Aamir Khan talks figures, films and more...
Aamir Khan is keeping his cards close to his heart, at least as far as PK goes. And while he doesn't share much about the film and his character, he's game to talk about almost anything else. So, we talked figures, risks and creative pursuits and finding a fine balance between the two...
As the 'founder' of the `100 crore club, how do you see this trend going forward?
It's not me who makes films with such an agenda! (Laughs) But it is a very unfortunate trend because the moment creative people start thinking of numbers, the shadow of the number influences the kind of films they choose or pick. The moment I start doing films which have the potential to only do `100 crore business, my choice becomes very limited. Then, I can only do an Avengers or a Spider-Man, which would bring in that kind of money. That really kills creativity to a very alarming extent.
Do you follow your gut instinct?
I have always selected films based on what I feel about them. A film like Taare Zameen Par went on to do huge business. But at the time I was making it, I had no idea how it would fare. I selected that because I loved the story. I selected Rang De Basanti because I loved the story, despite it being the fifth remake of Bhagat Singh and Azad! I did Lagaan when the entire industry considered it a disaster. Then you also have films like Sarfarosh. I have not picked these films thinking about box office numbers.
But they did do big business...
That they went on to do big box office business is great but that too shows us that the audience is changing, they want different stuff and their tastes are broadening. In movies, I am selling you stories so I cannot sell you the same story more than once. Each time you want a different story. I would prefer breaking the formula rather than following it.
The suspense behind Talaash was out the first day itself. Don't you think not revealing much about PK has you running the same risk?
I don't think that would be the case with PK. In my mind when I signed Talaash, I knew it would not bring in huge numbers because it is not such a film. If I had to work in films which will give me numbers only, I would have never picked a film like Talaash. When I read the script, I loved it and I wanted to do it. When we sat down to discuss the potential of Talaash, my judgment was that it would do a net box office of `60-70 crores India-wide, with a star like me in it who's currently successful. We made the film appropriately within a limited budget and then overseas we fetched around Rs 40-45 crore. The film went on to do 95 crores. Whatever happened on the net, I have no idea but it did 40% higher than what I expected it to do. For me, it was a happy situation to be. So if the similar thing happens with PK, I would still be happy! Whatever our judgment is for PK, if people give us 40% higher this time as well, then why would I not be happy?
So how do you decide how much to spend on a movie?
After I get on with the project, the practical side kicks in and we feel that this film has a certain potential so we make sure we spend less than that. The people investing in the film should not lose their money.
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