Aamir Khan, one of Bollywood’s most prominent actors and directors with over 35 years of experience, recently revealed that he had considered retiring from acting a few years ago, but his family convinced him to reconsider the decision.
In a joint interview with his ex-wife, Kiran Rao, Khan shared, “I had decided to quit before Laal Singh Chaddha. I was on a personal journey during that time.”
He explained that towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, he realized that he had devoted the majority of his adult life, from the age of 18, to cinema, which led him to neglect his relationships with family members, including his children, siblings, and ex-wives. “I felt a lot of guilt and realized I hadn’t been there enough for them. I’ve made enough films over the past 35 years, and now I wanted to focus on my family,” he said.
Khan recounted the moment when he shared his decision with his family. “I sat them down and told them I wanted to quit films and spend more time with them. It wasn’t out of any disappointment with cinema,” he recalled.
His children, Junaid and Ira (from his first marriage to Reena Dutta), persuaded him not to quit, with Junaid suggesting, “Why go from one extreme to the other? There’s a middle ground where you can balance both.” Khan said this conversation helped him change his mind, and he ultimately didn’t retire from acting, adding, “It was just a personal journey, and no practical result came out of it.”
On the acting front, Aamir Khan will soon appear in Sitaare Zameen Par, a spiritual sequel to his 2007 film Taare Zameen Par. The movie, which he also produced, stars Genelia Deshmukh and Darsheel Safary, and is set for a theatrical release on December 25.
