BOLLYWOOD star Aamir Khan is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Poor fellow, he has had his family's dirty linen washed and hung up in public for the entire world to look at with disdain as he himself wrings his hands in utter despair, not knowing how to put the lid on an ugly family feud.  

Hindi cinema's highest paid actor, who commands fees upwards of Rs8 crores (RM6.7mil) per film, was accused by his father of seeking to have his own younger brother declared mentally unsound, a charge Aamir denied most vehemently in a Mumbai court recently. 

The feud in the Aamir Khan family hit national headlines recently when in a court petition the actor sought the custody of his younger brother Faisal. Aamir pleaded that his father Tahir Hussain was in no position to take care of his mentally unsound brother.  

The family has been split, with father Tahir Hussain, a one-time failed film producer, and his younger son Faisal staying together, while Aamir, his mother, and the rest of the extended tribe live separately. 

The split between the father and the most successful member of the family, that is, Aamir, was complete when some time ago Tahir Hussain married a second time, causing his first wife and the actor's mother to break relations with him.  

However, Faisal stayed with his father and stepmother.  

Psychiatrists ascribed the reason for Faisal's deteriorating mental condition partly to his frustration at not becoming a successful actor. The worsening financial condition of his father aggravated the mental condition of his younger son. 

Making headlines: Aamir plays a freedom fighter in Mangal Pandey which was released two years ago. It may be mere coincidence, but every time a new Aamir film is due for release, he is dogged by public controversy.

Most notably, Aamir had sought to give his brother's film career a leg-up a few years ago when he co-starred with him in a couple of films which, unfortunately, flopped at the box-office and thus put paid to Faisal's dream of making it big in Bollywood. 

Aamir sought direction from the court to provide the "best medical care to the mentally unfit" brother. He cited the poor financial condition of his father as a vital ground for being allowed to have the custody of Faisal.  

Also, he petitioned the court to order Faisal's examination by an independent panel of psychiatrists so that a view could be taken whether or not he was fit to look after himself. 

The father responded with a counter-petition, making all sorts of scurrilous allegations against the actor, including that he was out to destroy him (Tahir Hussain) and his brother Faisal, since he was a "control freak".  

However, in turning down the plea for handing over Faisal to the charge of Aamir, the court relied on the sworn statement of the younger brother, who said that he was happy living with his father and that he wanted nothing to do with his more famous brother.  

The court rejected Aamir's petition, though it did not find any merit in his father's charge that the actor was trying to declare his younger brother mentally unsound. 

A very pained family of Aamir Khan, including his mother, felt compelled to issue a public statement in defence of the actor, describing Tahir Hussain's "pathetic behaviour", "truly shameful". 

"As a family we have always believed in maintaining our silence and dignity, choosing not to react to the many absurd allegations that are frequently hurled at our loved one, Aamir," the statement said.  

"But this time we feel the need to express our utter shock, disgust and contempt at the public statements of Tahir Hussain and Faisal Khan." 

It may be mere coincidence, but every time a new Aamir film is due for release, he is dogged by public controversy.  

Two years ago when the film based on the hero of the freedom struggle Mangal Pandey was ready for release, a British author claimed to have given birth to Aamir Khan's love child.  

The woman, who had written a book on Bollywood, claimed that she was in love with the actor and it was his child, though she declared that she did not want a penny from him to support either her or the child. 

Some time later came the super-duper hit Rang De Basanti. But its release too was preceded by nation-wide publicity centring on Aamir's break-up with his first wife and his romance and subsequent marriage to assistant director Kiran Rao.  

There were stories galore as to how much he had paid to secure his divorce and how he had wed Rao secretly in a faraway hill station in the presence of a few of her close relatives.  

Yet another Aamir film, Fanaa, was accompanied by the controversy over his public support to the displaced persons of the prestigious hydro-electric Narmada power project.  

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi took umbrage at his public support to the leaders of the anti-Narmada dam project and ensured that Fanaa was not released for viewing throughout the state. The film was a huge hit in the rest of the country. 

And now that Aamir's own maiden directorial venture, the multi-crore Taare Zamin Par is nearing completion for an early release, the odious controversy about his father accusing him of plotting against him and his younger son has hit the headlines. 

Admittedly, lives of film stars serve as easy game for a large sections of the media.  

The price of celebrity is a constant focus on the private lives of stars. From their marital problems to their weakness for women and wine, all is fair for a mushrooming print and television media which for want of a substantive fare settle for titillating tales from Bollywood.  

Some might call it dumbing down of the media. But then it sells. And you cannot blame them for giving viewers/readers what they would lap up rather than the finer points of the controversial nuclear deal with the US or the multi-faceted costs of a mounting environmental deterioration.