Khan’s TV show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ earns him more accolades.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The America Abroad Media (AAM) will hold its Inaugural Awards Dinner next month in Washington, DC, and one of the three honorees at the event will be none other than actor Aamir Khan.
The AAM is seeking to honor individuals whose work, they feel, “exemplifies the power of media to inform, educate and empower citizens about the critical social and public policy issues of our time.”
Khan is being honored for his work on the television show Satyamev Jayate (“Truth Alone Prevails”), a talk-show in which Khan sheds light on social problems in India that often get overlooked or ignored altogether by the Indian bureaucracy. Topics that the show has tackled over its 14-episode run include female infanticide, the dowry system, honor killings, the prevalence of the caste system, pesticide poisonings, and sexual abuse towards children.
The show even went the extra step of having special screenings held in poverty-stricken villages across India, so those with no access to television could still view the program – this was especially important because, more often than not, the show’s messages were aimed at poor rural areas such as these.
Khan is best known for his Bollywood films, which combine mass entertainment appeal with subtle social and cultural commentary. His 2009 film 3 Idiots was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time until last month, and many of his films – such as Talaash (“Search”) (2012), Taare Zameen Par (“Stars on Earth”) (2007), and Lagaan (“Tax”) (2001), which received India’s most recent Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film – are routinely considered among the best in their respective years and deal with issues like prostitution, autism, and the subjugation of the poor.
The other honorees at the Dinner will be Hollywood director Kathryn Bigelow and The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC).
Bigelow is the Academy Award-winning director of last year’s Zero Dark Thirty, the controversial film that detailed the CIA’s decade-long pursuit of Osama Bin Laden, and the 2009 film The Hurt Locker, which won six Academy Awards including Best Picture of the Year. The Hurt Locker also made Bigelow the first (and thus far only) woman ever to receive the Academy Award for Best Director. Her films often deal with the military, government, and terrorism, and are known for their graphic and realistic depictions of violence.
The ICNC is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization. Founded in 2002, the ICNC aims to explore and implement non-violent strategies in defense of human rights and basic civil liberties around the world. Their work has been noted in crises throughout Africa and Asia.
The Dinner, which will take place on October 28th, will be moderated by Ann Hornaday, the renowned film critic for The Washington Post. Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao will also be in attendance, as a co-chair. Ashok Kumar Mipuri, the Ambassador from Singapore, will also be present.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com