“My family wasn’t into acting,” Aamir Khan recalls of the beginning of his career

One of the biggest names in Hindi cinema is Aamir Khan. Actor Aamir Khan and presenter Kapil Sharma recently had an open discussion on the most recent episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show. He shared a personal account of how a Maharashtra bandh encouraged him to begin performing. Aamir said that his father and uncle didn’t support his acting goals, despite coming from a family with a history in the business. He acknowledged that he was nervous to talk to his father about his passion to perform.

Aamir Khan recalled his formative years by saying, “I worked backstage for eighteen months and did two plays as well. My uncle Nasir Husain, a well-known director, and my parents didn’t want any of us to work in the film business as their children. They asked us to do research because they felt it was too hazy. I never had the courage to tell my father that I was interested in acting because of his short fuse. Even though I was the top-ranked sub-junior tennis player in Maharashtra, I had a lot of academic difficulties. My father banned me from practicing tennis after I failed two courses.

Aamir Khan said of his acting career, “I never thought I would become an actor. I had one line in a Gujarati play that gave me my first chance, despite not making it through college auditions. I spent three months practicing for it, but I was unable to attend rehearsals because of the Maharashtra bandh two days before to the show. But this setback gave me opportunities. I received a job offer to work on a diploma film for a Pune-based FTII student. I was eventually cast by Ketan Mehta in Holi. Mansoor and Nasir Sahab agreed to collaborate with me on Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak after they saw Holi.

In 1973, Aamir Khan made his feature film debut in Yaadon Ki Baaraat, directed by Nasir Hussain. In 1988, he made his acting debut in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. He solidified his reputation in the 1990s with box office successes such as Raja Hindustani (1996) and Dil (1990), for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

Aamir said that he had to go through a screen test and other formalities even though his uncle produced Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Laal Singh Chaddha, Aamir Khan’s previous movie, was a box office failure. The actor is now working on Sitaare Zameen Par.