'Every creative person goes through ups and downs.'
'We all try to do good work.'
'Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't.'
'I don't think that should directly reflect on the immediate stardom of a person.'
Soon after he recovered from swine flu, Aamir Khan plunged into work.
He launched a song from Secret Superstar, his new film, and introduced us to yet another superstar from the film.
Aamir also felt it was unfair that the media only cited Bollywood's Khans when it talked about megastardom.
He pointed out to Akshay Kumar whose latest film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha has sent the cash registers ringing in an otherwise dismal year for the Bollywood box office.
"I think it isn't fair when you take only three names (Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir Khan) while talking about stars. There are several talented stars in our film industry who are extremely popular. Akshay's Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is doing good and people are liking it," Aamir said at the event.
Shah Rukh and Salman's last releases -- Jab Harry Met Sejal and Tubelight respectively -- failed to create box office magic.
Asked if audiences are gravitating towards content-oriented cinema and not star vehicles, Aamir said, "I think every creative person goes through ups and downs. We all try to do good work which will be liked by people."
"Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't. I don't think that should directly reflect on the immediate stardom of a person. We shouldn't get swayed by this and continue to do what we believe in," he added.
The 'superstar' Aamir wanted to introduce was singer Meghna Mishra, third from left.
Secret Superstar chronicles the story of an aspiring singer played by Dangal's Zaira Wasim.
Aamir was accompanied by composer Amit Trivedi, second from left, lyricist Kausar Munir (in red) and director Advait Chandan, next to Aamir, at the event.
Aamir plays a flamboyant composer in Secret Superstar which releases on October 19 alongside Rohit Shetty's Golmaal 4.
Aamir is unperturbed about the clash at the box office.
"Diwali has the bandwidth to take on two releases, that's not a concern," he says. "Usually on Diwali, you do have two films. Very rarely do you have one film."
"Both films will have their own space. The genres seem very different. Golmaal is an out-and-out entertainer while this film, for us, tells a very important story."
Aamir appealed for contributions to the Bihar chief minister's relief fund to provide succour to the hundred of thousands of Biharis affected by the floods in the northern state.
"Nature is not in our hands," the superstar said, "but we can definitely do something to help. Every Indian can contribute to help in this situation. I appeal to all to contribute to the chief minister's fund."
"This year a lot of places have been affected by floods so we can at least do this for them."
Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar
