Lage raho Aamirbhai!

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Aha, he’s as unpredictable as the monsoon showers which have been lashing Bollytown, moodily turning into a drizzle. In fact, the buzz is how could he? The epitome of sense and sensibility has downloaded the song, Bhaag DK Bose, which may be enshrined as the most vulgar and oral innuendo-packed line of lyric in Indian cinema history.

Aamir Khan has, evidently, thrown caution to the winds. The song from the film Delhi Belly, produced by him, is already a top-scorer on YouTube. The youth loves the unprintable cuss word flaunted by the number (bh…i ke, bh…i ke it goes). The outcome’s an instant chartbuster, and what do you know? Another first: a splashy party was hosted by the production crew to celebrate the song’s success weeks before the film’s announced release on July 1.
Now, even Subhash Ghai — blessed with a bloodhound’s nose for publicity-ops — didn’t do that when the overtly suggestive Saat saheliyan from Vidhaata (1982) and Choli ke peechhe from Khalnayak (2007) had sparked nationwide controversies. The lyrics were even berated in Parliament, but were eventually retained. Reasons: a mystery.
Aamir Khan seems to have had no qualms whatsoever. Obviously, he doesn’t expect any serious backlash since the crude number has been cleared for public consumption. Here’s a total turnaround, then, for an actor-producer who has been associated with top quality and even purposeful cinema (Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Taare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots, Peepli Live). Also, he has involved himself consistently in social causes, as in supporting Medha Patkar in her campaign against the Narmada dam.
In addition, it’s doubtful whether the actor himself, in his prime, would have ever agreed to gyrate to the tunes of Sarkailo khatiya (Raja Babu, 1994) or Meri pant bhi sexy (Dulaara, 1994) — which established Govinda as the pasha of pelvic thrusts. Incidentally, the Khatiya song is a teddy bear’s picnic compared to the DK Bose double entendre ditty. Oh well, you guess pant bhi kabhi chaddi thi.
The theatrical trailer of Delhi Belly has been an assault on the senses — the nostrils specifically — what with a young man on a spotty toilet seat making much blather about er... excreta. Indeed, the film’s focal point of attraction, Imran Khan, like his uncle Aamir Khan, has also been long associated with a squeaky clean image. Yet with the DK Bose business, he also appears to have opted for a change of image, not necessarily for the better.
Truly you can’t fathom what’s going on? Why do all this? Perhaps, like all film personalities who achieve a measure of success, Uncle Khan believes that the audience will swallow whatever goulash he serves. After all, following an enormous publicity campaign, his violence-spewing Ghajini (2008) had become a monster hit.
Like it or not, public adulation breeds narcissism. Yet both adulation and self-obsession can disappear with one, faltering move, as it did for say Rajesh Khanna, a superstar who was convinced that he was God’s gift to cinema. Since Aamir Khan continues to be a fine actor, you do hope that he hasn’t fallen incurably in love with the mirror. That he can be a control freak is common knowledge, his career marked with fallouts with his directors, be it Mahesh Bhatt on the occasion of Ghulam (1998) or Amol Gupte in the case of Taare Zameen Par (2007). Mahesh Bhatt was replaced by Vikram Bhatt. And Gupte had to be assuage with the sidebar credit of “creative director”, whatever that means.
Back to the DK Bose song, the first stone has been chucked against it — surprise surprise — by director Anubhav Sinha whose special effects extravaganza Ra.One is scheduled for Diwali release. He maintains that he has an issue with the DK Bose song on moral grounds. “Where are we headed?” he asks, pointing out that he is embarrassed to hear the song being aired on TV. Pointing out that his son is eight years old, he states, “I dare not ask my son whether he has heard the song or knows its meaning... I have a problem with the song being shown on public domain at normal timings on general entertainment channels... neither can I hear with my son on the radio in the car.” No doubt, the director’s statements will be construed as a bid to make news for Ra.One, produced by Shah Rukh Khan.
Be that as it may, Anubhav Sinha does make a valid point. This sort of song wasn’t expected from Aamir Khan. If it had been used by a filmmaker with lesser clout in the Bollywood market, it would have incited an uproar. So far, Aamir Khan seems to have got away with an indecent proposal. To that, should we say lage raho Aamirbhai... if your conscience allows you to?