Aamir khan on the road to perfection

Post Jo jeeta Wahi Sikandar , Aamir khan became choosy, not accepting scripts just for the sake of it and emphasising on quality. The movie which can be talked about next is 'Andaz Apna Apna". Directed by RajKumar Santoshi, this laugh a minute riot was surprisingly a failure at the box office when it released. Aamir khan has attributed its box office failure to poor promotion of the movie and wrong release. However, the movie gained unprecedented popularity on the VHS and regarded as the one of the greatest ever comedies that have come out from the Indian cinema along with Padoson, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, Angoor, Golmaal etc. Paired along with Salman khan, Aamir khan completely overshadowed the other khan with his amazing comic timing. The dialogues in this movie became a part of daily lives.

Aamir khan, rises again!

After a string of flops and bad movies, Aamir khan saw box office success again with the Superhit "Dil". Paired along with Madhuri Dixit, this movie was a huge box office success and got Aamir khan back into reckoning. Aamir khan's comic timing was seen in the movie and established him again as the romantic new age hero. The music of Dil is still hugely popular.



Aamir khan followed up with "Dil Hai ke Maanta nahee". Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, it had Aamir khan playing a chirpy youngster meeting a girl on a journey. This film again was a run away hit with blockbuster music.




The year 1992 saw Aamir khan starring in a Cult classic, a movie that would be remembered for generations to come and be a benchmark for college rom-coms against the backdrop of sports. "Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar". Directed by Mansoor Khan, this movie gave amazing potential to Aamir khan to display his actress prowess. From a college going boy to the one who cycles his way into the heart of his father winning the championship, Aamir khan became the character 'Sanjay Lal'.The Song "Pehla Nasha" is a cult classic and will be the first choice of Bollywood music lovers if you ever want a song on first crush. Though not a huge hit, the movie did well and down the years, it has been recognized as a cult classic.

The Making of Aamir khan

The Year 1988 saw a small movie "Qayamat se Qayamat tak" bring in a new trend in bollywood. Romantic love stories. In the string of loud action movies of the 80s, this movie with debutante Aamir khan and Juhi Chawla in the lead roles not only started the trend of romance again, also changed the scene of music. While Disco was ruling in the 80s, it bought melody back into reckoning. "Papa kehte hain bada naam karega" saw Aamir khan singing his way into the hearts of teenage girls throughout India. They called him the new chocolate hero, the romantic boy next door. The boy had made a sensational debut. The run away success of the movie made Aamir khan an instant star. However, there have been many one film wonders in Bollywood. Could this boy survive after the huge success of his debut movie.Success in Cinema is not only confined to the debut you make. It depends on the talent, the choices you make and unfortunately many times on luck.



The next couple of years saw Aamir khan face a number of failures. Failures which marked a question mark if his debut was a fluke, questions on his stardom, on his decision making and ultimately his future in bollwood. A series of bad choices made films like Jawani Zindabad, Deewana Mujsa Nahin, Isi ka naam Zindagi, Love Love Love, Daulat ki Jung,  Tum Mere ho, Awwal Number which didn't do well at the box office. They were wrong choices and deservingly the films didn't work at the box office.

          

If you are a fan of Aamir khan, I would certainly recommend you to watch all the above movies too which were not great movies, which didn't work at the box office,  for the simple reason to understand his journey. When you are aware of the bad, you can identify the good. We all do mistakes, however how we take a lesson out of it and emerge thereafter is the great thing. Aamir khan, the actor was sincere in all the above movies too, however the scripts were shoddy, direction half baked. Aamir khan has himself admitted in his interviews that these failures tought him the most in his stint in Bollywood.

          The greatest of the stars had faced a slump in their career. Most of them sink with the slump, while few rise from the slump like a Phoenix.  Which way would Aamir khan go?

Changing Superstars of Bollywood

India is a country obsessed with cinema. The obsession with cinema automatically translates into obsession with its protaganists. From the inception of cinema in India, there have been many stars who have wowed the audience with their aura, enigma, performances and ultimately resulting in the boxoffice successes along with critical acclaims.

                                                                             Talking of Indian cinema, the first movie industry that comes to mind is Bollywood, the hindi movie industry. Not to disregard any of the regional film industries of India, Bollywood simply because of its wide reach across India whereas mostly other movies are restricted to within their states or a limited population residing in other countries. If we debate on Bollywood, the first Superstar of Bollywood that comes to mind is Dilip Kumar. Probably, India's first method actor and superstar who enjoyed amazing box office success and also gave incredible performances. He chose quality over quantity and did a variety of roles ranging from a Devdas, to a Mughal e Azam, to a Naya Daur to a Ram aur Shyam. From the peerless Ganga Jumna to the poignant Mashaal. Dilip Kumar is considered a pioneer of acting in Bollywood. He enjoyed phenomenal success across nearly two decades. Even during the latter stages of his career,  he staged a brilliant comeback with movies such as Mashaal, Kranti, Vidhaata.

                                                                                                                    During the late 1960's, Bollywood saw the rise of a new superstar. Rajesh Khanna. Rajesh Khanna was an unimaginable superstar. Even though he did not have the conventional looks of a bollywood hero, he just cast a spell across the nation, especially during the years 1969 to 1974 giving 14 consecutive super hits, a record which still stands unbroken in bollywood. From Aradhana to Anand, from Amar prem to Bawarchi to numerous other hits, Rajesh Khanna became the darling of the nation. A heart throb who created a mass frenzy in a cinema obsessed nation like ours. However, Rajesh Khanna's stardom was short lived as his movies began to fail and did not enjoy the kind of craze he was used to. Rajesh Khanna movies though are usually considered to be musical romantic stories,  most forget that he gave classics like Anand , Bawarchi etc which did not even have an actress paired opposite him. Changing times, the changing economic conditions of the nation with a lot of anger and frustration amongst the youth of country paved the way for the downfall of the Superstar Rajesh Khanna. The hero was none other then Amitabh Bachchan.

                Amitabh Bachchan started with a string of flops and then struck gold with Zanjeer. The movie rejected by many leading stars finally came to Amitabh Bachan and he played the angry young man which the audience lapped up. Movies like Deewar which followed up cemented his place and marked the arrival of Superstar Amitabh Bachchan. People began to identify the Angry Young Man in Amitabh Bachchan which was relevant to the times of the nation. What followed was a humoungous number of hits, superhits, blockbusters across the seventies and eighties that saw Amitabh Bachchan rise to a position which no other actor of his generation was even close to. He enjoyed unparalled success during these times and almost regarded as the superstar of the millenium. That Amitabh Bachchan is still actively doing movies is a testimony to his discipline and his hunger for cinema. However, as all good things come to an end, the Amitabh Bachchan era also had to end.

 The eighties was mostly ruled by action, revenge movies stuffed with commercial masala elements. Times change, tastes change and yet again Bollywood saw a new entry, a probable new Superstar. In the year 1988, a very small movie "Qayamat se Qayamat Tak" saw a boyish Aamir khan debut and enter into the hearts of Indian movie goer. The film became a big success and changed the face of Bollywood once again as Bollywood went romantic again. But, for how long was this new star going to last?. How far could he go in the rat race of Bollywood? 

PS: Most would disagree that I have left many other big stars such as Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Dharmendra, Mithun etc from the above post. This is only taking into the consideration the superstars that have made the most impact and lasted in our memories for the most time. Not to demean other stars, this is done taking into consideration the success rate, the critcal acclaim and also the impact that they have created on Bollywood and thus ultimately over Indian cinema.