Salman Khan recalls losing Sitaare Zameen Par to Aamir Khan: ‘Mujhe karni thi picture, Aamir beech mein aa gaya'
The special screening of Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par brought all three Khans under one roof as Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan graced the event held in Mumbai. Rekha, Vicky Kaushal, Jeetendra, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, among others, also attended the screening.
SRK, who had previously met the cast, walked the red carpet and struck his trademark pose, while Salman made sure to add his classic sass that left everyone in stitches. While interacting with the papparazi, Salman dropped a playful remark about being the one initially supposed to do Sitaare Zameen Par—until 'Aamir beech mein aa gaya.' He even threw in a cheeky dig at Aamir's divorce from Kiran Rao.
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Also read: Sachin Tendulkar reviews Sitaare Zameen Par, says Aamir Khan's film has the power to bring everyone together. Watch
Before attending the screening, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor told paps, 'Isne mere ko bulaya tha ye subject dekhne ke liye… main chala gaya, mujhe bahut achi lagi picture… maine haan bhi keh di… phir phone aaya ki Aamir khud picture kar raha hai (He first called me to show the subject. I loved the concept and said yes, then came a call that he's doing the film himself.)' With a poker face and smirk, he added, 'Maine itni tareef kari thi picture ki Aamir bola, 'Main phaad dunga iss picture mein.''
Salman and Aamir's friendship goes way back, so he didn't hold back from throwing a playful dig at Aamir's personal life, saying even Aamir liked the film but couldn't commit due to other things. 'Isne bhi bola mere ko bhi ye picture bahut achi lagi par uss waqt ye kaam nahi kar raha tha, uss waqt thoda sa load tha… scripting… paperwork pe kaam chal raha tha iska uss waqt.' For the unversed, Aamir and Kiran Rao divorced in 2021 after 16 years of marriage.
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Also read: Shah Rukh Khan strikes his trademark pose with Sitaare Zameen Par cast at screening. Watch video
Since Aamir Khan and his team have kept promotions low-key and are relying mainly on word-of-mouth, it looks like Salman has stepped in to handle that part. He even added that he asked Aamir to let him do the role, but the actor-filmmaker convinced him it would suit him better, especially since he had already done Taare Zameen Par. 'Toh maine bola bahut achi picture hai mere ko karna hai, toh mujhe iska phone aata hai ki… Also, isne mujhe bola tha ki main pehle kar chuka hu yaar, ye tere ko suit karega…' Hearing all this, Aamir jumped in with a laugh and said, 'Aisa ho sakta ki wo haan bole aur main beech mein aaun?'
While Salman and Aamir wrapped up their press interaction with a warm hug, Shah Rukh Khan, who made a surprise entry that night, was seen personally meeting and greeting the cast. The Jawan actor's heartwarming interaction with the specially abled kids melted hearts all around. Directed by R.S. Prasanna, the film hits theatres on June 20, Friday. Music is by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The premiere of Sitaare Zameen Par also marked Aamir and his girlfriend Gauri Spratt making their relationship red carpet official.
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India Today
7 minutes ago
- India Today
Sitaare Zameen Par review: Aamir Khan's film is a warm hug, laughter pill for soul
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Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Sitaare Zameen Par movie review: Aamir Khan delivers fully committed performance in heart-winning comedy
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Where he encounters a group of spirited youngsters who challenge his idea of 'yeh bechaare bachche': Satbir, Guddu, Bantu, Hargovind, Sharmaji, Lotus, Raju, Kareem, Sunil, Golu are all young people with specific personality quirks which go beyond their facial Downs distinctiveness, often unclear vocalisation and other limitations which are part of the autism spectrum. These are young people who have a sense of self, and fun, and slowly but surely, Gulshan finds himself being drawn into their circle, and what started as a punishment becomes pure affection. This film wouldn't have worked as well as it does if Aamir hadn't been fully committed to putting himself out there as a hero-who-is-a-jerk, letting us walk past the annoyingly noble Lal Singh Chadha character which never hit any of its marks. One of Aamir's strengths is to play a regular, flawed guy who learns the error of his ways –yes, 'Dil Chahta Hai' is also part of this pantheon– and Gulshan is a welcome addition. How the insufferable Gulshan finds a better side of himself, replacing the smirk with a smile, is a big part of 'Sitaare Zameen Par': you can call that out for what it is, but you can also see how a star can power a story like this, in the way it platforms and makes visible those who live with disability. It teeters very close to becoming an Aamir Khan vehicle– look, look, I am not irredeemable, even if I start out by calling these adults 'paagal' and 'mental', so of a piece with of how society at large views 'differentness' –but it manages to strike a balance by letting it be a film about the neurodivergent young people who may not lead the narrative but have an equal share in it. To make a film revolving around intellectual disability is fraught with risk. If you make people cry, people within the community can accuse the filmmakers of being miserabilist ; if you make them laugh, you can be charged with making light of a tough situation. Borrowing the tone from the original, 'Sitaare Zameen Par' chooses to stay on the side of laughter, and it's a wise decision, because what you can convey to the average person through laughs sometimes has more weight than wrung-out-tears. The last time I watched an effective film showcasing a character with Downs was Nikhil Pherwani's 'Ahaan' which should have been watched by more people; 'Sitaare' has the starry heft to go out far and wide, and I'm happy that it's more feel-good than feel-bad. Watch Sitaare Zameen Par Movie trailer here: Because, make no mistake, this is a film whose express intention is to normalise 'everyone's normal'. It doesn't shy away from being message-y –sab ka apna apna normal hota hai—but it is not, praise be, preachy. It is here to tell us that parents and caregivers who live with youngsters with Downs (autism is also mentioned in a couple of places, which is fine because one of the youngsters in the film has Aspergers Syndrome, but in one startlingly misleading instance, a character mentions 'invisible autism': what's that?) are allergic, and rightly so, to the word 'bechaara': the need of the hour has always been acceptance, not pity. Because acceptance means taking collective responsibility for those who are 'different', not off-hand pity which can be brought out and stuffed back inside when the occasion arises. The 2007 'Taare Zameen Par' brought dyslexia into the forefront, with Aamir playing a teacher who coaxes a near-suicidal student out of the hole he's dug himself into. 'Sitaare' is a near-reprisal, but also a neat flip, in the way the teacher becomes the taught. Which is not to say that 'Sitaare' doesn't have flaws. In some parts, the explanations become a bit stage-y, even though Gurpal Singh's character brings a lovely restrained emotional core to the man who runs the remedial centre; in other bits, the humour is heavy-handed. Occasionally, the film flattens. But none of these are deal-breakers. It sticks to its middle-of-the-road story-telling without trying for any sophistication which would have been wrong for this film, and keeps drama to a minimum, or let's say as much as it can in a Bollywood film. A sub-thread, featuring Dolly Ahluwalia as Gulshan's Lajpat-Nagar-ki-mummyji and her soft spot, played by Brijendra Kala, is entertaining enough to run away with the film; it circles back to our sporty gang just in time. It's good to see Genelia d'Souza back after a gap, even though her wobbly Hindi diction distracts you from thinking of her as a Dilli girl. Aamir is the star who has done the green-lighting and the heavy-lifting and staying the course. But the young adults who try and make the most of their challenges– on a learning curve that never stops, a situation which can be both exhausting and encouraging– are the true 'sitaare' of this film: the one who dyes his hair in rainbow colours, the one who hates having baths because of a childhood trauma, the one who can look at a plane in the air and tell you which route it is flying, the one who is forced to work long hours with low wages, the one who has had a bad experience with previous coaches, the one who wears a helmet and a smart mouth, and the lone girl in this gang, who personifies feisty. Director RS Prasanna and the writers have taken the trouble to show them as real people, with feelings and thoughts, who are what they are because of an accident of an extra chromosome, not objects of pity. It is their guts and their glory. Sitaare Zameen Par Movie cast: Aamir Khan, Genelia D'Souza, Gurpal Singh, Gopi Krishna Varma, Aroush Dutta, Vedant Sharma, Naman Mishra, Rishabh Jain, Rishi Sahani, Ashish Pendse, Samvit Desai, Ayush Bhansali, Simran Mangeshkar, Dolly Ahluwalia, Brijendra Kala Sitaare Zameen Par Movie director: R S Prasanna Sitaare Zameen Par Movie rating: 3.5 stars
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
DYK: Not Aamir Khan, but Manoj Bajpayee was the first choice for cult classic Rang De Basanti
Can you imagine Rang De Basanti (2006) without Aamir Khan? Well that was the original vision, before Aamir heard of this film in the making and got himself involved in the project. The same was revealed by Kamlesh Pandey, one of the screenwriters on the film during a chat with Ravya Sarda for her YouTube show. Rang De Basanti was initially supposed to be a "small film", and Manoj Bajpayee had already been signed on for the role of DJ/Chandrashekhar Azad. Kamlesh recalled, "We had been roaming around with the script of the film for 6 years, and no one was ready to make that film. We had signed Manoj for the role that Aamir played finally. We thought we would make a small film; we didn't have a big budget. The moment Aamir heard the script, he told us that he wanted to do the film, and he even got AR Rahman to come on the project. UTV, who had rejected the film twice in the past, immediately said yes to it". The core issue on the film being consistently bypassed till it caught Aamir's eye, was that nobody was willing to put the time in to understand the script and the film's message. Kamlesh said, "Producers thought that this was a Sholay remake from the point of view of Basanti. They used to make fun of it and ask who was going to play her, and I used to tell them with a straight face that we were thinking of casting Esha Deol. They used to take it so seriously, and I didn't really know whether to slap these people or ignore them". While Manoj, given his acting prowess, would of course have done a stellar job of playing DJ in Rang De Basanti, given the film's legacy and the kind of cementing impact it has had on the audiences — over almost 2 decades now — it's tough to imagine anyone but Aamir leading the film. If reading about this switcheroo has got you feeling nostalgic, Rang De Basanti is available for streaming on OTT.
