Aamir - just another promising debut or birth of a star?

"Do you know the meaning of Aamir?"

"No."

"Aamir means Leader."

Well, I didn't know that too, till I heard this exchange between the two main characters in the movie. I'm an avid movie watcher, but I'm not into star-worshipping. I believe a movie is not just about a star (my apologies to all the fans of Khans, Roshan, and Kumar), but a combination of the most creative team in the world.

When we pay Rs. 100-150 for a seat in the theatre, most of us want to just escape from our own individual realities to another situation and live that. Here, by 'escape' I don't mean Yash Chopra and Karan Johar's kingdom of fantasia, but another sitation - whether it is a middle-class house in Karol Bagh (Khosla ka Ghonsla), a sea-facing bunglaow of a gangster in Mumbai (Mithya), the rugged landscape of Meerut (Omkara), or the house of an NRI in a suburb in London (Namaste London). I believe in escaping into that world and for two-and-a-half hours.

Last week, I went into one such world---the life of an educated, hard-working man who belongs to a minority class in India. The movie dared to touch some very sensitive issues, but dealt with them so responsibly. It touched on the urban realities of the minority by showing some gritty images, characters, and asking some very sensitive questions, and in the end they showed an end that may be depressing, but very heroic.

Rajeev Khandelwal, whom I just knew as the suave, handsome main character of Ekta Kapoor's 'Kahin To Hoga' fame, played the role of a man caught helplessly in a circumstance beyond his control to perfection. The circumstance here was not very easy to digest. Imagine, you fly all the way from London only to find the life of your family is in the hands of an unknown kidnapper on a phone who has a myriad team of bikers, taxi drivers, restaurant owners, pimps and prostitutes at his disposal. You bloody well do not know what is happening, and why is everyone looking at you as if you committed the crime of the century? Where would you go? Police station? Or the asylum? It's a world totally gone wrong.

That is what I would do; not what Aamir does, running post to post following the unknown kidnapper's directions. But wait? Did I tell you that I want to escape into another situation? Yes, that've what the movie captured brilliantly. After spending half-an-hour in disbelief, I started empathizing with Aamir's sitaution. Maybe, it's something I would do too, to protect my family from a mad, jingoist kidnapper who in the name of a community is threatening my family, who incidentally belongs to the same community. Maybe I too would run scared if I saw a policeman suspecting me just because I made a call to Karachi. Maybe I too would fight, cajole, plead the kidnapper and appeal to his sense of right to get my world right.

And that's the beauty of the movie. Right from the first frame, the film captures some very crucial questions. Some fantastic examples:

• When the custom officer keeps on checking and rechecking Aamir's stuff and an exasperated Aamir retorts, "Would it have made any difference if my name was Amar rather than Aamir?"
• When to expose Aamir to another reality as to how his community lives, the kidnapper exposes him to the squalid bylanes of Mumbai, the unwashed, unhygienic and inhumane condition of public loos.
• When just everything in Aamir's world goes wrong, a prostitute, who's a pitiful example of her profession, helps him. Why? Because he was another human being caught in a helpless situation in an indifferent city.

Rajiv played the lead role to perfection. He was confused, angry, determined, helpless, and in the end heroic. Not to mention, really fit and good-looking as ever. The end captured my interest most of all.

• The kidnapper believes that his puppet has done his due in this psychological warfare and created another jihadi, but the puppet just cuts the string. He chooses to blow himself off rather than killing innocent people on the bus, dealing the kidnapper the most vicious blow of all to his psyche.

The movie starts with the statement, "Who says that a man writes his own fate?"

In the movie, too, when Aamir categorically states, "I write my own fate?" - the kidnapper asks him, "Who's writing it now?"

Definitely, there are times when life is just outside our control. Remember how helpless and futile we feel when we undergo the same travesties. But fate is whimsical, if nothing else --- it gives everyone a chance to make a choice and in the end, the hero makes his decision. So what if he has to die in the process? The control of your life should be in your hands --- and that makes one the ultimate 'leader' or 'Aamir.'

Finally, I'll wrap up this review with the following ratings:

• Storyline - 5/5
• Direction - 4/5 (There were a few moments I found unbelievable, when the hero who is asthamatic, just runs and runs after the taxi that has driven off with his luggage. No one is that fit or has that kind of stamina, especially an asthamatic hero :))
• Music - 3/5 (The songs were pleasing to ears but I don't remember them now after a week)
• Choreography - 4/5 (They gelled in the movie and did not stop its flow)
• Acting of Rajeev Khandelwal - 5/5
• Acting of supporting cast - 5/5 (I would have given 10 because of how real and believable they looked)
• Drool quotient of Rajeev Khandelwal - 5/5 (Handsome, intelligent, speaking eyes, fit body...Need I say more?)
• Should you see this movie on cinema hall or a DVD - Personally, I belive in contributing to the financial upkeep of the products that have been good to me, so I always make a point to watch movies in theatres. However, it's an entirely personal decision. The film does not have any special effects that need to be seen in a hall, so you can just rent a DVD (original, please) and watch it from the comfort of your home. It's totally up to you.

Well, that's all for now.

Peace and Love.

Take care.