3 Idiots and Aamir for me!

I finally saw a good movie after a month of attempting to do so. The wait was worth it. Saw 3 Idiots last night and loved it completely. What worked for me in the movie were the perfect balance of emotions and the timing of it, the well etched characters and the right selection of actors especially ‘Chatur’! While the credit for the success of the movie has mostly gone to Aamir thanks to his publicity blitzkrieg, I do believe Chatur’s role in the movie was as important to bring Aamir’s role to life. The music was apt, woven well into the script and thankfully lacked the unnecessary commercialization that exists with it in the industry today. Boman Irani was classic and Kareena looked stunning yet simple in her portrayal, just like her Jab We Met performance.

After a thoroughly entertaining three hours, I did get a feeling of déjàvu with Aamir’s performance. The two movies of his I recall before this are Taare Zameen Par and Rang De Basanti and there are some similarities in those and 3 Idiots. All three portrayed students, had a social message, had a similar look and feel of a few locations and had Aamir’s character portraying a revolutionary preacher. Aamir’s look and feel were also similar - sporting short hair, jeans and t-shirt look, his eyeballs popping up and down in the sockets and mischievous smile to go with it.
While Gajjani was different, I didn’t dig the movie much personally, which lead me to my question – do I prefer Aamir a certain way; and the answer is YES! His chocolate boy looks and mischievous smile, playing the young romantic at heart whether it’s with a girl or a cause with his perfect comic timing – that’s quintessential Aamir for me. These attributes were also there in Lagaan, which is why I liked it and not Mangal Pandey.

For me, Aamir is no different from some of the other actors I like today in specific roles. I don’t think he is a league ahead as is portrayed by the media and some. He has intentionally positioned himself apart to stand out from the clutter and to his credit it’s worked. Doing one movie a year and having a social message in it seems to be his style and that’s fine. He seems to have exploited the demand and supply equation well. His economics tell him that doing a single blockbuster movie a year can rake in the same moolah as doing multiple movies with average performances and at the same time not fatigue the audience with his consistent acting style. The fact that no other top actor has taken his approach yet makes him stand out even further. That I guess leads to his being so intrinsically involved in the success of the movie as well because a few flops means a few years lost and he will require a completely new positioning then.

I do believe if Aamir was to do multiple movies a year he wouldn’t draw the same admiration from the audience and infact might be worse off compared to some of his peers like SRK, Salman and Akshay that have still managed to stay up there despite their overdose at times.

That said, I respect Aamir for his marketing acumen and love his on screen performances, but in a certain mould only.