 "Mansoor Khan")
Deal with reality, or else reality will deal with you." Since the time we started exploiting nature, our growth stopped. And, "when energy around us is getting lesser, what is the real growth we keep talking about?" There is nothing terribly new in any of this: greens and activists-at-large have been saying it since the first motor engine revved up. Except that one doesn't associate these insights with Bollywood. This, in short, is the message in Mansoor Khan's book The Third Curve: The End of Growth as We Know It.
Khan? Who? He is the son of film maker Nassir Hussain (he made hits like Teesri Manzil and Yaadon ki Baarat in the '60s and '70s), Aamir Khan's cousin, and young Imran Khan's uncle. He has directed four films, three of which have been successful and the fourth a flop. He lives in Coonoor, in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu. He has stayed away from filmdom for 12 years now.
But he remains close to his more famous cousin and nephew. Some months ago, senior journalists got an invitation from Aamir to come and meet him at Imran's house. The agenda was not spelt out. (But then Aamir has always been a superb marketer). There, the actor introduced the journalists to his cousin who had just published his book. Khan then gave a presentation about his book. When asked why Aamir chose to send the secretive invitation, Khan replied: "If I had invited, you wouldn't have come." A Business Standard editor, who attended the gathering, came back impressed with Khan's knowledge of things outside cinema but felt that the concept of his book "isn't something new or something we don't know about."
Khan admits that his family, especially Aamir, have been of great help in promoting the book and that talk at Imran's house was one of the many such "events" he did. He went to B-schools, corporations, management consultancies and shared his ideas before the book was officially released. (Khan has self-published it.) He talks passionately about "peak oil", a termed coined by US geologist M King Hubbert. The term is used to signify the depletion of the world's oil reservoirs, which could cripple growth.
It was in 1997 that Khan started to read up on availability of natural resources and came across the concept of peak oil. He started reading books, blogs and expert opinion to understand the subject. He became obsessed with it and even thought about it in his sleep. "We behave as if the ground is obliged to give us oil forever - which is plain rubbish. Oil and economy have a direct relationship and we have to realise that the oil is not going to last forever."
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The social-service streak isn't uncommon to the Khan clan. Aamir often takes up social causes, though they often happen close to the release of his films. Aamir even did a TV show (Satyamev Jayate) on social issues. Imran, some years ago, talked about reducing the age of drinking in India. Khan is into it full time. Khan calls himself a "professional dropout". He went to Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay but dropped out after three years. He then went to study engineering at Cornell, but came back before completing his course. It was then he decided to make films - his sole aim was to prove to his parents that he isn't a "loser." He made his debut with Qayamat se Qayamat Tak in 1988 - a film which launched Aamir on the big stage. Four years later, he made the cult film Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. "Jo Jeeta…was basically my story. A loser who wins against all odds," he says. In 1994, he made Akele Hum Akele Tum, an adaptation of Hollywood classic Kramer vs Kramer. All three films were certified blockbusters.
He was one of the most in-demand directors at that time. "Back then, everyone wanted to work with him," recalls actor-filmmaker Deepak Tijori who played an important role in JJWS. Khan worked with his cousin in all three films before landing a casting coup of Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai for Josh. The movie, however, tanked at the box office and Khan hasn't made a film since, though he worked as a creative consultant on Imran's debut film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa.
"Films were never my true calling," he says. He enjoyed telling stories but admits that his heart wasn't into it. The music of his films' music was extremely popular. Songs of QSQT and JJWS still remain fresh in the minds of the audience. Khan's films also were kind of adaptations - JJWS, according to him, was the story of his life, while QSQT was loosely based on Romeo and Juliet.
In 2002, he moved bag and baggage to Coonoor. Most people dream of setting up a farmhouse with some cattle, produce milk and make dairy products. Khan turned his dream into reality. "I had a rough time initially in Coonoor and was hardly making any money." Then the idea of a farm-stay came to him and he started it four years ago. Called Acres Wild, Khan's farm has five rooms which he lets out to people (tariffs start from Rs 4,000) looking to get away from city life. He admits that there was a sense of comfort that if Coonoor didn't work out, he could rely on films. "Everybody needs a fall- back option but it wasn't something which would have made me happy," he says. At his farm, he makes and sells cheese. His wife Tina holds cheese-making classes for the guests as well.
A typical day on the farm for Khan is talking to guests, showing them around. He has learnt bread-making, soap-making and other stuff as well. He has a gobar-gas plant, solar panels at his farm and loves to lead a primal life. People often ask him why does he make cheese when he could earn crores in films. "I counter them by saying am I unhappy?" says Khan. "Why should someone's idea of growth and happiness be mine?"
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Does the primal way of life related to the realisation that judicious use of resources is the way forward. "Yes," he says, before adding, "I know not everyone can afford it but when I could, I decided to do it." He has spoken to a lot of experts - financial and environmental - and says that all financial experts talk about symbolic terms like capital, equity, restructuring. "What they don't realise is that money isn't real, it is energy that determines the real economy." Oil is running out, according to Khan, and he feels that people are deluding themselves into thinking it can be replaced with natural gas or other resources. "Look at the electric car. What a fantastic concept on paper.
But has it worked anywhere in the world? We are still relying on natural resources," he says.
Environmental experts support Khan's philosophy. "His book points to the need of business and financial world to get real, which is a valid point," says Ligia Noronha, executive director, The Energy and Research Institute, New Delhi. Khan believes that it's not practical to continue living with our heads in the sand. "We think we are very smart."
In other words, deal with reality or reality will deal with you.
