“We have to reach early,” I told a friend. “Or else we will never find a place to sit.”

Sure enough, even though we reached a good 45 minutes before the actual event, the seats in the first row were occupied.

We contented ourselves by sitting in the second row and discussing what was most likely a “historic moment” — at least for us film journalists — actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan on the same podium, speaking in one voice, as “friends”.

Keep in mind that these stars were once taking pot shots at each other almost daily in the media, so this sudden camaraderie was somewhat of a bolt from the blue. No wonder then that pretty much the entire press corps was in attendance, and even before the two Khans entered, their agenda was being dissected.

“They are already in the building… they are discussing what should be said… Aamir was the one who initiated the talks,” were some of the whispers one heard.

Given the anticipation was so great, when the two stars did appear on stage, almost every eye in the room was on them, trying to read between the lines. 

Although the topic at hand was the ongoing tussle between producers and exhibitors, it was obvious the real story was the two Khans together on one podium, and each and every action was up for scrutiny.

Why was Shah Rukh looking into space when Aamir was talking? Did Aamir forget to mention any SRK films when he talked about the blockbusters of the decade? Was this a put-on act for the sake of the cameras?

Yes, I know, journalists have an overactive imagination — it’s a professional hazard. 

Every time, the two Khans even leaned towards each other, a hundred cameras worked overtime, prompting the evening’s moderator, filmmaker Karan Johar to remark — “We promise you they will both hug at the end of the conference.”

A Mumbai tabloid went one step ahead and asked a well known psychologist to “decode” the body language of the two stars — and the good doctor concluded that it was “an act.”

But Shah Rukh Khan said he had “no problems” sitting on the same dais, same car, same house and working in the same film as Aamir, and said all talk of their rivalry was a “non-issue”. 

Aamir, for his part, said (jokingly, we hope) — “I think we should get out the boxing gloves now.”

I think I am going to take that with a pinch of salt. What about you? Do you think these two megastars have actually kissed and made up?

This is a first. Aamir Khan has gone the Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar way — the actor in him has given way to the star. He’s finally starred in a film that totally rides on his star power and as you discover once you’ve watched “Ghajini”, it’s not such a bad thing after all.

Khan plays Sanjay Singhania, a telecom tycoon, who we are told suffers from short-term memory loss. Singhania’s memory is wiped clean after every 15 minutes and to keep himself updated with his life, he has to continuously take pictures of his surroundings, write notes to himself and tattoo important facts on his torso.

All these important facts pertain to his one aim — killing the man who murdered the love of his life. The story moves back and forth, narrating Sanjay’s gradual revenge as well as the events that led up to it.

As it turns out, Sanjay was an ordinary man, albeit a rich one. He falls in love with upcoming model Kalpana (Asin), but doesn’t reveal his background. Director A. R. Murugadoss takes too much time setting up their romance and dwelling on it. In between, there are some melodious songs by A.R. Rahman that involve the lead pair cavorting around random sand dunes and declaring their undying love for each other. The romance track doesn’t add any value to the film; rather it just slackens the pace.

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The actual plot, about Sanjay taking revenge, comes alive only midway through the second half.

Director Murugadoss had a choice here — he could have made a masala Hindi film, with all the trappings of song-and-dance and drama, or he could have made a slick, taut action thriller. He chooses to go for the former, and to be fair, does a pretty decent job. I do wish he had paid more attention to developing Sanjay’s character, because it does lend itself to some very interesting interpretations. For instance, I would have loved to see how he develops from a suave tycoon to a crazed revenge-seeking beefcake. The “eight-packs” are mere external reflections of what should have been a more defined track in the film.

Both the lead heroines really need to work on their accents, but otherwise do an adequate job. Not that they are expected to do any more. Because ultimately, “Ghajini” is an Aamir Khan film through and through. Whether you like it or you don’t, the credit or the blame must go to him and him alone. As the revenge obsessed lover, or the amnesiac, he is brilliant. As the shy boyfriend, he is his old self — from “Dil” and “Ishq”. The only place you cringe is when he sports a Mohawk haircut and crazy-looking clothes in a song sequence. The fight sequences aren’t very imaginative, nor are the dialogues.

Watch “Ghajini” if you are an Aamir fan, or even if you are looking for some light-hearted entertainment. Don’t expect a typical Aamir Khan film though and you won’t be disappointed.

The transformation is amazing. Aamir Khan was known as one of the most reclusive stars in Bollywood - he shunned film magazines, rarely gave interviews and was generally unavailable.This year, he appeared on the cover of a film magazine, granted interviews to all and sundry for a film that didn’t even star him (nephew Imran Khan’s debut film “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na”),  and is now one of the most media savvy stars in the country.Take Monday, for example. A day after his directorial venture “Taare Zameen Par” was chosen as India’s entry to the Oscars, Aamir addressed a press conference, seeking suggestions from the media on how to promote the film to the Academy. He asked for their support and talked about everything from SRK to Raj Thackeray. All of it, with a smile on his face and twinkle in his eyes.When he was referred to as the “King of Bollywood” by a gushing journo, he laughed and said, “Don’t say that, you will upset Shah Rukh Khan.”That was not all. He had a go at Ashutosh Gowariker, saying he preferred ”Mumbai Meri Jaan” over the “Lagaan” director’s epic “Jodha Akbar”.Raj Thackeray wasn’t spared either. “Politicians who divide us are not speaking for the country, they are speaking for themselves. We should vote for those who unite us,” Aamir said, referring to the politician’s campaign against the Bachchans.He was even sporting enough to answer a question about whether Saif and Kareena had gotten married over the weekend, saying “didn’t you find anyone else to ask this question”.The one question he didn’t answer was about younger brother Faisal, telling a reporter firmly that it was a personal matter and he didn’t want to answer it.At the end of it, I came away smiling and impressed. Here is a star who can utilise the media to his advantage (I don’t want to get into what that says about us in the media), and one who is not afraid to speak his mind. Yet, he does know where he wants to draw the line. He has my grudging admiration.

It’s official. The ‘Pappu can’t dance’ number in the latest Aamir Khan production wasn’t meant to poke fun at actor Salman Khan.

Aamir, with nephew Imran Khan in tow, set the record straight on Salman’s television gameshow ‘Dus Ka Dum’.

In an episode telecast on Friday, host Salman asked Aamir if he was the Pappu referred to in the song in Imran’s debut film “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na.”

The lyrics refer to someone named Pappu as a “muscular bachelor” with an “MBA” who can’t dance.

Aamir’s answer: Salman cannot be Pappu simply because -

a) Salman does not have an MBA

b) Salman dances extremely well

Well, that surely puts media speculation to rest. But I must say Aamir Khan seems to be having a tough time placating fellow Bollywood actors. One big question remains - does he really have a dog named Shah Rukh?

A few years ago, my brother Jose met a girl at an acting workshop in Delhi. He was surprised to learn of her name and couldn’t stop himself from revealing that our neighbour’s dog was also called Sheena.

But Sheena wasn’t amused. Having the same name as a cocker spaniel was obviously no honour. She glared at my brother and declared - “The lizard on my wall is named Jose”.

I was reminded of the incident last week when a blog post by actor Aamir Khan revealed that his “smelly” dog had the same name as Bollywood rival Shah Rukh Khan.

“Shahrukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then,” Aamir wrote on his blog, before clarifying that he was talking of the dog and not the actor.

Understandably, the post did not go down well with the media and the so-called war between Bollywood’s best known Khans hit the headlines.

Shah Rukh refused to take the bait, choosing instead to accept the remarks with his “sense of humour spirit”.

But several Aamir fans didn’t quite forgive their idol.

“Are you insecure that you need to resort to such measures?” Isaigal wrote in response to the blog post, which had generated over 5000 comments by Sunday.

“No doubt ur my most favourite actor (but) it sounds like u r jealous of him,” zina_hi5 wrote using abbreviations common in online exchanges.

After his encounter with Sheena, my brother never told strangers about her namesake.

And Aamir later apologized for the “smelly dog” post. I guess he realized it’s best to let sleeping dogs and lizards lie.

Thou shalt not attempt to lift and throw a man heavier than thyself.

It’s a commandment actor Aamir Khan will never forget, days after injuring himself doing precisely that on the sets of his film “Ghajini”.

The action sequence left the 43-year-old actor with an adductor muscle injury in his right thigh — certainly not the most “exciting” stunt injury of his career.

“It was quite a boring injury, no anecdotal value or excitement whatsoever,” Khan wrote on his blog .

For the benefit of fans, the actor also elaborated on the chain of events that led to the injury.

“Roll camera, action, run into frame, grab heavy goon, slam him against wall, lift him and throw him against second wall, shout in pain, hop on one leg, wave arm to call for cut, limp off to nearest chair.”

Khan said he has resumed shooting in Hyderabad with “muscle supports and belts”. And hopefully no heavy goons.