The latest example of bloated egos in Bollywood is provided by the verbal duel between Aamr Khan, Idiot No. 1 in Three Idiots and the pseudo-secular intellectual Javed Akhtar.
Aamir Khan Highbrow and bloated
It is true that both of them have reached a certain stature in the film industry and have contributed their bit to the movie world. They also have a lot to contribute still. It is also true that both of them have their share of admirers and detractors alike.
But it does not mean that those who try to poke their noses in everything are the only ones who can contribute.
The argument arose from a discussion on who contributed more to the success of a movie song. The occasion was a meeting to sort out worldly royalty issues between producers and lyric writers.
Aaamir Khan, just as he had tried to intervene in the Three Idiots dispute with Chetan Bhagat, tried to intervene saying that lyric writers did not have much to contribute to the impact of a song. While he tried to downplay the role of the lyricists and claimed that only the star actor makes a contribution to the success of a song, Javed Akhtar took umbrage and a heated argument followed.
If truth be told, film songs become popular more by the sense of hearing than by the sense of sight. Not everyone goes to see the movie whose song becomes popular. Many songs become popular even before the movie is released everywhere and many a song played on screen by mediocre stars or of miserably failed movies become popular. It is the combined effort of the lyricist and the music director that creates the maximum impact of the song. Of course, Aamir Khan is totally wrong in giving more credit to the actors. Even Javed must know also that without good music composition, a superlative lyric will also remain effective only with a small number of people.
So where both are wrong, it is not proper to take sides on the issue about which the debate became ugly. The objective of both sides primarily revolved around money rather than a debate purely about merits.
But considering the actions of Aamir Khan thereafter where he sent in his resignation from a certain committe about Copyrights, it does seem that the actor is going overboard. His ego certainly seems to be bloating rather much as can be seen from his letter to the Hon'ble Minister for HRD Kapil Sibal.
Aamir wrote that though he felt he had a lot to contribute, “I cannot make any meaningful contribution in this atmosphere. Aggression of this type leaves me feeling very disillusioned and sad and I am unable to function.”
Well, the Minister or the Government can be hardly concerned in his personal arguments with Javed Akhtar and the offense taken by him and it would be inadvisable for the Minister to even attempt to keep him on the Committee. If he wants to resign, let him resign. He is not the only one who feels he has a lot to contribute, there will be a hundred others more brainy than him even within the industry.
Let such bloated egos be deflated as soon as possible.
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