Aamir Khan: Ten Amazing Reasons He’s More than an Actor

By

Aamir Khan: Ten Amazing Reasons He’s More than an Actor

ByNirmalya Dutta

It’s not often that a health website is bothered about a Bollywood star’s birthday but Aamir Khan isn’t a mere Bollywood actor. Quite like Rancho inThree Idiots, he has never been afraid to voice his opinion against injustice or speak up for causes he believed in—irrespective of the consequences or the feathers he ruf fl ed. And he did step on toes with1由短語step on one’s toes變化而來，意為不守規矩、越軌。his television debutSatyamev Jayate. For once, a show didn’t wish to entertain but educate. And educate it did—raising awareness about issues like medical malpractice, gender discrimination, dowry deaths2dowry death〈印度〉新娘因嫁妝不夠而被燒死或逼死。, malnutrition,disability, pesticides and many others.But that’s what Aamir Khan does—in movies and real life—he expands your horizon and opens your eyes the world beyond the mundane. We love him for what he’s done for these issues:

1. Malnutrition

Many of us might think that Aamir’s altruism started withSatyamev Jayatebut he has been fighting for social causes long before the show. He has been a constant voice against malnutrition for a long time and in 2011 was made an official UNICEF ambassador against it. For UNICEF, he shot 40 short films on malnutrition in 18 different languages.

2. Female foeticide

We are a traditional, chauvinist, parochial and misogynist society which has no respect for the girl child andSatyamev Jayate’s fi rst episode had no qualms showing us the ugly truth. The show focused on the disgusting practice of female foeticide and how rampant it is all over India. The episode was path-breaking in the sense that it forced various state3state〈印度〉邦，相當于州或省。and central governments to clamp down on illegal sex determination practices and also led to special fast-track courts being set up to deal with the issue. One hour of Aamir on TV actually made people more aware about the issue than what the government and judiciary had managed in years! Female foeticide and Satyamev Jayate became one of the most popular buzzwords with everyone from netas,netizens to normal people.

3. Child sex abuse

While we thought Aamir had pulled all his punches with the female foeticide episode he went on to touch upon the even more delicate topic of child sex abuse. The episode showed how permeating child sex abuse was and some measures to contain the horrible practice. Since then the child sex abuse bill has been passed in both houses of parliament, which is more gender neutral and seeks harsher punishments against the perpetrators.

4. Medical malpractice

In another SJ episode, Aamir discussed the country’s woeful healthcare scenario and also touched upon the practice of medical malpractice. Of course our doctors were miffed and demanded an apology which the actor refused to give. This particular episode also made generic drugs one of the most popular terms in the country. Aamir Khan and his team were also invited by a Parliamentary Standing Committee to discuss the issue.

5. Fighting for the disabled

The disabled are often called the biggest minority and Aamir looked to high-light the trials and tribulations4trials and tribulations固定搭配，可譯為“艱難困苦”或“考驗和磨煉”等。faced by them in an episode of SJ. It focused on people with physical and mental handicaps and asked people to realise that we can make their lives much better by simply being a bit more considerate and aware of their needs.

6. IVF—Assisted Reproduction Techniques

While this wasn’t a social cause, Aamir made a world of difference by openly admitting to having his son Azad Rao Khan through in-vitro fertilization—an Assisted Reproduction Technique with his wife Kiran Rao. While most celebs would hide information like this Aamir and Kiran had no qualms about telling the world that he had a child through IVF. It also increased awareness about the procedure and fertility clinics all over the country started getting more enquiries about various assisted reproduction techniques.

7. Pesticides and fertilisers

The man also questioned one of India’s biggest triumphs the Green Revolution and showcased how in turn it could have been responsible for the indiscriminate use of pesticides and fertilisers. This has had long term ill-effects on people,fl ora and fauna5flora and fauna泛指動植物。in and around the area.He also popularised the concept of or-ganic farming for a healthier lifestyle.

8. Alcohol abuse

Another societal ill the man targeted with his show was alcohol abuse and the problems it caused like drunken driving, unruly behaviour and other direct ill-effects. He also touched upon the subject that alcoholism was hurting our society and went on to explain the need to support and rehabilitate alcoholics.

9. Safe drinking water

Despite being one of the cradles of civilisation which was nurtured next to a river and being surrounded on three sides by water, its scarcity is a big problem in India. Aamir highlighted our nation’s watery woes and showed us on SJ how the situation was similar in both urban and rural areas. He also highlighted the efforts of various individuals who had taken matters into their own hands to solve the issue with alternative solutions like rainwater harvesting and building reservoirs.

10. Women’s shelter

After fighting for the girl child on the show, Aamir had joined hands with an NGO to build a shelter for women in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.The facility provides short-term shelter, schooling, medical facilities and also provides abandoned girls a home.Though the actor has never gone on record to say how much he donated to the facilities, an insider said that he had given amounts to the tune of Rs 5 crore6Rs=Rupees印度盧比。crore是1000萬盧比。to help build those facilities.

When he was featured onTIME’s cover, the blurb read, “He’s breaking the Bollywood mould by tackling India’s social evils. Can one actor change a nation?” We do believe he can.

一個健康資訊網站對寶萊塢明星的生日通常不太在意，但阿米爾·汗不單單是一個寶萊塢演員。就像《三傻大鬧寶萊塢》中的蘭喬一樣，他從不害怕聲討不公，也敢于為自己所信仰的事業大聲吶喊——不計后果、不怕得罪人。確實，他借助其電視首秀《真相訪談》跨界發聲。這一次，總算有節目不圖娛樂而致力于教育。這檔節目的話題涉及醫療事故、性別歧視、嫁妝致死、營養不良、殘疾、濫用農藥等一系列問題，節目主旨是提升公眾對這些問題的意識，而它確實做到了。這便是阿米爾·汗在電影和現實生活中所做的：擴展人們的視野，讓大家睜眼看到超越世俗的那個世界。我們愛他，是因為他對應對以下問題所做出的貢獻：

1. 營養不良

許多人或許認為阿米爾的利他主義始于《真相訪談》，但實際上他早在做這檔節目之前就一直致力于解決社會問題。長期以來，他持續為解決營養不良發聲，并于2011年成為聯合國兒童基金會（UNICEF）大使，為解決兒童營養不良努力。他用18種語言為UNICEF拍攝了40部關于營養不良的短片。

2. 選擇性墮胎

我們是一個傳統、狹隘、厭惡女性的沙文主義社會，對女童絲毫不尊重，《真相訪談》的第一期毫無疑慮地向我們展示了這丑陋的真相。這期節目集中呈現了令人厭惡的選擇性墮胎行為以及它在印度各地有多猖獗。這一集節目是開創性的，因為在某種意義上它迫使印度各邦和中央政府聯合壓制非法性別選擇，同時也催生了特別的“快速通道”法庭以專門處理這一問題。在人們對該問題的認識上，阿米爾上電視一個小時其實比政府和司法部門多年宣傳的效果好得多！“選擇性墮胎”和“真相訪談”隨即成為網絡熱詞，時常掛在網民和普通民眾嘴邊。

3. 兒童性侵

正當我們認為阿米爾已在選擇性墮胎一期中火力全開，他繼而觸及了更敏感的兒童性虐待問題。這一期展示了兒童性虐待處處可見，還提供了一些遏制這種可怕行為的措施。在那之后，兒童性侵法案在印度國會兩院均獲準通過，這一法案更加性別中立，受害者無論男女，罪犯都將面臨更嚴厲的懲罰。

4. 醫療事故

在另一期節目中，阿米爾討論了整個國家糟糕的醫保情況，并談到了醫療過失。當然，醫生都被惹惱了，要求他道歉，而他表示拒絕。這期節目也讓非專利藥成為印度最流行的名詞之一。阿米爾·汗和他的團隊還受到了議會常務委員會的邀請，共同討論這個問題。

5. 幫助殘障人士

殘疾人常被稱為最大的少數群體，阿米爾希望用一期《真相訪談》突出展現他們所面臨的艱難困苦。本期聚焦身、心殘障人士，讓人們明白，只要多一點點關心、多考慮一下他們的需求，就能讓他們的生活改善許多。

6. 體外受精——輔助生殖技術

并非出于社會原因，阿米爾公開承認他與妻子基蘭·拉奧通過體外受精——一種輔助生殖技術——得到了兒子阿扎德·拉奧·汗，可謂意義重大。雖然大多數名人都會隱瞞這種事，但基蘭和阿米爾毫不避諱地公之于眾：他有個通過體外受精降生的孩子。此事還增進了人們對該技術的認識，而全國各地的生育診所也開始有更多的人咨詢各種輔助生殖技術。

7. 殺蟲劑和化肥

這個男人甚至質疑印度最大的勝利之一——綠色革命，他向人們展示，反而是綠色革命造成過度使用殺蟲劑和化肥的現象，這對當地和周邊地區的居民和動植物貽害無窮。同時，他還將有機農業更健康的理念播撒到人們心中。

8. 酒精濫用

他的節目瞄準的又一個社會問題是酗酒及其后果，比如酒后駕車、酒后失態以及酗酒直接造成的不良影響。他還提到，酗酒正在危害我們的社會，并繼續解釋了幫助和治療酗酒者的必要性。

9. 飲水安全

盡管印度是文明搖籃之一，守著一條河流且三面環水，但缺水卻是印度的一大問題。阿米爾強調了印度的用水危機，通過節目向我們展示了城市和農村的境況何其相似。他還突出展示了各色人等做出的種種努力，這些人用自己的方式靈活解決這個問題，比如收集雨水和建造水庫等。

10. 女性庇護所

在節目中為女童發聲后，阿米爾與一個非政府組織攜手，為女性建立了一個避難所，位于馬哈拉施特拉邦的艾哈邁德訥格爾地區。該庇護所提供短期住宿、學校教育、醫療設施，還收留被遺棄的女孩。盡管阿米爾從未公開透露自己向這些機構捐款多少，但一位知情人士透露，他已經投入了總計5000萬盧比的資金來幫助建造那些設施。

當他登上《時代》周刊的封面時，宣傳語是：“他打破了寶萊塢的既定模式，轉而去解決印度的社會弊病。單單一個演員能改變一個國家嗎？”我們確信他可以。

阿米爾·汗：不僅僅是個演員

文/尼爾馬利亞·杜塔譯/李婧萍

（譯者單位：清華大學附屬中學）