There’s a lot of ballyhoo in India-based Bollywood over the news that movie and TV superstar Aamir Khan, the George Clooney of Bollywood, so to speak, is starring as the bad guy in upcoming movie “Dhoom 3: Back in Action,” the third installment of the immensely popular “Dhoom” franchise.
“Dhoom 3” is also big news here, as Khan and a Mumbai contingent of stars and crew of 75, with work visas, will start filming on the downtown streets of Chicago starting Aug. 7.
Production company Yash Raj Films (YRF) started production in Mumbai June 14 and the action sequences are expected to be shot in Chicago through December.
On a video interview, Khan says he really liked the script and thought the characters were memorable. “I like my role very much,” he says graciously, adding, “I am glad to be working again with the production company.”
Known as a perfectionist, Khan will be playing a thief who is a skilled acrobat, who eludes the hero cop and his sidekick, Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra who reprise their roles in “Dhoom 1 and 2.” For the role he also took diving lessons at a swimming pool in Mumbai although there’s no indication as to how acrobatics and diving link up.
Khan is also a director and producer, whose Aamir Khan Productions have been critically acclaimed award-winners. As host of an immensely popular TV talk show, modeled after Oprah’s, he is the highest paid host in the Indian television industry. He is also known for espousing Indian humanitarian and political causes.
Chicago Film Office director Rich Moskal says the production brought some Indian crew members to the states and will hire locals as well. He is not quite sure about where the production headquarters will be set up, “as they are not building sets and all action appears to be outdoor shoots.”
Khan is arriving here Aug. 3 with his wife and baby son. He has told India media that “with his family, he has a tendency to get very homesick while traveling for work.”
Khan is akin to Hollywood royalty; he is among the stratospheric top 20 Bollywood actors, in terms of box office appeal. And judging from his pleasant comments about his role and his family attachments, he seems like a real nice guy.
