Aamir Khan On The Cover Of Time Magazine

Innumerable sections of society criticized him and his show “Satyamev Jayate” as sappy, overrated and attention craving. However, Aamir staunchly believed it was part of his social responsibility agenda to bring a positive change in society. His show ran into much chaos and trouble after highlighting sensitive issues like Dowry Deaths, Negligence in the Medical profession, Child Sexual Abuse, Female Foeticide and mostly the degraded and impoverished condition of the lower castes of society.

Time Magazine’s caption reads aloud “Khan’s Quest”. It harps on the significant point that Aamir Khan has indeed turned into a crusader of sorts, working towards a shinning and uplifted Indian society. The TRPs of his show assure that he reached out to almost a third of the Indian population. The good thing about the show, as opposed to many others of its kind, was it made a sincere effort to not only bring to notice the existing flaws of the Indian society but offered a structured mode towards change and how it can be achieved.

After Aamir Khan brought into notice the sting operation conducted by Sahara News seven years back on the illegal practice of female foeticide by doctors of Rajasthan, the State Government put the cases on fast track courts to ensure a speedy verdict on it. He personally had a meeting with Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh to discuss the plighted conditions of manual scavengers in various parts of India. He was invited to the session of Parliament in order to discuss the nuances of Foreign Direct Investment in the field of pharmaceuticals and an overview of Indian Health care.

These were issues which even remotely belong to his professional field at all. Yet, Khan knew his social position and used it in a very fruitful way. Of course When Aamir Khan speaks, the entire nation is bound to hear. He and his team spent a good two years of time just researching in detail about the topics covered in Season 1 of the show.

The show was popular because it not only spoke of hard core facts but involved personal touch brought in due to one to one interviews. The guests on the show brought out the human centric value of the show. And though Times Life on a certain Sunday asked “Why Aamir cries every Sunday”, surely he never regretted those heartfelt tears. With the First Season ending, Sundays have again become mundane for Indian viewers, lazing around without a sense of purpose. Aamir’s show made sure most Indians are glued to their television 11am sharp, every Sunday, discussing meticulously their views on otherwise un-discussed and ignored social issues and informing themselves towards a more enlightened vision of social thinking.