Aamir Khan surprised everyone at the DVD launch of PK on Wednesday by unconditionally apologising for the furore the film caused among certain religious groups when it released in December last year. “Even if one person’s sentiment is hurt by watching PK, it disturbs me and I apologise for that. That was not our intention. This is my personal opinion not Raju or Vinod’s”, the actor said, speaking to the media in Mumbai. The film’s director Rajkumar Hirani and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra were also present at the launch.
The actor went on to say that he however stood by the message PK had to give and added that the Rs 500 crore plus net business of the film worldwide shows “clearly the film has been loved by a majority and that’s why it has been so successful.”
Aamir also showed his spiritual bent of mind by quoting one of the fundamental doctrines of Jainism, “Anekantavada”, to stress on his point about multiplicity of viewpoints. He said, “I agree that your thought may be completely different from ours. And yet, we believe that its possible that if I keep my mind open – you may be right and I may be wrong. I don’t agree with you right now but I accept that your opinion is as valid as mine. You have as much right to your point of view as me.”
Aamir however condemned attacks by certain right wing groups on theatres screening PK last year, he said, “When a film has been censored and has gone through due process after that when people attack theatres, break glasses then they are breaking law.”
The perfectionist also put forward his thoughts on the censorship versus freedom of speech debate at the event by saying, “I believe there should not be any kind of censorship. At the same time we should not misuse this freedom and use it responsibly. We should discuss these things in public forums, in our homes, colleges and institutes. Freedom of speech should not die. We must as Indians protect this very important right that we all have.”
When asked, since PK has broken the box-office record of the Raju Hirani - Aamir Khan -Vinod Chopra combination’s earlier outing 3 Idiots, if a sequel is on the cards? Hirani referred to the film’s co-writer Abhijat Joshi and replied, “Abhijat says he is writing it so once that’s done, we will figure.”
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