Almost four months after the release of Taare Zameen Par (TZP), its writer Amol Gupte talks about his disappointment. He says he was both surprised and hurt when Aamir Khan said he was the director of the movie. “My creative inputs ended when Aamir, his wife, my wife and I saw the film’s first edit. We were all very proud of the film. Then we had a wrap-up party. And that’s when Aamir announced he was the director of the film. That’s when I got to know of his intentions,” Gupte said.“It has made me question myself. Where did I go wrong? Had I not been there throughout the shooting for every take, including Aamir’s wonderful performance? I’ve enacted lines for all the actors in TZP. It hurt a lot. But I didn’t want a confrontation,” he said.How different is the final film from what you shot?“What I shot and what you saw aren’t different at all. My narration is the same as the married print. Of course, Aamir was there with me throughout.”The film about dyslexia, which had Darsheel Safary in the key role and won many awards, was Aamir’s directorial debut and everyone felt that he had created a perfect winner with the film. Excerpts from an interview:How much of Taare Zameen Par (TZP) is actually yours?
[Ponders] Does it really matter? It has paid back in multiples. Whatever happened, let’s drown it in the Ganga and move on. Aamir has been on the shoot with me for 109 days and he has acknowledged I was there throughout. Now let’s leave it behind.

The project was with you for many years?
I’ve been involved with children’s projects for many, many years. In fact, I used to have a kids’ show on Sony called Bindaas Bol, which addressed itself to the parent-child relationship, peer pressure and related issues. I’ve since then became a surrogate-parent to children everywhere. I’m like a one-man Suvidha [children’s shelter]. TZP was an extension of an ongoing affinity to children’s issues.

Did you anticipate such an overwhelming response to TZP?
Actually, this was just a part of the ongoing children’s projects that my wife Deepa Bhatia and I share. For us Project Child is a journey. TZP was an important part of that project. We waited two years for Aamir to just listen to our script. I knew Aamir from our college and theatre days. After that he shot a short film with me in the lead. So did Aamir’s cousin Mansoor. So I’ve been associated with his family for many decades.

I didn’t know you were an actor!
But I wasn’t the Khan family’s favourite actor for sure. Otherwise, I’d have done Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Jokes aside, I didn’t have the courage to ask Aamir to work in my film. I wasn’t that ambitious. I asked him to help me talk to Akshaye Khanna because I had seen Akhaye portray a sensitive painter in Dil Chahta Hai. But when Aamir heard my script was about children, he said he wanted to hear the narration. And he heard it in September 2004. The very next week he proposed to produce the film. Then there was a delay because Aamir got busy with Mangal Pandey and his personal life.

So what exactly went wrong between you and Aamir?
I’m trying to put it behind me… Let me just say, right from choosing all the kids for the parts to the final editing, I was right there on board… I wanted to preserve the kids’ natural innocence. So I never auditioned them. I used to engage them in discussions and workshops with the camera held out of their vision by an assistant.

Where did your creative inputs in TZP end?
They ended when Aamir, his wife, my wife and I saw the film’s first edit. It’s misreported that I didn’t like the edited version of TZP. There was no question of not liking the edited version because my wife Deepa was editing the material in Panchgani as we were shooting. We were all very proud of the film. Then we had a wrap-up party. And that’s when Aamir announced he was the director of the film. That’s when I got to know of his intentions.

Has this betrayal made you stronger and wiser?
It has made me question myself. Where did I go wrong? Had I not been there throughout the shooting for every take including Aamir’s wonderful performance?

How different is the final film from what you shot?
What I shot and what you saw aren’t different at all. My narration is the same as the married print. Of course, Aamir was there with me throughout.

And he didn’t shoot anything on his own?
Yes, he re-shot the first six days’ material. I didn’t participate in that because I stood by the rushes of my first six days’ shooting. However, what he shot wasn’t radically different from my style.

The standard inference is that the project was taken over from you?
I don’t understand this business of taking over. When I was around how could the project be taken over? What would any competent director be doing for 109 shooting days? It makes no sense at all.

Ever the chivalrous knight to the cause, Aamir Khan’s always gone the extra hog to speak up for movements he believes. The actor publicly spoke up against the Narmada dam for which he got a lot of flak and which finally resulted in his film Fanaa being banned in the state of Gujarat. All for human rights
Even so, the actor hasn’t shied away from voicing his opinion on the latest controversy dogging him. In his most recent blog post, the actor comments on why he will participate in the Olympic Torch Relay despite his fans, family and well-wishers asking him not to, in view of charges of human rights violations against China.The actor has a bone to pick with human rights violators everywhere. Aamir notes, “I have the highest respect and regard for the struggle that the people of Iraq, Kashmiri Pundits who have been displaced, Kashmiris in general, and the people of Palestine are going through. I’ve named above just a few instances of human rights violations.Across the world, and indeed within our own country, there are several instances and examples of atrocities and human rights violations, which are still continuing. I am absolutely against any form of violence, and certainly am deeply upset whenever the basic rights of human beings are violated anywhere in the world.”The actor takes a practical perspective on the situation. Concludes Aamir, “If we were to try and find a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human rights violations (in one way or the other), I suspect that we would be left with very few options, if any at all.”Excerpts from the Blog post
Over the last few days I have received several requests not to participate in the Olympic Torch Relay. Requests through members of my family, personal friends, people who are associated with the Tibetan struggle, and my blog. I have gone through and read each and every letter, message and post pertaining to this issue.I would like to state that I have the highest regard and respect for the struggle that the people of Tibet are going through. I completely empathise with them.I feel that the Olympic Games do not belong to China.I am no one to tell any group of people how they should conduct their struggle. I am not part of it and am not going through what they are going through. But my heart goes out to them. I request those of you who have asked me to stay away from the Olympic Torch Relay to understand that when I do run with the torch on the 17th of April it is not in support of China. In fact, it will be with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet, and indeed for all people across the world who are victims of human rights violations.