If ever there was a King Khan, then it is undoubtedly Aamir Khan. The man has given us not as many movies as his contemporaries, but definitely he has given us many more masterpieces. After a dream deview with QSQT and a horrible run that ended with Dil, he has made on the average 1-2 movies per year. But we remember all of them. Reason? He has done movies worth remembering in last 11-12 years (with the exception of Mela).
Picking of 5 for him is very difficult for this simple reason. I have tried to capture his versatile personality with 5 facets of human feelings: Love, Hate, Humour, Sorrow and Courage.
Love:
He has depicted love wonderfully in many of the movies. He made entry with a youthful romantic movie (QSQT) and backed that up with another romantic hit in 2-3 years? time (Dil). He has been a lovable chocolate hero in movies like Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, Ishq, Sarfarosh etc. But the most memorable one has been Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahin. True, this is a remake of an English movie, which was already copied in Hindi. But still, Aamir Khan brought some fresh and new air in this movie. As the journalist in search of a fresh story, he has brought meaning to every action that he made.
Hate:
Aamir has not done many action movies (though Rakh was great). But there was one movie, where he has brought out the hatred in a human being in a fashion that you feel like killing him in the end. The movie was 1947: Earth by Meera Nair. As the third angle in love triangle, the desperation and hatred in the man has been expressed by him without uttering a word. I mean, we have not seen him killing either his friend or his beloved, but still just the sight of him in the end is good enough to boil the blood. That?s what is called as performance.
Humour:
Aamir has brought in touches of comedy into many of his characters. From the raw comedy of Ishq to the subtle and sophisticated humour in Dil Chahta Hai, he has done it all. However, the movie that stands out is definitely Andaz Aapna Aapna. The role of street smart Amar, who is constantly busy taking his friend Prem for a ride and gets the victim of his own smartness is memorable. The witty oneliners (like do dost ek hi cup se chaaye piyenge) and the funny actions (like the Tilu, trying to regain his memory) sent laughter pangs among the audience.
Sorrow:
I can not think of any movie, that can be termed as a downright tragedy movie of Aamir. There have been characters, which have gone deep into sorrow as a part of the movie, like in Dil Chahta Hai, Mann, Dil etc. The one movie that stands out is Akele Hum Akele Tum. The story of a couple, both of whom are longing for success and they end up with a divorce. The struggle that follows, the desperation of a father to bring up a motherless child, the loneliness of a man which he is too proud to share, are all depicted by a solitary man: Aamir Khan.
Courage:
Through his characters, he has shown courage to die for his love (QSQT), he has shown the love and courage for his motherland (Sarfarosh) and he has also shown courage for the rights of someone else (Mela). But the movie that stands out, as far as performance and film as such goes, is Lagaan. The role of Bhuvan was not simply a character? it was symbol of the hope, aspiration, trust and courage of the entire village. A man, had he fallen, it would have been calamity. But Bhuvan stood tall among all the ruins and his self beliefe made the seemingly impossible to turn into reality. Probably this is the best characterization we have seen of late and a performance which overshadows everybody else..