Will stop acting moment I turn full-fledged director, says Aamir Khan
Mumbai, Mar 15: Superstar Aamir Khan says filmmaking does excites him, but currently he wants to focus on acting.
The 54-year-old actor, who made directorial debut with "Taare Zameen Par", said he will quit acting once he decides to turn full-fledged filmmaker.
"I am inclined towards filmmaking and I coincidentally directed 'Taare Zameen Par'. I have been in love with filmmaking and acting and I can't alienate the two but what I can say right now is that I began my career as an actor and it excites me.
"The moment I become a full-fledged filmmaker I will stop acting. Right now, I don't want to stop acting, that's why I am holding back the director inside me," Aamir told reporters here on Thursday.
As a producer, Aamir has backed films like "Lagaan", "Taare Zameen Par", "Jaane Tu Yaha Jaane Na", "Peepli Live", "Dhobi Ghat", "Delhi Belly", "Talaash", "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar". The actor said his aim is to support good scripts and making money is not his agenda.
"I had not thought at what pace I will make films. Usually, people make films with their production houses for business. That is not our first agenda. Creativity is our agenda. Till the time we don't get a good script, we don't make it into a film."
When asked if as an actor does he have any Hollywood aspirations, Aamir said he would work in any part of the world if he gets a good opportunity.
"For me, as an actor, what is important is what the film is all about and what it is trying to say. It should excite me as an actor. It is not important that it should have a social message.
"It does not matter which part of the world it originates from. If someone from Japan or Africa offers me something and if I get excited, I will do it. But I don't have a fascination for Hollywood," Aamir added.
The actor has announced his next project, "Lal Singh Chadha", an official adaptation of Tom Hanks' 1994 film "Forrest Gump".
He was also in talks for Netflix series on spiritual leader Rajneesh, popularly known among his followers as Osho, but he said the script has not been finalised yet.
"Nothing is happening on Osho at the moment. I am not aware. The script is not ready," he said.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
