Aamir Khan On Fatima Sana Shaikh Playing His Lover In 'Thugs Of Hindostan' After 'Dangal'
Aamir Khan is one of the most popular names in the Bollywood industry, known for his sharp script sense and consistent box office success, surprising fans with a rare misstep in Thugs of Hindostan. Despite its massive budget, star-studded cast, and grand scale, the film failed to connect with audiences and was rejected within days of release.
In a recent interview, he revealed that several top actresses, including Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and Shraddha Kapoor, turned down a key role, which eventually went to Fatima Sana Shaikh, leading to creative conflicts on set.
He also finally addressed the concerns about casting Fatima as his love interest in the film, after she had previously played his daughter in Dangal, a pairing that felt awkward and uncomfortable to many. Here's everything he revealed about it.
Aamir Khan on Fatima Sana Shaikh playing his lover after ‘Dangal’In a new interview, Aamir shared that many leading film actors, including Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and Shraddha Kapoor rejected the part that was ultimately done by Fatima Sana Shaikh.
In a chat with The Lallantop, Aamir Khan shared that Aditya and Vijay had a problem with casting Fatima in the role of Zafira.
“When we were casting for it, no other female actor said yes to this part. Deepika, Alia, Shraddha, they all refused. That film was offered to the entire industry but no one wanted to do it,” he said and when asked if they rejected it because it was poorly written, Aamir said that this could have been the reason behind their refusal.
He shared that while the makers chose Fatima as she tested for the part, and fit in, they decided that “we won’t have a romantic track between you and her because she was your daughter in Dangal, how can she play your girlfriend here? Audience will reject this.”
“I don’t believe in all of this. Main asal mein thode uska baap hun, aur na asal mein main uska boyfriend hun. Hum log film bana rahe hain bhai,” he said and recalled that Amitabh Bachchan and Waheeda Rehman have played mother and son, and have also played lovers in films.
“Audience is not this stupid that they will think that he is the actual father. We are underestimating our audience if we say that,” he said.
Aamir Khan recalls clashing with makersIn the same chat, Aamir Khan revealed that they never made the original script of Thugs of Hindostan as it kept getting modified.
“I have seen the first cut and it is a brilliant film. You have no idea what you have made.” Aamir said that when he watched the film, he was “shocked” because he found it to be “really bad.”
“I told them I didn’t understand it and at first, they thought I was joking. I told them this won’t work for a day,” he said and added that they went on discussing the film for the next 6-8 months and he would “fight with them every day that we have made it all wrong. This is structurally incorrect.”
Aamir Khan explained that in the original film, Amitabh Bachchan’s character was supposed to die during the interval, but the changes modified the story completely.
“Vijay and Aditya were both convinced and they were very happy with it and they did not want me to interfere with it. They are the director and producer of the film and they have the final say,” he said. When asked about the title of the film, Aamir said that he found it to be “extremely misleading” but recalled that Aditya wanted to make a Pirates of the Caribbean-like film, hence he went with it.
Thugs of Hindostan was released in 2018. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Ronit Roy and Lloyd Owen.
Social and lead image credits: Yash Raj Films