Lagaan logo will turn into trademark

bangalore: he may have missed theoscar by a whisker, but aamir khan''s spirits are as perky as ever. aamir khanproductions now plans to merchandise the lagaan logo with t-shirts, cds, dolls,the lot. almost an afterthought, and not quite memorabilia. in bangalore tolaunch satyajit bhatkal''s book the spirit of lagaan, aamir khan told the timesof india that normally, merchandising is done before the release of a movie inorder to promote it. ``but i did not do any merchandising for lagaan. now, eightmonths after the film, i want to do it as a sort of memorabilia. the time maynot be right, but i want to learn.'''' ``when you make a film, people want to ownit. to some extent, production houses should satisfy the fans.'''' aamir, off on atwo-month holiday to the united states from april 22, will get to work on thelogos once he returns. ``the film deserves it. the fans deserve it.'''' a fewcricket matches will be played and a documentary made on the film. more filmingis in the pipeline: his production house aamir khan productions is ready to dishout its second film shortly. not quite as big-budget as lagaan, he says, but itis early days yet, with ashutosh gowariker busy on the script. ``anything canhappen depending on the script. the storyline can change and we may decide tomake the movie differently.'''' and while aamir concentrates on his pet project,none of his films are slated for release this year. however, he will be actingin a film to be produced by amitabh bachchan corporation limited (abcl), andscripted by mansoor khan (who also scripted and directed the megabuster qayamatse qayamat tak). the script is likely to be ready by the year-end and shootingis also expected to commence by december. aamir also spoke of the spirit oflagaan, published by popular prakashan. the book describes how lagaan was shot.``i agreed to the book since i felt that all the happenings of the days when thefilm was being shot should be captured. it was made in extremely hostileclimate.'''' in india, books on films have not been common. but in the future,lots of books will be written. now it has become a trend, people write on filmpersonalities, he said. ``it is a good thing. this book is an effort on sathya''spart. it is not a pr exercise.'''' aamir feels funding of films in india should beclean. but not everybody would still like to talk about funding. ``it is aprivate affair. it is like asking what your salary is.'''' the man who has made itclear he has little regard for film awards, also does not attend award functionsin india to receive them. ``i don''t value these awards. i don''t accept them. idon''t send anyone to the ceremonies to receive any award on my behalf. often,people claim to be my representatives and collect them,'''' he added.