Secret Superstar based on girl child empowerment: Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan, whose last film Dangal told the story of two girls who grow up to become formidable wrestlers, says his upcoming movie Secret Superstar - a musical drama - is yet another film on the empowerment of the girl child. The film revolves around a teenager who dreams of becoming a famous singer.

"Both Dangal and this film are based on the same topic -- that we look differently at our daughters. We aren't giving the same treatment to our daughters as our sons. So, Secret Superstar is another film based on empowerment of the girl child," Aamir says.

Aamir, a father of three, feels the Indian film industry must make more films for children. "This film is for youngsters, but isn't restricted to an age group. It is a family film. When our kids were younger, we used to show them foreign animated films which are only for kids. And that is definitely something we should do. We don't make enough films for kids in India," Aamir adds.

After portraying the character of Mahavir Singh Phogat in Dangal, Aamir will be seen in a very unusual avatar in Secret Superstar. He says he and his wife Kiran Rao were both very apprehensive about him taking up the role he plays. "When I heard the story for the first time, I loved it a lot. But Advait (director Advait Chandan) asked me to play Shakti Kumar's character. I told him I couldn't see myself in that role. Kiran also didn't want me to do this role." So, he decided to go through the screen test process. "While doing the screen test, I had fun and this was a very unusual character, completely opposite of me. So it proved to be a challenge for me as an actor to make the audience believe in the character," he says.

Kiran, who has co-producer the film, also spoke about not wanting Aamir to play the role. "I told him not to do this role as (I felt) he won't be able to do it. It's kind of a creepy character. He is a kind of guy who you really don't want to hang out with alone in a room. So I told him, 'Please don't do this role as it will be very weird to do such a character after a film like Dangal.'"

However, she was convinced after the screen test. "When we went through the screen test, we laughed so much that we were all convinced he could do this role too. He wasn't the original choice though," she adds.

When asked about the 100 per cent success rate of his films on the box office and his secret for it, Aamir says, "We just make films we believe in. I am just very fortunate to have been able to work with talented writers and directors. I don't know if there's anything else to it other than the fact that we believe in what we make and we work with people who are very talented."

Secret Superstar also features Zaira Wasim along with Meher Vij. The film will release in October.