Excerpts from an in depth interview

“Waise bhi perfection ko improve karna mushkil hota hain.”

He is difficult to fault. This line, cheekily dished to Akshaye Khanna in Dil Chahta Hai, typifies the towering standards Khan extends everywhere. Whether representing India on international film juries, shooting a video tribute to Kaifi Azmi’s lyricism or featuring in Bournvita Quiz Contest’s guest show – preceded by four hours of exacting homework.

Ultra choosey through a cautiously premeditated professional graph, he misjudged a post-QSQT signing spree… “That was a disaster I walked into.” Carp at Mela’s pee-in-bottle-passed-off-as-drink sequence, it’s promptly justified – “Hilarious, I loved that scene! Incidentally, it was maaroed from Dumb and Dumber. Jim Carrey does it, damn funny, ha-ha-ha, the whole theatre’s laughing. In Hindi films it’s considered cheap. That’s NG. (Film parlance: ‘not good’.) I’ve trouble accepting ‘Bollywood’ because the term originated derogatorily.”

What draws him to the signing table today? “A director whose capabilities I trust. A script that excites, moves me to want being a part of it. A producer who provides the creative team with the necessary infrastructure, markets the film well once we’ve done our job.”

Intense friendships, then business as usual. “People management is half of filmmaking. This profession sees intense bursts of friendship before moving on with our individual lives, close-curtain till we work again. Sounds harsh? It’s not meant to be. I’ve bonded with directors like Farhan (Akhtar), Ashutosh (Gowariker) and colleagues Akshaye (Khanna), Saif (Ali Khan). In London, I meet Paul (Blackthorne, Lagaan’s Capt Russell) regularly. Strange, these relationships take just three days to build and you tell someone your personal problems. On occasion, I have.”

How about the camaraderie that legions of leading ladies swear they strike with him? “There’s rapport with Preity, Rani, Juhi, Madhuri, Twinkle, Nandita,” he rolls off, fairly forthcoming. “Preity and I shot (DCH) 50 days in Australia. Then, not counting a show together, I’ve collectively seen her on her birthday, at another party. We chat once in three months on the phone. That’s it.” The infamous tiff with Juhi isn’t dodged either – “Not speaking for six years was silly. We’ve dealt with it.”

Ultimate honour. Once dismissing Gowariker’s directorial daring as ‘that weird story about villagers in the British Raj’, Aamir Khan Productions’ Lagaan rewrote the filmmaking lexicon to earn proud Oscar mention at the 74th Academy Awards. A year on the heels of the nomination, this April a white Nehru-jacketed Khan received the Padmashri, ‘ultimate honour, for now’.

On principle, he’s never budged from his dead-against-movie-awards stance. Integrity at a price. Tightlipped as he is, conjecture floats wild about the discerning star. “I’ve become quite adept at ignoring rumours, I do things with all sincerity towards the people I deal with, who matter. If there appears something contrary, I owe no one else an explanation. Not that I don’t make mistakes in life. I certainly have.”