Aamir promotes film by making fun of himself

When it comes to promoting a movie, Aamir Khan is par excellance. He proves his expertise once again by playing pranks on himself to promote his forthcoming production 'Peepli Live'.

"It's a prank on me. It's slightly new style of promoting a film. We are hoping it stands out in terms of marketing, as the film has no stars," Aamir told reporters before unveiling the promo in Mumbai today (July 1).

The promo shows a reporter filing from a village named Peepli about the film. He is standing in front of a makeshift stall selling chips and biscuits. The products are named 'Gajni' and 'Amir Khan' (both spelt wrong) and have Aamir's picture on the wrap.

The reporter says: "…Let's see whether the film becomes a hit or Aamir will live his life selling wafers, biscuits and chips of his name."

Once the camera is switched off, the reporter pokes fun at Aamir, saying: "Bhaiya roj roj nehi banti 'Lagaan', pagal ho gaya hai, kuchh bhi banata hai. ('Lagaan' is not made everyday, (Aamir) has gone mad, he just makes anything)".

"The last line was added by me in the promo. We thought that for marketing, we would come out with these promos that are the media's point of view. It is a series of 10 to 12 promos. There is a high level of humour and all the actors are staying true to their characters," said Aamir.

"The chips and biscuit packets named 'Gajni' and 'Amir Khan' were actually being sold where they were shooting for the film in a small village close to Bhopal.

"When Anusha (director Anusha Rizvi) was shooting in a village outside Bhopal, people gathered around and it was almost a fun fare for them. There they were actually selling wafers, chips and biscuits with names Gajni and Amir Khan. Anusha shot them and she thought of putting them in the film. But it was not fitting in the film, so we thought of making promo on it," said Aamir.

'Peepli Live' is the fourth film from Aamir Khan Productions Ltd after "Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India" (2001), "Taare Zameen Par"(2007) and "Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na"(2008).

Aamir also clarified that Rizvi's directorial debut is not on farmer's suicides. "It's a satire about society. It actually raises the issue of the growing divide between urban and rural India. But the story is said in a very humourous way."

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