Has Aamir Khan backed out of Gulshan Kumar's biopic Mogul? Here's the truth

There are rumours floating around that after the failure of Laal Singh Chaddha, Aamir Khan has opted out of the biopic on music baron Gulshan Kumar, credited with making film music affordable for the common man in the 1990s.

And therein lies the problem. In order to bring down the consumer price of film music, Gulshan Kumar was known to adopt unconventional methods, also, he was brutally murdered and the killer is still absconding. All of this does not quite add up to ideal biopic material. Considering the controversial unorthodox nature of Gulshan Kumar’s work-methods, no A-lister is willing to touch the project.

The biopic was first offered to Akshay Kumar, who returned the signing amount after saying yes, apparently after being informed about Gulshan Kumar’s controversial past. The film’s producer Bhushan Kumar, coincidentally the biopic subject’s son, loftily declared that he would get an “even bigger” star than Akshay Kumar to play Gulshan Kumar.

Apparently, Salman Khan was approached to play Gulshan Kumar. Salman demurred. Understandably so: it would have been like Anuradha Paudwal playing Asha Bhosle in a biopic.

This is where Aamir Khan came into the picture. He initially agreed to play Gulshan Kumar in the biopic, ambitiously titled Mogul. But then, in a classic case of cold feet, Aamir opted of the starring role. Instead, he agreed to co-produce the film along with Bhushan Kumar’s T Series.

This is where the project now stands. To therefore suggest that there is a link between the failure of Laal Singh Chaddha with the non-happening status of the Gulshan Kumar biopic is to connect two completely unrelated catastrophes.

Catastrophe is what the Gulshan biopic seems to be. Unless the music baron’s son Bhushan agrees to play his father, the project stands as good as shelved.

Another angle to the misbegotten biopic is the directorial angle. The MeToo accused director Subhash Kapoor was ousted from the biopic on music mogul Gulshan Kumar, and Aamir Khan, who would not work with the tainted director, slipped back in. However, Aamir had not agreed to star in the Gulshan Kumar biopic, only co-produce it.

Apparently, Bhushan Kumar also wants Aamir to direct Mogul. Right now, Aamir is reluctant to do so. But Bhushan can be extremely persuasive, especially with the zeros on the cheque. If Aamir agrees to direct the Gulshan Kumar biopic, the project is bound to become much bigger than planned. Let’s wait and watch.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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