I'm an obsessive actor: Aamir Khan

This may well be one of Aamir Khan's busiest birthdays. He is shooting for Reema Kagti's suspense thriller, bulking up for Aditya Chopra' s Dhoom-3 and getting ready to release Belly. He's also learning to swim, speak Marathi more fluently and planning to enroll in a cooking class. In a quick Q & A, the actor confesses to his current highs. So who is it with you in Dhoom-3 Priyanka Chopra or Deepika Padukone? Dhoom-3 will roll in January 2012. building my physique for it from now on. And why are you assuming that I'm involved in the casting. Aditya Chopra and Vijay Acharya Krishna (Victor) will select the heroine. I have no say in the matter. In an Aamir film, Aamir normally has all the say... Yaar nahin, I'm only an actor on set. I'm an obsessive actor but nothing more. Right now, I'm totally preoccupied with Reema's film. It is a genre that neither I nor anyone else has dabbled in for a long time. It's also got a strong emotional core. And, it has no title? Yeah, if someone gives me a title for Reema's film, it will be the best birthday gift I receive today. Heard you are learning to swim? Yes, in fact I've enrolled for swimming lessons with Mickey Mehta. I have to swim in Reema's film. Actually I'm very excited about this one. After 3- Idiots this is my next film. I was in Dhobi Ghaat, but it was more Kiran's movie. You also have conversations only in Marathi? With my staff I only speak in Marathi. My teacher Suhas Limaye says that it is the best way to polish my language. I have poor language skills; I'm a little slow but I am thoroughly enjoying speaking the language. What's this cooking thing you are getting into? Cooking is also something I want to learn. Honestly, I haven't started. One hears Kiran and you have moved into your mother' s house? Yes, Kiran and I are now sleeping in the bedroom where I spent my childhood. My mother has come to live in my building; Kiran and I have moved upstairs to her home. Our things are still in our home downstairs but we sleep and wake up in mom's house. After pack up, I go straight to mom's house and I am with her till bedtime. What according to you is your biggest achievement in the year gone by? I have given the industry two women directors-Anusha Rizvi (Peepli Live) and Kiran Rao (Dhobi Ghat). I've supported talent that I believe in and I have also shown that art house movies which earlier collected two-three crores can collect as much as 15 crore-plus. Is Delhi Belly also art-house? No. It is a kameena commercial film. Are Shah Rukh, Salman and you still the front-runners? I don't know about being number 1 or 2 ; I'm excited about my success. My fans are happy to see everything that I put out there in the market. That's immensely gratifying. Do you feel any different at 46 than you felt at 40 ? Frankly, age is just a number. Physically, no one can counter age; to me it has never mattered. Goals can be achieved even when you are 90. The audience doesn't ask an actor's age when it comes to seeing his film.

'Sallu, SRK face to face at Aamir's bash'

Aamir Khan has done something that will certainly raise a lot of eyebrows. He is extremely fond of his bhanja, Imran Khan , for whom he is hosting a wedding reception party at Taj Land's End on February 5. The party will be special for how many warring factions will be under one roof though. Aamir has personally invited sibling rivals Mukesh and Anil Ambani. If that is not enough, he has personally invited Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan; everyone knows the equation between these two. A source says, "Aamir has always wanted Salman and Shah Rukh to patch up. If you recall, he spent the entire night shuttling between Mannat (SRK's residence) and Galaxy (Salman's residence) when their fight took place at Katrina Kaif's birthday party two years ago. This could be just the occasion he might go the extra mile and make them warm up to one another." And what if either of them don't attend or come at different timings? "How can that be ascertained now?" said the source. "Of course, most people from the industry have been invited. Add this to Imran and Avantika's close family members and the guest list looks rather impressive." Come to think of it, it's isn't as if Aamir and SRK as the best of buddies. But then again, this is patch-up season...

Berlin hosts Khan after Khan

Indian cinema fans in Europe are basking in the company of Khan after Khan and they can't believe their luck. First, it was Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan who spent three months in Berlin and now Aamir Khan arrives here early next month . Aamir will be here as a member of the international jury of the 61 st Berlinale that opens Feb 10. "It's not that we are in the habit of collecting Khans. But we greatly admire the work of both Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan and are totally excited that Aamir will be with us this year," Dorothee Wenner, Berlinale's special representative for Indian cinema, told IANS. Wenner says the festival has admired Aamir as a producer and actor for many years and has been trying to get him to participate in the Berlinale for a long time. "Of course, it is not enough to want Aamir in our midst. It is about schedules and whether he is free from work to be part of the Berlinale. The logistics were always a problem. Aamir's work schedule did not allow him to be part of the Berlinale earlier. We are very happy that he is with us this year," Wenner said. Festival director Dieter Kosslick saw Aamir's " Peepli Live" at the last Berlinale and liked the film so much that Wenner was asked to work overtime to make sure that Aamir participated in the event this year. "I think it is great that such a versatile filmmaker is on the Berlinale jury. He knows every aspect of filmmaking, from acting, to directing and, of course, producing. I hope he will stay in that last role in the coming years because it means we can look forward to more unusual and surprising Hindi films. Also, if you look at the way he promotes his projects, I would want him as a producer if I were to make a film," Gerlinde Seitner from the Austrian Film Institute told IANS. It is Wenner who first introduced Shah Rukh to audiences here and now she is very happy to host Aamir. Shah Rukh first participated in the Berlinale with "Om Shanti Om" in 2008. Berliners still recall how Shah Rukh had stopped traffic in the German capital with his charming ways. He was again at the Berlinale in 2010 for the world premiere of his last film "My Name Is Khan" and spent the last three months of the last year filming for Farhan Akhtar's "Don 2 ", which is partly shot in Berlin. Berliners are thrilled that one Khan has barely left the city when Aamir will soon be with them. The Bollywood participation at this year's Berlinale includes the world premiere of "7 Khoon Maaf". It has been selected for screening in the Panorama special section that picks cinema on the basis of innovative narrative styles and unusually critical images of society. Audiences will watch the film in the company of director Vishal Bharadwaj, producer Ronnie Srewvalla and leading lady Priyanka Chopra. Priyanka fans look forward to her return to Berlin after having feasted on her presence just a few months ago when she was in the city shooting for "Don 2 ". Another Indian film is "Gandu" by Kaushik Mukherjee and Om Puri's "West is West" will also be screened. Award winning Shekhar Kapur will bring no film to the festival but he will join a panel for discussions with production designer Alex Mcdowell and others on "Play as Process: World building and New Ways to Imagine". Berlinale is one of the most prestigious film festivals and the international jury led this year by Italian actress Isabella Rossellini is the last word on which lucky film director gets to take home the Golden and Silver Bears at the end of the 11- day gala which concludes Feb 20. The other members on the international jury along with Aamir are producer Jan Chapman, actress Nina Hoss, director Guy Maddin , costume designer Sandy Powell and Iranian director Jafar Panahi.

I still find all roles hard to do: Aamir

Aamir Khan looks effortlessly comfortable in every character he plays onscreen whether it is the police officer of " Sarfarosh " or the painter in his latest " Dhobi Ghat ". But the actor says he still finds it difficult to get into the skin of a character even after two decades in Bollywood. "I'm yet to find a role (that is) easy, all roles are hard and it's hard to get into the skin of another person. It's hard to understand the mind of another person because you are very much what you are and when you have to become someone else, it's very important to understand what you are becoming and have an ability to slip into that," Aamir told. "So I don't find it that easy, no matter which character I'm playing," Aamir said.