Bollywood actor Aamir Khan turned a day older on March 14. Fondly dubbed Mr Perfectionist, Khan made his debut in 1988 with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and has worked in around 60 movies. He has over 19 commercially successful flicks which five movies hold the record of being the highest-grossing Indian films. However, did you know that Khan became an actor accidentally?
In an old interview with Movie Magazine in 1988, Khan was asked if he always wanted to be an actor. To this, Khan replied, "As a child, I was shy, high-strung, goofy and awkward (words that seem to bear no connection to the self-possessed man that he is). Acting was far remote from my thoughts, my 'filmi' connections disillusioned me further. My dad (Tahir Hussain) being a producer, paid the directors and artists; yet, he had to regularly chase them, as they would play musical chairs with him before completing his films. Seeing these unfavourable conditions. I vowed that I would never become a producer or have anything to do with films."
Further, he also revealed what made him change his mind. "Acting was merely by accident. When I was in the XII standard, Aditya Bhattacharya approached me for his short film, which he desired to send for the festival and I said 'Yes' just for the fun of it. I enjoyed the experience and it gradually grew on me making me confident of the fact that I could act. I then made up my mind to take up acting as a profession," said the Ghazni actor.
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Talking about how his family reacted to his decision to take up acting as a profession, Khan said that there were no problems at home when he decided to become an actor. But, he did get the message from them that perhaps 'acting' wasn't so sensible a decision.
Before beginning a full-time acting career in a leading role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Khan first appeared on screen as a child actor in Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). As an adult, his first feature film role was in Holi (1984).
How did Aamir promote his films and himself in the initial days?
With the advancements and modernisation, movie promotion strategies have come a long way. Producers are dedicating a huge budget for promotions only. But, did you ever wonder how films were promoted earlier?
A video surfaced on social media that shows Aamir Khan pasting posters of his movie on taxis and auto rickshaws all by himself.
In the video, the actor can be seen in the middle of the road holding posters/stickers of his first movie. He stops auto rickshaws and taxis and interacts with the driver. The actor also pasted the posters/stickers on the vehicles after getting permission from the drivers.
A young Khan can be heard saying, "Whenever I met someone, I used to tell them, 'Please definitely watch this movie.' The film stickers were made to paste on vehicles, I along with my friend and co-actor, stopped the taxis and autos and informed the drivers that a new film was releasing. Some were permitted to paste the stickers while a few denied. They even inquired which film, and who is the hero. When we said 'Aamir Khan' they reacted like, 'Who is Aamir Khan.' I introduced myself as Aamir Khan. We gave high efforts to let people know about this film."
Even though Khan belonged to a family related to the film industry for years, he had to market himself and his debut film.
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Work Front
Khan was last seen in Laal Singh Chaddha, also starring Kareena Kapoor Khan. The movie was a debacle that left the Dhoom 3 actor disheartened. Currently, the Dangal actor is working on 'Sitaare Zameen Par.' The movie is set to follow a fun path, unlike Taare Zameen Par. As per the actor, the same amount that Taare Zameen Par has made people cry, Sitaare Zameen Par will make everyone laugh. Sitaare Zameen Par will revolve around Down Syndrome and the Dangal actor will be working on his birthday as he has scheduled to shoot today. Actress Genelia Deshmukh also stars in the film which is scheduled to release on Christmas this year.