With Aamir Khan playing a small but pivotal role in Secret Superstar, we take a look at other top Bolly heroes, who have been an integral part of small-budget movies
He is one superstar who believes in doing things differently. We are talking about Aamir Khan whose latest release Secret Superstar has him playing neither the hero nor the protagonist. He is actually one of the supporting characters that helps the film’s central character Zaira Wasim in her journey as a singer. Aamir plays a self-absorbed, arrogant music composer, who nevertheless becomes the much-needed mentor to Zaira and helps her gain stardom. While Secret Superstar is Zaira’s film through and through, it is Aamir’s charisma and charm that adds to the narrative. We take a look at other top heroes who have been an integral part of small movies.
Aamir Khan: Incidentally, Secret Superstar is not the first small film that the superstar has been a part of. Earlier, he made an appearance in his wife Kiran Rao’s film Dhobi Ghat as a self-absorbed brooding painter. Kiran had revealed that she almost didn’t cast him in her small-budget film because of his iconic status! The film was critically acclaimed and even screened at international film festivals. Aamir also played a significant role in Taare Zameen Par, another small-budget film that had an eight-year-old boy Ishaan suffering from dyslexia as the central character. Aamir enters the film only towards the second half as the arts teacher who is instrumental in changing Ishaan’s life and his parents’ perspective towards him. This pathbreaking film also marked his directorial debut.
Akshay Kumar: He played Lord Krishna, albeit in a modern avatar, in Oh My God that had Paresh Rawal playing the lead role. Based on a Gujarati play, this satirical film made on a budget of Rs 20 crore went on to become a big hit. The Khiladi also played a small but important role in the female-centric Naam Shabana that was a prequel to Baby. Taapsee Pannu was the central character in Naam Shabana, while Akshay lent support to her, literally and figuratively.
Shah Rukh Khan: Last year, Shah Rukh played a significant role in a small female-oriented film, Dear Zindagi, that had Alia Bhatt as the protagonist suffering from depression. SRK played a life coach and brought his inimitable sense of humour and gravitas to the role that became a talking point of the film.
Salman Khan: Over a decade ago, the superstar did a small film called Phir Milenge that was directed by his Love co-star Revathi. In an interview, the South actress revealed that Salman did the film “literally for free”. It was the first Bollywood mainstream film to deal with the sensitive issue of AIDS.
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 "Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan")
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