Aamir Khan is one of the most well-known and acclaimed actors of Bollywood, known for his immense acting prowess and penchant for perfectionism. But life in films has not been always been rosy for the superstar.
The “Lagaan” actor has been working in the industry since 1988, revealed that his despite the massive success of his debut film “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” (QSQT), several leading directors were unwilling to work with him.
Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Aamir said even after becoming an “overnight star”, he struggled to get offers from the filmmakers he admired.
“I started getting a lot of offers for films but I wasn't getting offers from the directors I wanted to work with. I had a list of directors I wanted to work with, but none of those directors approached me,” he said.
“At that time, even after a superhit like ‘QSQT’, you still had to establish yourself as a star before the A-graders (referring to the directors) wanted to work with you,” Khan said.
Khan said he signed eight to nine films at the time, believing it was modest compared to contemporaries who were doing several dozen films at once. But once shooting began, he realised he had made a “big mistake”.
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“I’m not built to do two-three films together,” he said, as early releases such as “Love Love Love”, “Awwal Number”, “Tum Mere Ho” and “Jawani Zindabad” flopped at the theatres.
Stating that he was “unhappy” with his film choices that he made early in his career, the actor said he eventually realised the importance of doing films that have a “good script, right director and producer”.
The 60-year-old actor said he realised his career was going down the drain, as he was so “unhappy” with what he was doing.
“I used to come home in the evening and cry. I swore to myself that never again will I compromise with my work unless I trust the director, the script is something I love, and the producer is someone who can produce and release it well,” he added.
Recalling when he was approached by Mahesh Bhatt for a movie during that career slump, Khan said even though he was keen to collaborate with the acclaimed director he rejected the offer as he was “unhappy with the script”.
“The fact that I was ready not to compromise at my worst phase gave me a lot of strength and that was a turning point for me. That gave me the strength to take all the difficult decisions that I took in my career, like doing films, like ‘Lagaan’, ‘Taare Zameen Par’.”
Aamir last appeared in “Sitaare Zameen Par”, directed by RS Prasanna.
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