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Aamir Khan: On the rise with The Rising
Looks like one success after another for the redoubtable Aamir Khan. His latest role in the epic Mangal Pandey and the English version called The Rising, is all set to make waves. The film captures friendship, love, loss and betrayal against the backdrop of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. The British colonial rulers have alienated the local people with their high-handed policies. After 100 years of subjugation, India is on the threshold of change as patriotic Indians waken to the possibility of change and self-rule.Mangal Pandey hinges on the friendship that binds courageous sepoy Mangal Pandey (played by Khan) and a British commanding officer (enacted by Toby Stephens). The duo cut across all the barriers of land and race. Others in the film are Rani Mukherji and Amisha Patel. Aamir Khan was born in Mumbai, India on March 14, 1965. Although his first film was Holi, his first major hit was the all time musical hit Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). In 1996, he bagged the Best Actor award for his outstanding performance in Raja Hindustani. This film was a smash hit at the box office and catapulted him to the big league of Bollywood. Aamir began his career as a child-actor in the film Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973), when he was eight years old. He acted and wrote the screenplay for the film Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993). He has also done playback singing for himself in the successful film Ghulam (1998). Aamir is known for his efforts to create credible characters, rather than just giving repetitive performances in film after film. He will go to great lengths to give a convincing portrayal --including, it is said, drinking heavily in order to play a drunken scene in Raja Hindustani, even though he doesn't drink in real life. His memorable characters include: Amar the inept schemer (Andaz Apna Apna), Aakash the college Lothario (Dil Chahta Hai) and ACP Rathod, a crusading police officer in Sarfarosh among others. In keeping with his penchant for giving his best to each film, Aamir works on only one film at a time --an unusual phenomenon in the Bollywood film industry. Detractors say that his penchant for perfection sometimes leads to clashes with directors who don't listen to his objections or let him re-shoot a scene he thinks sub-par. Aamir's reputed perfectionism, however, seems to have paid off . His first foray into film-production, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, was a big box-office success in India and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 2001. Apart from Rang De Basanti and The Rising, Aamir recently signed a deal for one more movie with director Kunal Kohli opposite Kajol. Compiled by Cultural Correspondent
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