By+Devi+Shetty+and+Anand+Raj+OK

他是《三傻大鬧寶萊塢》中離經叛道的學生蘭徹，他是《我的個神啊》中狀況百出的外星人PK，他是印度寶萊塢的國寶級演員阿米爾·汗。盡管阿米爾·汗的每一部電影幾乎都能帶來票房和口碑的雙豐收，但他并不滿足于僅僅通過表演來為觀眾帶去歡笑。從2012年起，阿米爾·汗開始主持一檔社會紀實節(jié)目《真相訪談》，揭示印度社會的種種弊病。節(jié)目一經播出便引起巨大的社會反響，甚至推動了印度社會的變革。原本可以帶著明星光環(huán)享受光鮮的生活，為何要直面社會的陰暗與殘酷？或許正如阿米爾·汗在節(jié)目的開篇寄語中所說：“我無心激化矛盾，只為能改變這個時代。無論是誰的心中，只要有星星之火，必將成燎原之勢?！?/p>

The stories were shocking， raw and deeply unsettling.

A call centre worker， Amisha Yagnik from Ahmedabad， western India， described the trauma she had to undergo after her husbands family forced her to abort her fetuses1）—six times in eight years—only because they were girls.

Parveen Khan， from Morena， Madhya Pradesh， her face deeply scarred， recalled how she was savagely bitten by her husband after she gave birth to a girl child against his wishes.

Schoolchildren in a village in northern India whispered how they were forced by teachers to clean the schools toilets and sit apart from other children only because they belong to a lower caste2）.

A widow revealed how her husband was murdered—for the crime of falling in love with her and marrying against her familys wishes …

These were just some of the people who opened up their hearts on Bollywood superstar Aamir Khans groundbreaking television show Satyamev Jayate （truth alone prevails， in Hindi） to expose first hand， some horrifying ills that are still dogging3） Indian society.

Clearly， there had never been anything quite like this on Indian television and more than 90 million people across the country stayed awake way past 11 pm on Sundays to watch the diminutive4） star bring to their living rooms not just harrowing5） and heartrending6） tales but also stories of hope， fortitude7） and human resilience.

“I wasnt attempting to change anybodys life with the show，” says 48-year-old Aamir in an exclusive interview with Friday.

“As an entertainer I wanted to connect with the people but I also wanted to prove that entertainment need not only make people laugh every time. I wanted every family to watch the show and connect with it. And Im glad that the people liked it.”

The show not only struck a chord8） with viewers but was powerful enough to echo in the echelons9） of power， goading several state governments to take stringent10） action.

The governments in northern Indian states such as Rajasthan and Haryana promptly initiated measures to curb female foeticide11）， coming down hard on12） illegal scanning centres that were encouraging female foeticide and shutting several down.

In southern India， the government of Karnataka， after viewing an episode that featured the plight of poor patients who were forced to buy prohibitively expensive medicine for their health conditions， immediately set up fair price shops selling medicine at highly subsidised13） prices.

In the capital New Delhi， a parliamentary committee also invited Aamir to share the knowledge he and his team gained while researching an episode on medical malpractice. One of the suggestions was for doctors to prescribe generic14） medicine instead of brands.

“I feel very happy， proud and humbled that the show was such a success，” says Aamir， who in April， 2013 was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine and featured on the cover of its Asian edition.

Although clearly thrilled with the viewership， the one-movie-a-year-star nonchalantly15） says， “I dont relate to ratings. What matters to me are the on-ground changes， the various governments that have reacted， the doctors in Rajasthan who have banded together to advise their errant16） colleagues to change ... This is what I set out to do and that it can happen on this scale is what thrills me.

“But its wonderful to see so many peoples attitudes changing around you. I think one of the biggest accomplishments of the show is it encourages us to publicly debate issues that otherwise we dont discuss， that were very uncomfortable talking about publicly.”

While his show held up a mirror to some of the ills plaguing Indian society， it also portrayed amazing stories of perseverance： of a street-side vegetable vendor who lost her husband because there were no doctors to help in her village but who put all her savings into building a hospital treating people free of cost; of a couple who were so devastated by the sights they witnessed in the aftermath of the 2001 Kutch earthquake that they decided to take in 56 children and look after them as their own in their house …

“I wanted to portray stories of hope as well，” Aamir says.

But making socially relevant shows is not Aamirs only forte17）. While proving that he can make intelligent movies—Lagaan， Taare Zameen Par， among others—that set the cash registers18） ringing， he was also not averse to acting in full-length commercial potboilers19） like the most recent Dhoom 3. “I chose to act in Dhoom 3 because I loved the script. I was excited by it.”

Although he began as a child artist in his director uncle Nasir Hussains film Yaadon ki Baraat （Procession of Memories） in 1973， his first commercial success as a hero was in the 1988 runaway20） hit Qayamat se Qayamat Tak （From Doom to Doom） which earned him an award for best male debut. Movie offers soon came flooding his way and it did not take long for 1.68m-tall Aamir to be labelled the Tom Hanks of India.

But he quickly made it clear that he would be picky when it came to choosing roles. “After Qayamat se Qayamat Tak， I got a lot of movies that I accepted but I was quite unhappy doing a few. So very early in my career， around the early 90s， I decided I would not do anything that I was not happy doing. I only wanted to do films I completely believed in，” says the star who was honoured with the fourth-highest civilian award in India， the Padma Shri21）， in 2003 for his contribution to the arts.

The strategy worked and even as his films were picking up awards they were also proving to be commercial successes—a rarity in Bollywood， where commercial and critical success dont often go hand in hand.

Although known for his penchant22） for choosing movies with a strong social message—Taare Zameen Par， which highlighted issues special needs children face in society， and 3 Idiots， which subtly and with generous doses of humour brought to light the inadequacies in the Indian education system—Aamir points out he has also acted in movies that dont have a strong social message.

“Movies with messages are not something I look for all the time. In fact there have been several which did not have a social message as such—Delhi Belly， Fanaa or Ghajini. They revolved around strong emotions. I look for plots that excite me， which touch me.”

He says working on Satyamev Jayate has been a fascinating and mind-expanding experience. “This journey has been exciting and extremely emotional for me. Its also been a journey of discovery. I feel Ive understood the people of this country better now.”

Aamirs easy， informal style of presentation， allowing the subjects to tell their story and not being afraid to reveal his emotions on camera， made the show all the more appealing.

“I am an emotional person and I cry easily，” admits the star.

“I dont believe in hiding my emotions，” he says. “If I am happy， I laugh and if I am sad， I cry. Sometimes when I watch a film that is moving I cry.”

Although he is the hero of blockbuster Dhoom 3， Aamir says it is his television show that “has enriched my life. Whatever I have given to the show， it has given me back 10 times. I feel absolutely blessed to be part of this.”

“I understand my country better. I get to meet the most amazing people who on the face of it23） may appear powerless， but are actually giants. Some of them may not be educated but the strength of character that they possess is simply remarkable. There are some people who show so much bravery even in the face of poverty and stressful conditions that I sometimes wonder if I would be as brave， even though I am in a better situation financially.”

Does he think that people have become more politically and socially responsible of late？

“For sure，” he says. “Actually for me this realisation that the people are ready for a political revolution happened in season one.

“The peoples response to the show was phenomenal. That gave me an indication that things are changing on the ground. People had this desire to change but just didnt know how to go about it. They just needed guidance.

“The fact that they came out in such large numbers on the streets during the Delhi rape case24） itself is an indication that people are ready to take action for change. I am glad that people are wanting to be part of a movement where they are part of the governance.”

So does he consider himself as a saviour of India？

“I dont see myself as a saviour，” he says. “I see myself as someone who is just trying to learn and this is a personal journey for me. A journey for enriching my own life and in the process， understanding my country better and the issues facing us together and the issues affecting our society.

“In the process of learning about those things Im hoping to share that with people. Thats all Im doing.”

And does he have any regrets？

No， says Aamir. “Some of my films may not have done well but I learnt from them. I give my failures as much importance as my successes.”

這些故事觸目驚心，如實坦陳，令人深感不安。

印度西部艾哈邁達巴德一個電話服務中心的職員阿米莎·雅尼克在婆家的強迫下八年內六次打胎——只因為她懷的是女孩。她講述了自己由此所遭受的創(chuàng)痛。

中央邦莫雷那的帕文·汗臉上帶著深深的疤痕，她回憶了當她違背丈夫的意愿生下一個女孩后，丈夫是如何殘暴地毆打她的。

印度北部一個村莊里的學童們悄聲講述，他們只因屬于較低的種姓，就被老師強迫清洗學校的廁所并跟其他孩子分開坐。

一名寡婦吐露了她丈夫是如何被殺害的——他的罪過就是愛上她并違背她家人的意愿娶了她……

上面這些僅僅是在寶萊塢巨星阿米爾·汗制作的具有開創(chuàng)意義的電視節(jié)目《真相訪談》（在印地語中意為“真理至上”）中敞開心扉的部分人的故事，他們用第一手資料曝光了至今仍在困擾印度社會的一些駭人聽聞的弊病。

顯然，印度的電視上此前從未播出過類似的節(jié)目。周日晚11點后，印度全國有超過九千萬人仍不眠不休，看著電視里這位小個子明星將一個個故事展現在他們的起居室中。這些故事中不僅有令人痛苦和心碎的，也有表現希望、堅強和人的韌性的。

“我并沒有試圖用這個節(jié)目改變任何人的生活?！?8歲（編注：英文原文發(fā)表于2014年1月）的阿米爾在接受《星期五》雜志獨家采訪時表示。

“作為藝人，我希望接觸民眾，但我同樣希望證明，娛樂并非每次都只是要給觀眾帶去歡笑。我希望每個家庭都收看這個節(jié)目并與它產生共鳴，我很高興人們喜歡這檔節(jié)目?！?/p>

節(jié)目不僅觸動了觀眾的心弦，其影響力之大甚至在權力階層中也激起了回響，促使一些地方政府采取了嚴厲的措施。

印度北部的拉賈斯坦和哈里亞納等邦政府立即出臺措施，限制非法墮女胎，對助長非法墮女胎行為的不法醫(yī)學掃描中心嚴加懲處，并關閉了其中的幾家。

印度南部的卡納塔克邦政府看到一期節(jié)目講述了患病的窮人被迫購買價格極其昂貴的藥物治病的苦境，隨后立即開設了一些平價藥店，以享受高額補貼的價格出售藥品。

在首都新德里，議會的一個委員會也邀請阿米爾跟他們分享他和拍攝團隊在某一期調查醫(yī)療事故的過程中了解到的情況。他提出的一條建議是，醫(yī)生們應該多開非注冊商標的藥品，而非品牌藥。

“節(jié)目取得如此大的成功，我感到非常高興和自豪，同時也受寵若驚?！卑⒚谞栒f。他在2013年4月被《時代周刊》評為全球最有影響力的一百個人物之一，并成為該雜志亞洲版的封面人物。

雖然阿米爾顯而易見地為節(jié)目的收視率感到高興，但這位每年推出一部新片的明星卻平靜地表示：“我對收視率不感興趣。我在意的是發(fā)生實實在在的變化，各地政府做出反應，拉賈斯坦邦的醫(yī)生們聯合起來呼吁那些步入歧途的同行做出改變……這才是我想要著手做的事。讓我感到興奮的是它能產生如此大范圍的影響。

“不過，看到周圍這么多人的態(tài)度發(fā)生變化是件很美妙的事。我認為這檔節(jié)目最大的成就之一是它鼓勵人們公開討論一些其他情況下我們不會談論的話題，一些我們覺得公開談論會非常不自在的話題?！?/p>

他的節(jié)目在真實反映困擾印度社會的一些痼疾的同時，也呈現了一些體現人們堅忍精神的動人故事：一名在街邊賣菜的小販由于村里缺醫(yī)少藥而失去丈夫，但卻拿出自己的全部積蓄建立了一所醫(yī)院，為患者提供免費治療;一對夫婦在目睹了2001年庫奇地震的景象后難過不已，決定收容56個孩子，照顧他們，將他們視如己出……

“我希望同時呈現帶給人希望的故事?！卑⒚谞栒f。

不過，制作與社會現實相關的節(jié)目并非阿米爾唯一的強項。在證明自己能拍出《印度往事》《地球上的星星》等既有思想又票房大賣的電影的同時，他也不反對出演如最近上映的《幻影車神：魔盜激情》這類粗制的商業(yè)長片?！拔覜Q定出演《幻影車神：魔盜激情》是因為我喜歡這個劇本，它讓我感到興奮。”

雖然阿米爾早在1973年就在叔叔納西爾·侯賽因導演的影片《記憶的涌現》中作為童星出道了，但由他主演的第一部獲得票房成功的電影卻是1988年上映的大受歡迎的熱門影片《冷暖人間》。該片為他贏得了最佳新人男演員獎。拍片邀約很快便紛至沓來，沒過多久，身高只有1.68米的阿米爾就被冠以了“印度的湯姆·漢克斯”稱號。

但是，他很快就明確表示了自己在角色選擇上的挑剔?！袄^《冷暖人間》之后，我接拍了很多電影，但其中有些我很不喜歡。因此，在我職業(yè)生涯很早期的時候，大約是在90年代初，我就決定不會再做任何自己不喜歡做的事。我只想拍那些我完全信服的電影?！卑⒚谞栒f。他于2003年被授予印度第四級公民榮譽獎——蓮花士勛章，作為對其藝術貢獻的表彰。

這一策略取得了成效，他的電影不僅收獲了眾多獎項，也獲得了商業(yè)上的成功——這種事在寶萊塢頗為罕見，因為這里的影片往往無法既叫好又叫座。

阿米爾以偏愛選擇帶有強烈社會寓意的影片而聞名：比如《地球上的星星》，影片突出表現了那些有特殊需要的孩子在社會中面對的問題;還有《三傻大鬧寶萊塢》，影片含蓄而富于幽默地揭示了印度教育體系的不足之處。雖然如此，但阿米爾指出，他同樣演過社會寓意不那么強的影片。

“我并不總是在尋找有寓意的影片。實際上，我的一些影片本身沒有什么社會寓意，例如《德里 ? 事》《為愛毀滅》和《未知死亡》。這些影片圍繞著強烈的情感展開。我要找的是那些讓我興奮、能打動我的情節(jié)。”

他說，參與《真相訪談》的工作是一次引人入勝、開闊思維的經歷?！皩ξ襾碚f，這段經歷令人興奮，也特別讓人動感情。這還是一場發(fā)現之旅，我覺得我現在更了解自己的同胞了。”

阿米爾的主持風格輕松、隨和，他讓訪談對象講述自己的故事，他也不怕在鏡頭前流露自己的真情實感，這讓這檔節(jié)目越發(fā)具有吸引力。

“我是個容易動感情的人，很容易掉眼淚。”這位明星承認道。

“我不覺得應該隱藏自己的情感，”他說，“高興時我會笑，傷心時我會哭。有時我看一部感人的電影也會流淚?！?/p>

雖然阿米爾主演了票房大片《幻影車神：魔盜激情》，但他表示，是他的電視節(jié)目“豐富了我的人生，無論我為節(jié)目付出了什么，它都回報了我十倍。能夠參與其中，我感到非常幸運”。

“我更了解自己的國家了。我有幸見到了一些最了不起的人，他們也許表面上看似荏弱無力，實際上卻是巨人。有些人雖然可能沒有受過教育，但他們擁有的人格力量簡直不同凡響。有些人即使面對貧窮和困境依然表現出極大的勇氣，我有時不禁自問我能否做到像他們一樣勇敢，盡管我在物質上更為富足?！?/p>

他是否認為最近以來人們在政治和社會問題上變得更有責任心了？

“那是肯定的，”他說，“實際上，我在拍攝《真相訪談》的第一季時就意識到，人們已經為政治變革做好了準備。

“觀眾對節(jié)目的反響很熱烈。這讓我感覺事情正在發(fā)生切實的轉變。民眾有改變的渴望，只是不知道應該怎么做。他們只是需要引導。

“在德里強奸案期間，有那么多人走上街頭，這一事實本身就說明人們準備好了要采取行動，做出改變。人們愿意加入治理的行列，參與到這場運動中來，對此我感到很高興?！?/p>

那么，他認為自己是印度的救星嗎？

“我沒把自己看做什么救星，”他說，“我認為自己就是努力地去了解，這是我的一段個人旅程，一段使我的人生變得更加豐富的旅程，一段讓我在沿途對我們的國家、對我們共同面對的問題、對影響我們社會的問題增進了解的旅程。

“在了解這些事情的過程中，我也希望和人們一起分享。我做的就是這些?！?/p>

他有什么遺憾嗎？

沒有，阿米爾說?！拔业哪承╇娪耙苍S拍得不好，但我從中學到了東西。我把自己的失敗看得同成功一樣重要?！?p>

《真相訪談》節(jié)目畫面①②③④

1. fetus [?fi?t?s] n. 胎;胎兒

2. caste [kɑ?st] n. （印度社會的）種姓;種姓地位

3. dog [d?ɡ] vt. 困擾;折磨;使苦惱

4. diminutive [d??m?nj?t?v] adj. 小的，小型的

5. harrowing [?h?r????] adj. 使人痛苦的，折磨人的

6. heartrending [?hɑ?（r）t?rend??] adj. 令人心碎的，使人悲痛的

7. fortitude [?f??（r）t?tju?d] n. 堅忍，剛毅

8. strike a chord：觸動心弦，引起共鳴

9. echelon [?e??l?n] n. 領導（或指揮）系統(tǒng)中的等級，階層

10. stringent [?str?nd?（?）nt] adj. 嚴格的;嚴厲的

11. foeticide [?fi?t?sa?d] n. 殺胎;（非法）墮胎

12. come down on：抨擊;懲罰

13. subsidise [?s?bs?da?z] vt. 給……津貼（或補貼）;補助，資助

14. generic [d???ner?k] adj. 非商標的;非專利的

15. nonchalantly [?n?n?（?）l?ntli] adv. 冷淡地;不激動地

16. errant [?er?nt] adj. 離開正道的，迷途的

17. forte [?f??（r）te?] n. 特長，專長

18. cash register：現金出納機

19. potboiler [?p?t?b??l?（r）] n. （以糊口為目的而作的）粗制文藝作品

20. runaway [?r?n??we?] adj. 遙遙領先的;巨大的，壓倒性的

21. Padma Shri：蓮花士勛章，是印度政府頒發(fā)的第四級公民榮譽獎，授予在藝術、教育、工業(yè)、文學、科學、體育、醫(yī)藥、社會服務和公共生活等領域為印度做出杰出貢獻的人物。

22. penchant [?p???ɑ?n] n. 強烈（或特別）的傾向，偏向

23. on the face of it：從表面判斷，乍看起來

24. Delhi rape case：德里強奸案。2012年12月，印度一名女大學生在新德里一輛“黑公交”上慘遭六名歹徒輪奸，震驚印度全國，引發(fā)了全國性的示威活動。