Film Industry: AAMIR VISITS ‘CRIME WRITING HUB’ MEERUT

AAMIR VISITS ‘CRIME WRITING HUB’ MEERUT

On Monday afternoon, as he headed out of Delhi aiport, on arrival from Jaipur and made his way to Meerut, Aamir Khan explained why he was heading there. “What I have learnt about Meerut, fascinated me. That place is apparently a hotbed of crime. And I don’t know whether as an offshoot of that, or because good writers originated from there, it is also the pulp fiction centre of our country. It is the city that used to publish the maximum number of crime thriller books in Hindi at one point in time, and was the hub of crime writing. I want to see if that is so even today,” he said.
Halfway through, Aamir was given police protection — and a UP police jeep led our cars. News of Abdul Hakim’s death had begun to spread and on our return, we were chased by youngsters on bikes till the outskirts of Meerut We also learnt that Aamir was also going to take time out from his packed schedule to meet the SSP of Meerut and have a word with him regarding the case. When we reached our destination the crowd was already waiting. Also waiting were some of Meerut’s famous pulp fiction writers. One of the most prominent of them, Ved Prakash Sharma, whose novels have also been adapted into movies (like Sabse Bada Khiladi), was immediately recognised by Aamir — who recollected meeting Ved way back in 1995-96. “Meerut ko crime capital kaha jaata hai. Way back, when I was the editor of a magazine based on real incidents in the city, I realised that most of the crimes happen because of avaid sambandh and property. All our stories came from there. Purane zamane mein, yahan ek gali hoti thi — of crime thriller publishing houses,” said Sharma, who has written 176-odd books so far, including the bestseller, Vardiwala Goonda. “So, is this genre fading out?”, Aamir asked. Vedji had a point, “These days, English novels are called bestsellers even if they sell one lakh copies. But this novel of mine sold 17 lakh copies, and still, it never comes into the mainstream count, because it is in the vernacular. It is not like we don’t sell, but the status quo should change. We should respect our own writers.” Aamir listened intently, even as he glanced
through some novels. He said, “Even in Hindi movies, the suspense genre is missing these days. We had some great ones way back —
Mahal,
Madhumati,
Bees Saal Baad
— ab woh daur khatam ho gaya. I was fascinated by these movies.” And books? “I wasn’t so much into the James Hadley Chase genre of books, but I loved jasoosi upanyas as a genre. Agatha Christie, and Robert Ludlum,” he said. Soon, the SSP walked in and there was a quiet request, the crowd outside was swelling beyond manageable proportions... Aamir took the cue, said he was ready to leave, but not before telling Vedji to ensure he sent two of his best books to his office, for him to read and see if they can be adapted to films. Aamir’s talaash continues....

WE NEVER AIRED HAKIM’S STORY Aamir was incessantly asked about Abdul Hakim. He had this to say, “When I heard about Abdul’s death, I was pained, I was disturbed, ab bhi hoon. But I would like to clarify that we never aired Abdul’s story. But yes, while researching for the show, I, my team had spoken to him, and I had seen the recorded part, jo unki aapbeeti thi, mein ussey waqif hoon. Tape pe interview dekh chuka tha unka. He had told us ke woh dare huey hain, aur unka darr kya hai. What has happened is terrible, and there is this expectation to do something from me. But what can I do? I am not the authority. I can only appeal, and that I am doing, and will continue to do. I have met the Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police, and have told him the criminals must be caught and punished, and that Abdul ke bachche aur parivar ki hifazat ki jaye.