Bollywood actor Aamir Khan recently opened up about his decision to nearly walk away from his acting career. Known for his commitment to cinema, Aamir shared that he made this decision just before the release of his 2022 film, Laal Singh Chaddha. However, it was his children, Junaid Khan and Ira Khan, who convinced him to reconsider.
During an interaction with The Hollywood Reporter India, Aamir said he felt he wasn't giving enough time to his family and the COVID-19 pandemic made him reevaluate his priorities.
"Towards the end of Covid-19, I felt, sitting alone and thinking I've spent the bulk of my adult life, starting from the age of 18 when I became an assistant right up to now, all of my bandwidth, my focus has been cinema and films. As a result, it made me realise that perhaps I've not been there enough for my relationships -- my kids, my siblings, my family, whether it was Kiran when I was married to her, whether it was Reena when I was married to her. I felt that I had not been there for these people."
The actor stated that midway during Laal Singh Chaddha, he found himself grappling with emotional conflict, feeling he had sacrificed personal relationships for his career.
He said, "I went through that emotional moment where I felt I've given my whole life to cinema and I've not been there for my family. So at that time, I went, I felt a lot of guilt, I didn't feel good about what I had done, so it was a kind of an emotional reaction of me saying that, and I've done enough films, 35 years I've done films I can now focus on my family and personal relationships...So I called my family and said, 'Listen I'm not going to do films anymore, I want to spend time with you guys'. So that was my reaction. It was not out of any disappointment with cinema or some such thing. It was more of an emotional feeling. And I'm an extreme person."
However, Aamir said his actor-son, Junaid, provided a different perspective and he encouraged him to find a balance instead of quitting altogether. "He said that I was going from one extreme to another and reminded me there was a middle ground. He told me, ‘You can do films and still be with us'," Aamir added.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Aamir was last seen in Laal Singh Chadha with Kareena Kapoor Khan. Next, he has Sitaare Zameen Par, directed by RS Prasanna, and produced by Kiran Rao. The film is based on the Spanish film, Champions.
Aamir will also produce Lahore 1947, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, starring Preity Zinta, Sunny Deol and others.
