Aamir Khan is no more intolerant; receives award from RSS chief

Mumbai: Bollywood's Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan broke his 16-year-long streak of boycotting award functions by receiving the 'Master Dinanath Mangeshkar award' for his blockbuster movie 'Dangal' at an award function organised here.

Surprisingly, he took the honour from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, whose organization had overly criticised Aamir and his wife for their take on the burning issue of 'intolerance'.

Back in 2015, Aamir Khan was slammed badly after he publically revealed that his wife Kiran Rao had suggested moving out of India because of the growing intolerance.

"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says ‘Should we move out of India?’ That’s a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day.

"That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm. You feel why this is happening, you feel low. That sense does exist in me,” said the 52-year-old actor on November 23, 2015.

Aamir has been away from the award functions for the past 16 years now, but he attended one because he could not refuse an invitation from the Goddess of melody Lata Mangeshkar.

He last appeared on any award function was Oscars, when his blockbuster movie 'Lagaan' was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category.

The Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards were held to mark the 75^th death anniversary of Lata Mangeshkar's father. At the function, several prominent personalities belonging to various fields were honoured.

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It may be recalled that Aamir Khan portrayed the character of wrestling legend Mahavir Phogat in Dangal which showed his journey of life and grooming his champion daughters Geeta and Babita for international medals. The film due to its remarkable content and performances turned out to be the biggest hit of 2016.

Aamir, however, did not take any credit for his success at the event.

"Today wherever I am, the credit goes to all the writers who have written my films. I am here because of the directors and writers for the wonderful work they've done. I thank all of them," Aamir Khan said after receiving the "Vishesh Puraskar".

The other honorary at the function included Cricket legend Kapil Dev and veteran actor Vyjayanthimala Bali.

Lauding the award receivers, Mohan Bhagwat, who was the chief guest at the event, said that the winners are inspiration to millions of youth of the nation and their excellence in their work would help in building a better India.