But the Khan who takes quite a lot of interest in the making of the film refuses to take much of the credit. He prefers to remain calm and sanguine. Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt had asked Aamir to choose between two roles, one of a blind major in Dushman or that of the tapori in Ghulam.

Aamir's choice proved right. "I am an actor, not a magician. I do not know which film will run and which won't. I never knew that Raja Hindustani would prove to be such a great hit as it finally turned out to be. It has been my luck, that even Ishq was a hit and now it is Ghulam. I just take into account, the script, my role and the director. If I am satisfied with all three, I go ahead with the film," he says.

Then how did he choose to work with a flop director like Vikram Bhatt who has made films like Madhhosh, Gunehgaar, Jaanam among others? "I know that Vikram had not given a single hit till Fareb is well. But flops do not imply that he is not a capable director."

According to Aamir, Vikram is a very good director. "That is the reason why we asked him to direct Madhhosh to launch my brother Faisal Khan. Moreover when Ghulam started, Mahesh Bhatt was the director of the film. But then he was too busy and Vikram had to take over and he did a pretty decent job."

But when Madhosh bit the dust Aamir shelved a home production with Faisal which was to be directed by Vikram Bhatt. "It's true that we had planned such a film, but then, since it was a question of Faisal's career, we decided to play safe and did not want to do it on a home production. And since Mela with Dharmesh Darshan was happening, we decided that Faisal would not do any other film outside," Aamir explains

Aamir also did a first with Ghulam. He debuted as a singer in the film. "Yeah, that was nice. The song 'Ati Kya Khandala' is a hit now. Everyone is singing it. I am quite happy about it. But believe me, when the film started, we had not planned it at all. I was never told that I am singing the song. One day Vikram came to me and said that I have to sing the song as it had to suit the situation. I am not a trained singer and do not know much about singing. Still I sang it. The song is a hit. That's all I know. Another thing is that I did not commit a mistake by singing the song."

"He's not the kind of fellow who's permitted inside (the house). With his thuggish way of inhaling from the stinking cigarettes clenched in his fist, his flashy scarves and reek of jasmine attar, he represents a shady, almost disreputable type."

This is how Lenny, a five-year old Parsi girl, the narrator in Bapsi Sidhwa's novel Ice-Candy-Man describes the Ice-Candy-Man. The novel has been captured on celluloid by filmmaker Deepa Mehta; with Aamir playing the 'shady', almost disreputable type, 'Dilnanwaz'. A bold move for there is very little that is likeable about the smooth-talking supplicating and thoroughly opportunistic peddler of Ice-candy. What prompted him to accept such a role?

"When I read the script the first time, I was very disturbed. The story just zapped me," reveals Aamir. "And I hated the role I was to play. But that was my reaction as a reader. As an actor, I was excited. The Ice-Candy Man is very different from what I am, and it was a challenge for me to understand the working of Dilnawaz's mind. His actions may look unreasonable to me, as a reader, but to him his actions have their own logic. He is very charming, street-smart rogue who goes beserk when certain events take place. As an actor I had to empathise with his feelings. I had to act with complete conviction without getting judgmental about him."

Undoubtedly, a challenging , exciting role but for an actor from the mainstream cinema wasn't it a risk to play a character who is almost revolting in some of the scenes? "I don't look at things from that point of view. It never even occurred to me that I was taking a risk. Seen through the unbiased eyes of an innocent child, it is the story of Partition - the tragedy and the waste of it all! The futility of human conflict, the emotional turmoil it creates....."

"Sidhwa's book and Deepa's film (titled Earth for international release and probably 1947 for Indian version) shows how individuals who had lived together in perfect harmony suddenly got segregated that even innocent pleasures like sitting in the park get coloured by prejudices. The film focuses on how people change overnight, in moments of emotional confusion. My character, the ice-candy man epitomises all this."

Acting with equal conviction in potboilers like Ishq and tearjerkers like Raja Hindustani, for Aamir Earth or 1947 will definitely be yet another milestone in a multi-chequered career that includes sensitive films like Akele Hum Akele Tum and Rangeela.

But then, how is it be the tapori hero. Rangeela also saw him in a similar role of a tapori. "See, it has been proved that a good script is alone the hero. Actors are just playing parts in it. You spend thousands of rupees on special effects, but they will not matter much as long as you don't have concrete script. People will soon realise that. Ghulam will change a few equations," claims Aamir.