Aamir Khan accepted the Screen Icon Award at the Singapore International Film Festival on Thursday, then did something rare for a star known for a controlled public image: he stopped, wiped away tears, and told an audience what 30 years of all-consuming work had cost him.
The cost of a 30-year obsession
Khan was asked to identify the weakest moments of his career. He said the reflection began during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he started to examine how much of his life had been consumed by work.
He said creative obsession can be healthy for a year, two years, or five years. “But if it goes on for 30 years… you’ve lost your relationships,” he said. His children had grown up, he added, and he felt what he called a deep sense of loss.
He has changed course over the past four years, deliberately making more time for family and close friends.
- The admission: three decades of obsessive work cost him relationships and time with his children.
- The trigger: a period of reflection during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The change: four years of deliberately prioritising family and close friends.
- His measure: he said he was glad the thought arrived “when I was 56 and not when I was 86.”
An early stumble
Khan also returned to a period after the 1988 success of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. He signed nine films within six months, several failed at the box office, and he was labelled a “one-film wonder.” He described coming home in tears and confiding in his then-wife, Reena Dutta.
“At that time, mentally and emotionally, I felt like I was in quicksand,” he said. The memory matters because it shaped the more selective, one-film-at-a-time discipline that later defined his career.
A cautious 3 Idiots update
Khan gave the evening’s most concrete news to fans of the 2009 campus comedy 3 Idiots: Rajkumar Hirani is working on a sequel script. He said he hopes to hear the final version once he is back in the next couple of weeks. “So, fingers crossed,” he added.
The award was presented by Hong Kong-based filmmaker Peter Chan Ho-sun. The festival also includes a 25th-anniversary screening of Lagaan, the 2001 historical sports drama that marked Khan’s debut as a producer.
Source: Gulf News: Latest UAE news, Dubai news, Business, travel news, Dubai Gold rate, prayer time, cinema
Comments