AIB Knockout: Why we must not take Aamir Khan seriously

It seems Bollywood celebrities have taken over the role of defining morality for the rest of us. The usual suspects such as censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani, who has vowed to implement a ban on using 21 objectionable words in films — of course, to please his Right-wing political masters — have always been there. Other celebrities such as music composer Vishal Dadlani and actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar often turn social crusader, especially just before the release of an important film. Dadlani, an ardent supporter of the Aam Admi Party, gave us comic relief by listing out a post-victory behavourial manual for his party men. But the most shocking and bizarre was the freshest moral code coming from the most unlikely entrant to the moral brigade — superstar Aamir Khan.

Of course, it’s stupid to take Aamir seriously even after the massive success of Satyamev Jayate, a show dealing with several social evils plaguing our country. Thanks to his star power, the entire credit for the show went to him though it was planned and conceived by others and the meticulous research work was the result of teamwork. People going gaga over his new avatar as a “responsible artist”, did not pay much attention to the fee he charged for anchoring the show. They also don’t like to remember that the “thinking star” also did films like Mela and Ghajini. (If you think Ghajini is a masterpiece because it was commercially successful, what’s wrong with other revenge dramas that Bollywood regularly churns out? Perhaps they did not have a peculiar hair cut and five-minute memory theory.)

To his credit, Aamir has often voiced his opinion on social and political events and made cameo appearances at sit-in protests with seasoned campaigners such as Medha Patkar. It could be just a coincidence that his statements were often timed with the promotion of his films. Timing is very important as in 2006 it was fashionable to slam the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for 2002 Gujarat riots. In 2014, it was politically prudent to meet Prime Minister Modi and present him with DVDs of Satyamev Jayate. Two birds killed with the same shot — free publicity for the show and patching up with a powerful enemy who is no longer a sinner.

Now to please his newfound friends, he has objected to the roast event by All India Bakchod (AIB) calling it “verbal violence”. It’s really hard to believe that the master of play-act could not decipher that the event was staged and not real. People went to watch the show paying Rs 4,000 for a ticket and the participants willingly suffered the sexually explicit abuse. There was no coercion and it was evident that most parts of the show were scripted. There can be an argument demanding a mechanism which protects minors from being exposed to such shows.

And if he believes that even a performance which involves such abusive language is “violence” his film Delhi Belly should immediately be banned. Or is it okay to do the same in films but not on stage? Does he want us to believe that he is so naïve that he had no clue that the song “DK Bose” resonates with a popular north Indian curse word? But then Aamir knows how to make the right noises at the right time. Perhaps it was his way of informing the power corridors of Delhi that he has changed his colours to suit the new political environment.

But the bigger point that he made unwittingly is the undue importance given to celebrity wisdom. People like Aamir could be masters of their own craft, but that doesn’t make them experts on everything under the sun. It’s really unfortunate that politically and commercially motivated moral policing often take up more pages and air time while the real issue is rarely debated.

Coming back to the AIB event, the most valid criticism against the show was the low humour quotient and repetitiveness of the abuse. Yet, it could be a small step towards Indians learning to take themselves seriously and getting less offended. By the way, Aamir should be cautious about two possibilities. The next time someone may file a PIL against his new release citing verbal violence. And if Karan Johar decided to reveal his private conversation with Aamir while holidaying in Assam last year, people would be quite confused about his definition of verbal violence.