Aamir Khan is India’s Oprah Winfrey

When a star begins a sentence with the disclaimer: “With all humility”, a slightly immodest claim is likely to follow. Actor Aamir Khan, 47, too began on this note. The question: How does he feel to be bestowed the title of India’s Oprah Winfrey? “With all humility, we are trying to be more ambitious than Oprah,” said Khan in an exclusive interview with tabloid! last week. If there’s anybody who can get away with this statement unscathed, then it has to be Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails) host. Khan, who made a stellar television debut tackling hard-hitting social issues last month, has taken his nation and his compatriots by storm. With just four dramatic episodes down, Khan has swiftly gone beyond what social science textbooks and activists have been preaching for decades. “I have not seen many of her shows — just one or two episodes… She’s certainly an intelligent person and a great host. But there’s a difference in our attempts. I think what Oprah Winfrey does is that she concentrates on that person … In Satyamev Jayate, we are not limiting ourselves to the person. We would like to know the person, but we also want to know the history, the law, the economics behind it. We find out what’s the way forward. Also, we want to garner public support,” said Khan, specifically referring to how they tackled the grim subject of female foeticide. Justice “For example, when we discovered in our female foeticide episode that there was a sting operation by journalists and they were not able to move ahead on the justice path, we requested the Rajasthan government and the chief justice of Rajasthan to form a fast track court and take pro-active steps,” said Khan alluding to the excerpts from his episode on female foeticide in India. In the first episode, he showed a sting operation carried out by two Jaipur-based journalists in 2007 about 140 doctors involved in sex determination tests and abortions. At the time of the airing, the doctors were still practising medicine. His nascent TV career is fast becoming the stuff that network dreams are made of,  and his efforts rarely end with lending a sympathetic ear to the victims or shedding a few tears. But Khan, one of Bollywood’s most bankable stars, reveals that his ambitious pet project didn’t have too many takers in the beginning. “When I started working on the show, many were sceptical. Their initial reactions were: ‘A TV show on social issues, there’s no entertainment here’,” said Khan. Perhaps his dissenters had a point. Until Satyamev Jayate rolled in on Star Plus Middle East,  mainly titillation, glamour with some grime and voyeuristic shows scored big on the small screen. “The success of the show goes to show that an average Indian — cutting across economic and geographical borders — is deeply connected to social issues. This show and its success underline what Indians are made of and what Indians want to watch,” said Khan, adding that he felt a sense of vindication. “The tidal wave of response that has come from episode one to three shows that, in our country, we are eager to have a discourse. We are eager to learn what’s happening around us. There is a hunger to know and that’s what the show is really about.” Catalyst Unwittingly, he has also become a catalyst in bringing about some tangible changes. After he highlighted the issue of female foeticide, village chiefs in Rajasthan were spurred to form a panel to tackle the scourge of female foeticide on their turf. His letter to the government — a plea to pass the Protection Of Sexual Offences Bill — following his episode about sexually-abused children in mid-May almost had an immediate effect. Ten days later, the Indian parliament announced the passing of the bill for greater protection of young victims. But Khan – in his inimitable style – doesn’t take any credit for it. “It’s heartening to see governments act in a pro-active manner. They are not just reacting emotionally, but with pro-active steps. But here you have to understand that this bill has been worked upon by a number of people. I would like to thank various people who have actively worked in the sphere of child-care. The activists, the NGOs [non-government organisations], the childline that has been active for a number of years. These are the people who are responsible for the bill finally being passed.” This rousing speech may be a nod to diplomacy and political correctness but it was said in the most earnest manner. Now the question of whether I have worked in expediting the process. If at all, I have done that then I am happy about that. But let’s not assume any of it,” said Khan. He may shy away from taking all the credit, but he doesn’t hesitate in dubbing his TV show as one “emotional roller-coaster” ride. “Not only for me, but for my entire team. No doubt it has been tough going through various testimonies. It has been quite heartbreaking. But in these traumatic stories, there are some inspiring stories too. The emotions have always been on a high one way or the other,” said Khan, who rattles off the names of each and every member of his core team who brought the show to life. Their mantra: Do your own research. “Our research team was very clear that they wouldn’t believe in anything blindly or rely on what anyone told us or what earlier research showed. We didn’t blindly follow anything because that would mean making assumptions based on that and move ahead. That’s why it took us two years.” Notorious for his perfectionist nature, the producer-anchor says the idea cropped up four years ago and he put two years of his life into the project. Out of the 20 topics that were researched, only 13 issues made it to the editing table. “In the span of these 13 episodes, you will see that all the Indian states have been touched in one way or the other. But that has happened very organically.” His gamble seems to have paid off. Billed as the first show in India to be aired simultaneously on a private channel and the state-owned Doordarshan  network for maximum reach, Khan is enjoying the success derived from his glitz-free proposition.