Aamir Khan has had an eventful year promoting Kiran Rao's sophomore directorial Laapataa Ladies. The actor, whose production has been selected to represent India at the 97th Academy Awards, recently spoke to BBC about his dream project Mahabharata and why he is scared of creating it.
While sharing his aspirations about his future, shared that his dream project is making a film on the Mahabharata. Opening up on why he feels scared about it, he revealed, "It is so huge and I am scared of getting it wrong. It's a huge responsibility because as Indians, it's something so close to us, it's in our blood. So I want to get it right."
Over the years, the Indian mythological epic has been made into several films and TV series. There have also been movies made on individual characters and their interpretations in current life. "I want to make every Indian proud. I also want to show the world what India has. I don't know if it will happen, but it's something I want to work towards. So let's see."
He revealed the reason why he secretly quit films for a few years. "I told my family I'm done with acting and films. I [didn't] want to produce or direct or act. I just wanted to be with the family," he shared. The news of his decision went under the radar as very few films were being made during the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown that followed. His children, however, pushed him to resume acting. "They were like, 'But we can't spend 24 hours with you. So get real and get a life.' So they gently nudged me back into the films," he said.
Looking ahead, the 3 Idiots actor mentioned that he wants to produce a lot of films and give opportunities to young talents. "...and I guess I'll continue acting. I usually do one film in two to three years as an actor. But in the next decade or so, I'm hoping to do one film a year. And produce a lot more films with stories that I love," he added.
Laapataa Ladies stars Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan in lead roles and won Best Film (Critics' Choice) at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. The film, which was screened at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, was released theatrically in March this year where it received critical and commercial acclaim. The film has been released internationally as Lost Ladies.
Aamir Khan has currently wrapped up his much-anticipated project Sitaare Zameen Par. The film stars Aamir, Darsheel Safary, and Genelia Deshmukh in the lead roles. RS Prasanna directs the sequel, which is based on the 2018 Spanish film Champions. The film is currently in post-production and is scheduled to release in 2025.