Aamir misses out on Baiju Bawra

Imagine Aamir Khan in the role of Baiju Bawra? For the uninitiated Baiju Bawra was a young gypsy and a singer who was known for his soulful rendition.
His fictional story comes from the Mogul era of 16th century where he challenged Miya Tansen, one of the nine jewels of Akbar’s court.
Hollywood writer, director and producer Krishna Shah wanted to make a film titled “Baiju – The Gypsy” on this character and had Aamir Khan in mind for the title role. However things did not materialize then and Shah put the project on backburner.
The flame started to rekindle recently when A.R. Rehman, in a recent interview said that Krishna Shah’s Baiju the Gypsy was one of the most cherished scripts he has read and was disappointed when it was put on hold. Ask Krishna Shah and he confirms saying, “In fact Rehman had insisted on me contacting Aamir for the role of Baiju. He even offered to call him. But somehow, things did not work out”.
However Shah seems inspired to revive the project now. His script is touted to be a visual treat filled with special effects. The legends of classical Indian music may or may not bear the scrutiny of science today, but it was widely believed that Tansen could start a fire with his singing of Raga Deepak, and Baiju could bring down rain by his improvised rendition of the Malhar chant. On one level Baiju the Gypsy is a story of contest — a contest between two great singers of the era.
Shah shelved plans to produce Baiju last year to work fulltime on his epic biopic Mother: The Indira Gandhi Story. While he does not have the time to direct Baiju, he would like to sell the script to a director passionate enough to translate his story on the big screen. It will be interesting to see which Bollywood actor will play the role of Baiju Bawra. Aamir Khan are you listening?
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