Is Aamir Khan playing Nadeem Saifi in Secret Superstar?

It is more about the swagger than the swag. Aamir Khan has gone on-record to confess he was reluctant to play the music director Shakti Kumar in Secret Superstar. Well, it can now be told that the character is based on the 1990s superstar-composer Nadeem Saifi who together with his partner Shravan Rathod changed the profile of film soundtracks all through the 1990s.

A source in the know says, When the role of the on-the-roll music director Shakti Kumar in Secret Superstar was written it was definitely Nadeem Saifi who was the role model. It s the role of a super-successful music director who is a big flirt. Aamir was in fact shy of playing someone so flamboyant and slightly cheesy. But once he agreed to do so, Aamir went the whole hog with the Nadeem inspired get-up including the goatee.

It remains to be seen how Nadeem will react to one of India s most accomplished superstars playing him on screen.