Перевод: Юлия Кожева для aamirkhan.ru

SCENE 1: On a chilly January evening, the door to Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan’s home on the first floor of the building in a by-lane of Pali Hill, Bandra, stands invitingly open, even though security guards keep an alert eye on the environs. We walk into what is obviously their workspace and prepare to meet the stars. In a matter of minutes, first Kiran and then Aamir breeze in – their life right now, with due apologies to T.S. Eliot, is measured not in coffee spoons but in hours or minutes, as the seconds tick away to one of the most important events in their life – the release of Kiran’s Dhobi Ghat.

As we sip piping hot coffee and true-to-Mumbai spirit chai, Kiran takes a look at her wear for Verve’s shoot the next day. Bubbly and effervescent, it takes her but a few minutes to get sorted. She leaves and seconds later Aamir walks in. His movements are precise; I can almost see his mind ticking over with quiet efficiency. He chats with our stylist and we leave, promising to meet next morning at Trilogy at Hotel Sea Princess to capture the man and his wife who are the flavour of the month (and more), in several moods and moments.

SCENE 2: Suite No 555, up on the fifth floor of Hotel Sea Princess. The organised rhythm of the team sees us ready and waiting – and precisely at the appointed hour, the couple walks in. The action revs up. Kiran and Aamir are drawn to the French windows that overlook the hotel’s pool and the beach alongside where a football match is in progress. “Shoot!” they yell out, capturing its excitement from the aircon comfort of the well-appointed suite.

Later, we walk down the corridor, past the ground-floor restaurant where heads turn at seeing the star couple and reach Trilogy. Kiran flops down on the long sofa that is to be their first ‘setting’.

The directors and the photographer focus on the shot – seeking perfection. Nothing else would satisfy Kiran, Aamir, Avinash and Verve. The wait is worth it. At one point, Kiran looks at her husband’s ears and wishes that he had bigger earrings on. “Like the Lagaan ones,” he says. And points out immediately, “They are Kiran’s you know. I had spotted her wearing them on the sets and used them as part of Bhuvan’s look.”

We couldn’t have caught Aamir and Kiran at a better moment to grasp the camaraderie that connects the two, despite the eight-year gap that gives him a certain maturity. The camera keeps on rolling. Till it is time for our satisfied creative crew to call it a wrap…and time to set the conversation crackling...

SCENE 3: It is a cosy corner for two and Kiran and Aamir choose the settee that faces the sea and we get into chatty mode. As ‘K’ and ‘AK’ pepper their dialogue, I choose to begin with what is uppermost in their minds: Dhobi Ghat.

Excerpts from the ensuing chatathon that is interspersed with chicken sandwiches, chai and off-the-camera cosy moments...

Kiran Rao: The waiting period for Dhobi Ghat’s release is nerve-wracking. I want the film to succeed. Having Aamir in it is a reason people would expect to see something different. It is an interesting and engaging arthouse film; I hope people welcome the new content and the style. I did not really choose to do it differently. I started writing in the style that is natural to me. I wanted to make something that appealed to my sensibility and challenged me as a researcher.

Aamir Khan: In her story telling, there are many finer things which come in because of her sensitivity as a human being. I get excited and nervous before every film of mine. I am more excited and nervous because it is Kiran’s first film. Besides, I don’t think I have ever done a project like this. It is a film that Indian audiences are not used to watching. If it works it will be a first of a certain kind of cinema and this is exciting to me. It sends a signal to us that as filmmakers this cinema has arrived.

KR: I enjoy music, books and photographs. I grew up in Kolkata. We did not go to the theatres too often but watched movies in clubs or on TV. I enjoyed the films of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. I kind of started getting interested in movies. I enjoyed writing and reading poetry. I thought of doing fine art with painting. I still like to sketch. It crystallised when I went to Jamia College; it all came together in my mind. I liked the idea of image and word, image and music. Cinema is a combination of so many arts. And before Dhobi Ghat, I was an AD on Lagaan, Swades and an AP on Taare Zameen Par.

AK: I find her an artistic person. She writes poetry, draws very well and sings. Until I read her script, I did not know she writes so well.

KR: He was shooting for Rang De Basanti. I would sit in the hotel room and bash away on my laptop and write.

AK: I was very tense about it. Before I read it, my reaction was worse. I was like I hope she never finishes it (the script) because when it is finished she will give it to me to read. What if I don’t like it? It was a very unsupportive thought but it was the truth. Finally, when I read it, I really loved it – I was blown by the script.

KR: I did not want any big stars or known faces and was casting completely new faces. He came in later. I was finding it hard to cast for ‘Arun’. Aamir said, “Why don’t I audition for you? It will give you an idea of what you can do with the role.” It was a very successful attempt at getting into the cast because once he auditioned, there was no way I could not have him in the film. 

Your first film is always your first film. It is a huge leap to be sitting there, deciding what to do with this moment. There are hundreds of eyes waiting for instructions. But having been an AD earlier, I learnt how to deal with people, appreciate their inputs and get the best out of them.

KR: It was such an adventure. We shot some part of Dhobi Ghat, guerrilla style in an area off Mohammed Ali Road. We both are film crazy and the location did not bother us. We were living on a set out of necessity.

AK: If I had to travel to that location every day, people would know I was shooting there. It would have been impossible to get what she wanted. That was one of the reasons she did not want me in the film. The flats in that area are cheek by jowl. So one day, we reached there at 3.30 a.m. and did not come out till we finished.

KR: I met him on the bus going to the sets of Lagaan in Bhuj. He was walking up and down the aisle and introducing himself to the new people he had not met. Later, when shooting began, we used to meet everyday. I was in charge of make-up, hair and wardrobe. I had to get hundreds of actors ready and throw them on the set. He was one of the people I had to get ready. I got to know him three years later shooting for a Coke commercial.

AK: By then I had split with Reena. I was acting in the commercial and was producing it; Kiran was the first AD.

KR: I doubt if it was the same. And settle down? I wasn’t sure until we started living together. But I was in love with him since late 2003. I would never in my wildest dreams have thought that I would marry an Aamir Khan. I had so little interaction with film people. I have my own circle of friends. And Aamir? Superstar? I would never have thought we had so much in common. I come from a different world. But the more time I began to spend with him, I realised that we connected on a more intrinsic level. His ideas matched mine even though I did not always agree with him. We have the same ethical, value system. That made me really comfortable. He is safe. He makes me laugh all the time, mostly because he is making fun of me.

AK: At that point, I was going through a lot of emotional trauma. I was single and damaged as a person. I was meeting various women but I was not serious about anyone. I was not ready to get into a commitment then. What drew me to Kiran was when I realised that whenever I was with her I was very happy. Once I was in London and was very troubled. I suddenly got a call from her. I spoke to her for half an hour. I became calm. Each time I talked to Kiran or met her, I calmed down. This drew me to her, apart from the fact that I found her attractive. She had a certain positive effect on me.

I started getting serious about her when I asked her to move in. Otherwise I would not have done that. And, K, You would not have accepted it if you were not serious about me. We lived together for a year and a half before getting married.

AK: We have our disagreements; sometimes we stick to our points of view. There are times when I feel I have been unfair, not been understanding. I should have reacted differently, I give in. When I get angry I shut down. All the steel walls come around. I stop communicating. It is her problem to break through. That is my natural response when I am emotionally upset. It’s not good and I have been working on it.

KR: When I am upset, I tell him immediately. More often than not, even if I am the one who is upset, I make the first move. Only because I cannot rest until I have it sorted and out of the way. I don’t like negative energy around.

KR: He is the king of patience. On things that matter, there is no way you can hurry him up. He will do what he thinks is right. Even with people he is very patient. I do not have the bandwidth or time to be that patient with people. Now we kind of rub each others edges off a bit.

KR: On the anniversary of our first date, he told me that we were going out for dinner. Then, he dragged me off to where we had our first date. It was in the middle of a road outside Mahabaleshwar.

AK: On the road towards Tapola, there is a little chaiwallah’s stall where we had stopped. I took her to the same shop; at 10 in the night the road was deserted. There were no street lights and it was pitch dark. On the side of the road, in the wilderness I had arranged for a table, a candlelit dinner. There was music playing – we had Elvis in the car. And, we had champagne.

KR: My parents did not know him at all and were initially very sceptical. I was already in my 30s and they should have been thrilled that I was finally serious about someone. When I told them about Aamir, they had their misgivings and were worried for me. They did not have a problem with him but with the fact that he was someone so famous. They felt that if I married a star, it would change me. I would give up on my ambitions, dreams and my ideas. They did not want me to live in the shadow of some big personality.

AK: It speaks a lot for them and for the way they have brought her up.

KR: We gave my parents some time. He went to their home and spent time with them. Once they had met him, they could see the effect he had on me. AK: For me, my children, Ira and Junaid, were my only concern. The good thing is that we have had an open relationship. I have never hidden anything from them. When I first started spending time with Kiran, they met her as one of my friends. Over time, they grew fond of her. It was gradual. It was only later that I told them that I was serious about Kiran Aunty and wanted her to live with me. Since they knew her well, there was no problem.

KR: Work is our life; we take it home with us. You cannot switch it off. We don’t work in an office. Our office is in our head. My ‘me space’ is important to me simply because I do not have one.

AK: Wherever I am, I can easily go into my ‘me space’. When she starts talking, I say, “Shut your trap”. I can open my book and switch off.

KR: His focus is so sharp that if he is reading something, you can say whatever you want, his attention will not waver. It’s frustrating and amazing. I wish I could do that. If someone is talking to me, I just have to listen.

AK: I like reading books. And when we are together, I like thrashing the hell out of her in all the games we play. Her passion is music. I listen to whatever she puts on. It makes me feel nice. I watch whatever she is seeing. Either I like it or it puts me to sleep. But what I like about her is her mind and her knowledge of so many things that I am unaware of. I like her taste and aesthetic in everything – art, music, designers.

KR: I never took fashion seriously. I like things made by hand. I like fashion for its skill and craft and the art in it. I like some international designers – I am very happy wearing Indian designers anywhere. I am not pressured to wear something which has a label on it. I prefer not to wear something that is obvious. That is my only style statement.

AK: When I am abroad and there is no paparazzi hounding us, I like to sit in cafes and watch people. I am not able to sit undisturbed in public here. So when I get a chance, I sit at a bus stop and watch life go by.

KR: I like museums and historical sites that Aamir is not interested in. I love architecture; I could walk through churches for hours and days. I go to old churches and listen to choir singing.

KR: For my films, of course, I would look at other actors. I don’t know the kind of film I would be making next. I am working on a couple of things. I try and write a subject or a character that appeals to me and then fit the person to the character, rather than the other way around. But, I hope I have something for him to do in all my films.

As a final take – or, as they would put it, The Wrap – I ask Aamir and Kiran to indulge in a role play with one interviewing the other. Here is how their conversation went...

AK: What should I ask her? I already know all the answers. And I don’t like to ask questions.

KR: Ok. Let me ask him. Will you please come out with me for dinner tonight?

AK: No.

KR: Will you please throw out that checked shirt of yours?

AK: No. Next question.

KR: When are you going to learn to swim, my love?

AK: That is a good question. I will learn this summer.

Ajay Singh Rathod (Sarfarosh)

Bhuvan (Lagaan)

Daljeet/DJ and Chandrashekhar Azad (Rang De Basanti)

Munna (Rangeela)

Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Taare Zameen Par)

Rancho (3 Idiots)

Sanjay Lal Sharma (Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander)

Text by Shraddha Jahagirdar-Saxena, Photographed by Avinash Gowariker, Styling by Nisha Jhangiani and Nazneen Harianawala

Published: Volume 19, Issue 2, February, 2011