Top directors were unwilling to work with me…, says Aamir Khan

Actor Aamir Khan on Saturday said several leading directors in Hindi cinema were unwilling to work with him in the early years of his career despite the success of his debut film “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” (QSQT).

Speaking at the 23rd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Khan said that even after becoming an “overnight star” after his first film in 1988, 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”.

“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”.

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“My sensibility did not match the number of people I was working with. These films started releasing and they started bombing, one flopped, then another flopped, then a third one too. I was labelled ‘one film wonder’ by the media,” he said.

The 60-year-old actor said that he realised his career was going down the drain in this manner, 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”.

“I was very happy when I got a call from Bhatt sahab, he was on the rise, he had made ‘Saaransh’, ‘Arth’, and ‘Naam’. I was relieved that finally one director I want to work with is reaching out to me,” he said.

But after hearing the script, the actor said he did not like it and was so disappointed that he told Bhatt “I’ll think about it” and went home.

“That night I couldn’t sleep, I was like, should I say yes to Bhatt sahab and compromise on what my heart says or should I say no and leave this opportunity to be working with him. Next day, I told him, “I can’t do the film as I didn’t like the script,” he added.

“Bhatt sahab asked what I didn’t like and we started discussing it. But that film never happened,” the actor said.

Aamir further said the decision to not “compromise” on his belief gave him the courage to do films that he truly believes in.

“…What was important is that when I felt my career was over and nothing was going to save me, at that time I had conviction and courage to say no to a film that I didn’t believe in. 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’.”

He said had he compromised that day and said ‘yes’ to Bhatt his career would have had a different graph. “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.”

Aamir last appeared in “Sitaare Zameen Par”, directed by RS Prasanna. The film skipped an OTT release after completing its theatrical run. Khan, who also produced the movie, released it on YouTube via a pay-per-view (PPV) model for Rs 100.