Can Be Good Or Bad For Them: Aamir Khan On Kids Reality Shows

Aamir Khan, whose last film Dangal told the story of two girls who grow up to become formidable wrestlers, says his upcoming movie Secret Superstar -- a musical drama -- is yet another film on the empowerment of the girl child.

The film revolves around a teenager who dreams of becoming a famous singer.

“Both Dangal and this film are based on the same topic... That we look differently at our daughters. And probably we aren’t able to give the same treatment to our daughters as our sons. So, Secret Superstar is another film based on empowerment of the girl child,” Aamir said here when asked about the message that Secret Superstar carries for the society.

The actor was present at the trailer launch of the film on Wednesday.

Aamir, a father of three, feels the Indian film industry must make more films for children.

“We should make more films for children. This film (Secret Superstar is for youngsters, but isn’t restricted to an age group. This is a family film... It has a wider scope. When our kids were younger, we used to show them foreign animated films which are only for kids. And that is definitely something we should do.

“We don’t make enough films for kids in India,” Aamir said.

Asked about the recent controversy surrounding children’s reality shows, ignited by filmmaker Amole Gupte, and spurred on by director Shoojit Sircar, Aamir weighed in.

“Honestly, I haven’t seen those reality shows. But it cuts both ways (referring to kids getting platform to show their talent and they shouldn’t be overexposed). There are kids who are talented and want to be out there to show their talent, it gives them an opportunity. At the same time, we shouldn’t get so aggressive about it that we really rob them of their childhood,” Aamir said.

After portraying the character of Mahavir Singh Phogat in Dangal, Aamir will be seen in a very unusual avatar in Secret Superstar. He says he and his wife Kiran Rao were both very apprehensive about him taking up the role he plays.

“When I heard the story for the first time, I loved it a lot. But Advait (director Advait Chandan) asked me to play Shakti Kumar’s character. I told him I couldn’t see myself in that role. Kiran also didn’t want me to do this role.

“So, I decided to go through the screen test process. Then while doing the screen test, I had fun and this was a very unusual character, completely opposite of me. So it proved to be a challenge for me as an actor to make the audience believe in the character.”

Kiran, who has co-producer the film, also spoke about not wanting Aamir to play the role.

“I told him not to do this role as (I felt) he won’t be able to do it. It’s kind of a creepy character... He is a kind of guy who you really don’t want to hang out with alone in a room. So I told him, ‘Please don’t do this role as it will be very weird to do such a character after a film like Dangal’.

“But when we went through the screen test, we laughed so much that we were convinced he can do this role too. But he wasn’t the original fit.”

When asked about the 100% success rate of his films on the box office and his secret for it, Aamir said: “We just make films we believe in. I am just very fortunate with the films that we have made, the writers and directors that we work with and the talented people that come to us with the films that they want to make.

“Somehow it all works out well in the end. I don’t know if it’s anything else to it other than the fact that we believe in what we make and we work with people who are very talented.”

Secret Superstar also features Zaira Wasim along with Meher Vij. The film will release in October.