My
wife looked at me, I could see a hint of a smile on her face as she stood
staring at me indicating that I was spending way too much time in front of the
mirror today. I understood the look on her face, as if trying to tell me
hello…. People are not going to watch you, so you better hurry up and leave. I shrugged
off and thought she was just being jealous because I was invited to the studio
and not her. An hour later I was standing in the lobby of Yash Raj studios with
my colleagues, still pinching each other and trying to believe the fact that we
were about to meet the ever so illusive, Mr. Perfectionist - Aamir Khan.
It
all started with a simple phone call that went somewhat like this Hello I am
calling from Aamir Khan Productions and we are shooting for his TV show, as the
topic of the show is very relevant to your industry would your students like to
be a part of the show. Without asking too many details we jumped at the offer,
a chance to meet the bollywood icon was reason enough to accept it.
We
were given not many details of the topic but a few vague guidelines, like the
name of the show was Satyamev Jayate and that it was based on social causes and
knowing how Aamir likes to keep the
details close to his heart we did not ask for any further info. At the studio
we were seated at the swanky set, with our cell phones safe deposited at the
entrance all plans of clicking pictures were washed off. The production team were going about their
chores, then suddenly at sharp 10.30 am as promised Aamir appeared out of nowhere from behind the
set. It took almost a minute or so for everybody to realize that it was
actually him. Then a section of audience stood up and started clapping, we too
joined in, he just stood there smiling in acknowledgement. Somebody in the
audience whispered “arre ekdum same dikhta hai”… & I still thought I was
watching him on a big screen TV.
He was very graceful in his approach. He was
meeting & greeting all the guests and putting everyone at ease starting
from his production team to the audience & even his make-up man. We had
read and heard a lot about his habit of doing re-takes for each and every shot
and we braced ourselves as the shooting started, sitting straight, laughing at
the light-hearted comments…. cringing and feeling angry at the atrocities by a
few powerful people….. Clapping at the
heroics of a few brave hearts. The whole experience was an emotional roller
coaster and the driver of this ride was Aamir himself. The transition from one
topic to another seemed like a synchronized orchestra in spite of it being a
live reality talk show. Never even for a moment was he disoriented from the
topic and moderated the discussions like a pro. Of course there were re-takes,
but they were far few and genuine.
The
myth surrounding the bollywood icon was slowly collapsing and a common man with
a unique & uncommon will power to showcase something so important &
meaningful was emerging. That day I understood why he is referred to as Mr. Perfectionist. It’s not because he pokes
his nose in small nitty-gritty’s of everyday production work but because he
works his heart out and does his job with complete honesty and integrity. The
fact that for each episode he had a separate team working on the various issues
for the past two years itself showcases his commitment toward his tasks at
hand.
The
day ended with a heartwarming number by composer Ram Sampath. We left the studio with a happy feeling of
having achieved something good and fruitful. Next morning while sipping coffee
from the souvenir mug of Satyamev Jayate I thought that although
we were just an audience to his show, we all were full of hope of the positives
that could come out of this noble initiative.
Satyamev
Jayate !.
Disclaimer:
I am in no way related with the businesses or interests of Aamir Khan
Productions. The above experience is true as stated as we were invited to be
the audience of the talk show.
The
tentative telecast date of the above episode dealing with harmful pesticides
used in growing food grains, vegetables and fruits is 24th June
2012.
