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

2018-01-04By

英语世界 2017年10期

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由短语step on one’s toes变化而来，意为不守规矩、越轨。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〉新娘因嫁妆不够而被烧死或逼死。, 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，相当于州或省。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，可译为“艰难困苦”或“考验和磨炼”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泛指动植物。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印度卢比。crore是1000万卢比。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.

一个健康资讯网站对宝莱坞明星的生日通常不太在意，但阿米尔·汗不单单是一个宝莱坞演员。就像《三傻大闹宝莱坞》中的兰乔一样，他从不害怕声讨不公，也敢于为自己所信仰的事业大声呐喊——不计后果、不怕得罪人。确实，他借助其电视首秀《真相访谈》跨界发声。这一次，总算有节目不图娱乐而致力于教育。这档节目的话题涉及医疗事故、性别歧视、嫁妆致死、营养不良、残疾、滥用农药等一系列问题，节目主旨是提升公众对这些问题的意识，而它确实做到了。这便是阿米尔·汗在电影和现实生活中所做的：扩展人们的视野，让大家睁眼看到超越世俗的那个世界。我们爱他，是因为他对应对以下问题所做出的贡献：

1. 营养不良

许多人或许认为阿米尔的利他主义始于《真相访谈》，但实际上他早在做这档节目之前就一直致力于解决社会问题。长期以来，他持续为解决营养不良发声，并于2011年成为联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）大使，为解决儿童营养不良努力。他用18种语言为UNICEF拍摄了40部关于营养不良的短片。

2. 选择性堕胎

我们是一个传统、狭隘、厌恶女性的沙文主义社会，对女童丝毫不尊重，《真相访谈》的第一期毫无疑虑地向我们展示了这丑陋的真相。这期节目集中呈现了令人厌恶的选择性堕胎行为以及它在印度各地有多猖獗。这一集节目是开创性的，因为在某种意义上它迫使印度各邦和中央政府联合压制非法性别选择，同时也催生了特别的“快速通道”法庭以专门处理这一问题。在人们对该问题的认识上，阿米尔上电视一个小时其实比政府和司法部门多年宣传的效果好得多！“选择性堕胎”和“真相访谈”随即成为网络热词，时常挂在网民和普通民众嘴边。

3. 儿童性侵

正当我们认为阿米尔已在选择性堕胎一期中火力全开，他继而触及了更敏感的儿童性虐待问题。这一期展示了儿童性虐待处处可见，还提供了一些遏制这种可怕行为的措施。在那之后，儿童性侵法案在印度国会两院均获准通过，这一法案更加性别中立，受害者无论男女，罪犯都将面临更严厉的惩罚。

4. 医疗事故

在另一期节目中，阿米尔讨论了整个国家糟糕的医保情况，并谈到了医疗过失。当然，医生都被惹恼了，要求他道歉，而他表示拒绝。这期节目也让非专利药成为印度最流行的名词之一。阿米尔·汗和他的团队还受到了议会常务委员会的邀请，共同讨论这个问题。

5. 帮助残障人士

残疾人常被称为最大的少数群体，阿米尔希望用一期《真相访谈》突出展现他们所面临的艰难困苦。本期聚焦身、心残障人士，让人们明白，只要多一点点关心、多考虑一下他们的需求，就能让他们的生活改善许多。

6. 体外受精——辅助生殖技术

并非出于社会原因，阿米尔公开承认他与妻子基兰·拉奥通过体外受精——一种辅助生殖技术——得到了儿子阿扎德·拉奥·汗，可谓意义重大。虽然大多数名人都会隐瞒这种事，但基兰和阿米尔毫不避讳地公之于众：他有个通过体外受精降生的孩子。此事还增进了人们对该技术的认识，而全国各地的生育诊所也开始有更多的人咨询各种辅助生殖技术。

7. 杀虫剂和化肥

这个男人甚至质疑印度最大的胜利之一——绿色革命，他向人们展示，反而是绿色革命造成过度使用杀虫剂和化肥的现象，这对当地和周边地区的居民和动植物贻害无穷。同时，他还将有机农业更健康的理念播撒到人们心中。

8. 酒精滥用

他的节目瞄准的又一个社会问题是酗酒及其后果，比如酒后驾车、酒后失态以及酗酒直接造成的不良影响。他还提到，酗酒正在危害我们的社会，并继续解释了帮助和治疗酗酒者的必要性。

9. 饮水安全

尽管印度是文明摇篮之一，守着一条河流且三面环水，但缺水却是印度的一大问题。阿米尔强调了印度的用水危机，通过节目向我们展示了城市和农村的境况何其相似。他还突出展示了各色人等做出的种种努力，这些人用自己的方式灵活解决这个问题，比如收集雨水和建造水库等。

10. 女性庇护所

在节目中为女童发声后，阿米尔与一个非政府组织携手，为女性建立了一个避难所，位于马哈拉施特拉邦的艾哈迈德讷格尔地区。该庇护所提供短期住宿、学校教育、医疗设施，还收留被遗弃的女孩。尽管阿米尔从未公开透露自己向这些机构捐款多少，但一位知情人士透露，他已经投入了总计5000万卢比的资金来帮助建造那些设施。

当他登上《时代》周刊的封面时，宣传语是：“他打破了宝莱坞的既定模式，转而去解决印度的社会弊病。单单一个演员能改变一个国家吗？”我们确信他可以。