On May 6th 2012, Aamir Khan made his debut on Indian television. It was not a surprise to his fans as in recent years television has turned out to be a lot more productive than movies for our Bollywood stars. Not just in money making but also in increasing fan base. Given the brilliant marketing and public relations acumen of Aamir, it was inevitable that he would sooner or later enter into the small screen world. The only question was how? Will it be a game show? Will it be a reality show? Will he appear as a judge in some talent show? Well if you call yourself an Aamir fan and you were thinking on these lines then you better brush up your Aamir Khan knowledge because if nothing then at least this much was pretty sure that it would not be anything that a Bollywood star has already done on the small screen. So as everyone expected, he made his debut in a way which was unprecedented. He decided to host a show on social awareness, bringing the cruel and largely prevalent miseries of India and its citizens. His show Satyamev Jayate, through its official theme song and video successfully captured the imagination of Indian audience even before it aired on the screen. Indians, 90% of whom secretly or openly enjoy a sick reality show or an overdramatic talent hunt show but always complain about television being an idiot box or a nuisance, were all praise for Aamir and his show without even watching a single episode of the latter. Thankfully the show lived up to everyone’s expectations and as an Aamir Khan fan I am proud of him for taking such an initiative. However, not everyone has been particularly amused by Aamir Khan and his efforts. While no one has any complaints against the show (so far), Aamir Khan has had his share of criticism. In fact I believe he must have faced more criticism for Satyamev Jayate (for various weird and stupid reasons) than he probably faced for his 2 potential WMDs, Mann and Mela.
The first criticism that started doing the rounds among the more intellectually gifted Indians than you and me was his package (being an IT guy I am obsessed with this word so kindly tolerate my professional idiosyncrasies). From various unreliable sources (read them as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), I got to know that Aamir Khan is charging anywhere between 3 to 6 crores per episode for hosting Satyamev Jayate. Now as per the intellectually advanced minds in India, since he is doing a show on social awareness he should not be charging this much or if possible not at all. So are these people saying that it would have been ok for him to charge this much for a stupid game show or for a vulgar reality show but is not ok for him to charge this much for a show which he claims is meant to create a better difference in the lives of Indians? I have never heard anything more absurd than this. It means they have no problems with stars milking money from an irrelevant deed but they expect them to do something good for free. Or do these people think that taking money makes Aamir a hypocrite? Well I don’t recall him saying anywhere that what he is doing is a voluntary, selfless, charitable work on his part. He has said time and again that he realizes that he has the capacity to reach out to and influence millions of Indians and he is using it to create a difference. But he never said he has lent his capacity to Rupert Murdoch for free, which in turn is a silly thought as to why Rupert Murdoch will care about bringing a change in India and thus ask Aamir to volunteer. The point is, it’s not hidden that everyone involved with Satyamev Jayate is looking to earn money, but there is nothing wrong in it and it should not degrade the nature or the intent of the show and its makers. No one should forget that both Aamir Khan and Star Network, like other stars and networks could have gone the easier and more reliable route of earning money but they did not. Appreciate this fact and give them the due credit.
The second criticism that started doing the rounds after the show aired is (hold your breath people) that Aamir Khan is overacting in the show. Hain? Bhai logo aap Sunday ko subah 11 baje Star Plus per aane wala Satyamev Jayate hi dekh rahe hai na because I don’t remember him jerking his head and saying “no no no no” to some tragic story by some guest. Neither do I remember him tightening up all his facial muscles and saying with utmost vigor to the viewers that “10 minute. Sirf 10 minute hai aapke paas ye decide kerne k liye ki ye law bane ya nahi”. Well maybe I am the only one who thinks these pieces of performances are overacting. In fact I am sure I am the only. I even think Aamir overacted a bit in 3 Idiots but that is jus me so I won’t get into what is overacting and what not. However I would ask these critics, what exactly are they watching in this show? While rest of us are more concerned about the issue and sincerely listening to the horror stories of our fellow Indians in the show, they are busy focusing on the presenter, his wardrobe, his gestures and his reactions, nitpicking them for signs of superfluity and histrionics. It would have been understood if these people had accused a judge of some talent hunt show of overacting, when he/she cried on hearing the story of some young participant girl, the tragedy of whose life has been that her well to do family had to give up chicken and be contented with daal for a month so that they could save money for her dance classes. But a bucket full of tears shed by the judges on hearing this sacrifice story seem very genuine to these critics because none of those judges is Aamir Khan. Well I have nothing to say to these people other than that next time when they watch the show, they should try to concentrate on the topic du jour instead of focusing and over analyzing Aamir Khan.
For all those who do not know, Aamir dropped all his endorsements (do you guys see him in any new Samsung, Tata Sky or Titan advertisements?) and has not signed a new movie after Talaash. The sole purpose of Aamir Khan Productions has been Satyamev Jayate for quite a while now. He has already done what no amount of our text messages or donations can match. So stop expecting him to be a saint and start appreciating his intent. If you cannot do that then Roadies season is still on air and you can always enjoy Big Boss on YouTube but before that give it another try. Right Now. J
