BEING Bollywood’s Mr Perfectionist comes with its own set of problems. Superstar Aamir Khan says he feels guilty about not spending enough time with family.
The meticulous star, who prepares extensively before taking up any project and thus ends up doing only one film a year, said he was finding it difficult to juggle the shooting for Dhoom 3, Peekay and the research for his TV show Satyamev Jayate 2.
‘I have always felt that I am not spending enough time with my children and family. I spent 25 years with this guilt. The problem is that I get so lost in my work that I don’t realise it. I feel guilty that I am so self-centred. But, I think I am a good father and a good husband,’ Aamir said on the sidelines of Agenda Aajtak conclave.
Aamir, 48, and his wife Kiran’s son Azad turned a year old recently. The father-of-three said Azad, born through surrogacy, has started going to play school now.
‘We feel blessed to have Azad in our lives. His face lights up our life. Now he has started going to play school but earlier, he would not let me leave for work and I would end up taking him on my shoots,’ the actor said.
Aamir, who is now gearing up for the release of Dhoom 3, said producer Aditya Chopra had to delay the film for a year as he wanted to prepare extensively.
‘The physical training was really difficult. I had to have a lean but flexible body for my character of gymnast. I had only nine per cent body fat while doing the film but got relaxed after I finished shooting.
‘I remember when Adi asked me about beginning the shoot, I said, ‘I will need a year’. He was surprised but now when he watches the film, he realises why I needed that time.’
Aamir, who spent two years learning tap-dancing, body building and gymnastics for Dhoom 3, said he agreed to do the film because he fell in love with the story, which has more emotions this time.
The Khans – Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman – have been ruling Bollywood for the longest time but the actor, who avoided taking Shah Rukh’s name during the course of discussion, said he does not feel any rivalry from his contemporaries.
‘Competition is not in my nature. I feel happy to see agood work like what Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) did in Munnabhai or what Ranbir (Kapoor) did in Barfi. Salman is my friend and also a bigger star than me. I prepare so much but he does not need to do that. He will shake his belt, move his goggles and
that”s enough for the success of his films. I feel happy about it,’ the actor said.
Aamir’s conflict with Amol Gupte during the making of Taare Zameen Par (2007), which marked his debut as a director, is well known but the actor clarified that he did not take the film away from Gupte as was reported.
‘Amol came to me with the script and he wanted to direct it. The six months that I spent with him, I thought he should direct it, but when we began shooting, I lost my confidence in him as a director within a week,’ Aamir said.
‘I returned the script to him and said that I will write-off whatever has already been spent because of what I felt. I said I will not be in this film, you can take it to anyone else. But he requested me to direct the film. My conscience is clear. I did what I felt was right,’ he said.
