| Aamir Khan seems to have become a source of inspiration for 10-year-old child actor Tanay Chheda (last seen as Arjun Rampal's son in Farhan Akhtar's Don), who plays a polio-affected child in Taare Zameen Par. Apparently, the illustrious actor has been encouraging Tanay to pursue his filmmaking aspirations.
Interestingly, Tanay, who is a sixth standard student of Campion School, has already got a script in place and intends to seek assistance from Khan and Taare Zameen Par's director Amole Gupte. Talking about his film Tanay says, "I wanted to make a film revolving around the troubles that teenagers face today. I wasn't too sure about the feasibility of the film. So I just happened to narrate the concept to Aamir and he immediately gave a nod. I have been writing the script for a while now. As for the screenplay, I have to ask Aamir and Amole to help me out as I'm not aware of the format to be followed."
Apparently, increasing reports on teenage drug abuse, alarming suicide rates and peer pressure prompted the child actor to make a film. Tanay blames "sick music videos and television shows" for it. "Teenagers often indulge in 'adult stuff' after getting inspired form videos and other television shows. But they don't realise that they're not matured to handle such stuff," he says.
The child actor who's a part of Raell Padmasee's theatre group had a modest start at the age of four with the popular play Oliver. This was followed by a short stint on television, which was restricted to television commercials before he grabbed his favourite director Farhan Akhtar's film. Interestingly, Tanay was in the run in for the central character in Taare Zameen Par, which finally went to Darsheel Safary. However, director Amole Gupte felt that he lacks the "naughty streak". His mother Tejal adds, "The other kid suited the character better. But they created another character for him in the film. Aamir Khan has been a thorough gentleman. He even met Tanay's principal (of Campion School) and got permission for Tanay to shoot for him."
It was while filming in Panchghani little Tanay got a taste of partying. The occasion was Kiran Rao's birthday. Tanay informs that the child actors in the film had contributed to pick up non-alcoholic champagne. "Kiran is beautiful. I think she is one of the best people I have met so far. We went partying on her birthday as well as on the New Year's eve," he says. However, he refuses to divulge any details about the length of his role. "I'm playing this polio-stricken school kid," he says. Tanay had broken down on the sets while enacting a sequence that required him to stare helplessly at his peers who jump around and play.
Ask him to take a pick between Aamir and Shah Rukh and a confused Tanay says, "Unlike Shah Rukh I have closely interacted with Aamir. But both are very warm, kind and cool. I really like both of them." |
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
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