Happy Birthday Aamir Khan,

I think you’re financially and creatively one of the most astute minds in Bollywood. Not only are your films blockbusters, they are also revered by critics and the classes. Take for example Dangal, where you were content playing a supporting role because the story demanded it. Or PK, where you perfected the Bhojpuri accent and had a stunned look on your face throughout the film. 

While watching these performances, we forget about all your previous films or your star status, and invest emotionally in the character we’re watching. Who can forget the last scene in Lagaan where a no-ball gives you an opportunity to hit a six. With sweat beads on your forehead, and tension in your veins, you hit a superb shot in the air that gets caught (but fortunately behind the boundary rope). It’s a case of deus ex machina being employed as a plot device, but we don’t mind it. We believe that it’s possible, and we feel elated as if it has happened for real. Even in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, the cycle race towards the end of the movie makes us bite our nails even now.  

And who can forget your role as a sensitive teacher in Taare Zameen Par. You reduced us to tears with that film, extracting a once-in-a-lifetime performance from Darsheel Safary. They call you Mr. Perfectionist for a reason, given your consistency in delivering good films. But in an interview with The Indian Express, you revealed that you didn’t like the title. “I am not a perfectionist. Perfection doesn’t exist in real life. It’s a wrong title for me. When am doing a scene I am looking for the heart of moment. A scene should have that magic. If I get that magic, the shot is complete for me. I will not go into the technical details. Am passionate about acting. So I should be called Mr Passionate and not Mr Perfectionist,” you said. 

Indeed, your passion shows. That said, you are not without your faults. You’ve done flaky films that left us fuming, because we expect so much better from you. 

Let’s take a look at these films. 

Dhoom 3

Considering we’re used to Hollywood action films, this one looked contrived and lame. It may have made money, but it will not stand the litmus test of time. And fade away as one of your lesser known films. 

Ghajini

A lot of people liked this film, but there were way too many Memento references in it.  The whole film was ridiculously over the top by your standards, and we would certainly not like to see you in another South Indian action film’s remake. That said, we have to admit that your body transformation was magical. 

Awwal Number

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S82FdRXMEGg

This cricket film was as bad as Lagaan was good. Need we say more? 

Mela

The film that ended Twinkle Khanna’s desire to be an actress (she said that on a Koffee With Karan episode), since it failed miserably at the box-office, Mela was replete with bad scenes and bad acting. 

Dhobi Ghaat

I saw this film in a theatre and I have to say I didn’t understand it. Not because it was nuancced and layered, but because it was bizarre and wafer-thin.