The film was eventually declared a semi-hit in India and accumulated a worldwide gross of ₹1.74 billion(US$26 million).[90]
Television
Around August 2011, Khan started talks with Siddhartha Basu's BIG Synergy, to host a talk show, similar to The Oprah Winfrey Show.[91]
Khan made his television debut with his social issue based talk show Satyamev Jayte which started airing on 6 May 2012. Aamir was paid Rs. 30 million rupees per episode to host the Satyamev Jayate, and it makes him the highest paid host in Indian television industry (as on June 2012).[92] Aamir, speaking on a radio channel, said that in view of phenomenal public response he may come up with a second season of the show.[93] The show went live simultaneously on Star Plus, STAR World and national broadcaster Doordarshan on the 11 am Sunday slot in eight languages, being the first to do so in India.[94]
Satyamev Jayte opened to positive reviews and feedback from eminent personalities such as social activists, media houses, doctors, film and television personalities. Khan was also praised for his effort.[95] In her review, Ritu Singh of IBN Live stated that, "Aamir Khan deserves an applause for bringing up such a sensitive issue and presenting it in a hard hitting way. The amount of research Aamir and his team has put into the show was clearly visible with the facts and figures presented. Every aspect of the issue was covered with great diligence."[96] Parmita Uniyal from Hindustan Times praised the content and Khan for "step[ing] in to do what journalists are supposed to do – make a difference. The show is a classic example of that."[97]Despite the initial hype and being labelled as the channel's most ambitious project till date, the initial viewership figures were not very encouraging; the show received an average television rating of 2.9 (with a reach of 14.4 million, it was watched by only 20% of TV viewers) in the six metros in its debut episode on 6 May. The rating was far lower than those of most other celebrity-hosted shows at the time.[98][99]
Khan made to cover page of TIME magazine Asia edition in September 2012 issue with title "Khan's Quest" – "He is breaking the Bollywood mold by tackling India's social evils. Can an actor change a nation?"[100]
