Did You Know? This Is How Perfectionist Aamir Khan Publicised His First Commercial Film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak!

Well, the country knows Aamir Khan to be one of the most famous stars in Bollywood. He has been nicknamed perfectionist because of his endeavour to perfect the portrayal of any character he plays on the screen.

Right from his very first commercially successful film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, to this very day, Aamir has seen a humongous fan following. But it was not always the same. There were times when Aamir literally made every move necessary for him to get noticed.

Well, we are talking about his first commercial film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. The film released in the year 1988. It was made by his uncle Nasir Hussain and his cousin Mansoor. In the film, he was paired with actress Juhi Chawla.

The film became a runaway success and catapulted Aamir and Juhi to another level of stardom! But it was the story of the marketing and publicising of the film that got us intrigued. We are talking about an era that was not so corporatised as today! Nowadays the film business is mostly being handled by big corporates and things have become very systematic. There is a budget allocation from the pre-production of a film to the making of it and then the post-production of the film. A dedicated amount is also kept aside for the promotions of a film but in the 80’s things were not so easy breezy!

Well, in a very old interview that we came across, Aamir revealed all the hardships he underwent to promote Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak! He revealed he was extremely scared prior to the release of the film. Quipped he, “Mai Bohot Daraa Hua Tha Film Se Pehle… Ki Film Kaisi Chalegi?” ( I was very scared before the release of the film, whether it be a hit or a flop) Mai bhi khoob koshish karta tha ki… Dosto Ko Bolta Tha Film Dekhne Ke Liye ( I used to try a lot… I used to ask my friends to go watch the film.) Mai gar kisi se bhi milta tha to bolta tha ki aap yeh film zaroor dekhiye ga ( If I happened to meet anyone, I used to tell him to watch the film without fail.)

He further goes on to reveal, “Aur Yaha Tak ke Jo stickers bane they film ke, jo taxis, auto rickshaws pe chipkaate hai, to mai khud … mere dost Zutshi.. Zutshi jinhone kaam kiya hai film mein, Zutshi mai,… Kabhi kabhi Mansoor aur unki sister Nuzhat, humlog sab gaadi mein nikalte they road pe, aur taxis aur rickshaws ko rokte they, aur unko bolte they, bhaiyya aap yeh chipkaaiye, yeh film aane waali hai. (The stickers (posters) of the film that were made and meant to be stuck in the Taxis and auto-rickshhaws, I, my friend Zutshi who also worked in the film, at times Mansoor (the producer of the film) and at times his sister Nuzhat would drive to the road in our car and then we would stop the taxis and auto-rickshaws. We used to ask the drivers whether they would stick it on their taxis or no.)

He further goes on to ruminate, “ kuch log to chipkaa deteyy they, lekin kuch bolte they, nahi nahi humko nahi chipkaana hai , kaunsi film hai, kaun hai.. to bolte they ki Aamir Khan hai, woh poochte they kaun aamir khan, mai bolta tha, mai hu bhai aamir khan! (Some auto and taxi drivers used to stick it without much ado, but some would refuse, they would ask who is the hero in the film. My friends would say Aamir Khan is in the film, they would then ask who Aamir Khan? I would tell them, I am Aamir Khan!”

He further says, “Kaafi koshish ki humlogo ne ki logo ko pata lageyy is film ka ki yeh film aane waali hai, log dehe is film ko” (We tried our best to promote the film in ways we thought were possible and were important. We tried to make everyone aware of the fact that the film will be releasing and they should watch it.)

So what do you think after reading this piece? Could you have imagined that Aamir Khan would be running down the streets and sticking posters of his film in taxis and autorickshaws to promote his own film? Do let us know what you feel. For more such interesting stories from Bollywood keep a close tab on Desimartini.com