What Aamir Khan Could Have Been, If Not An Actor

Mumbai: Aamir Khan entertained the fans as a young, curious engineer in 3 Idiots but this wouldn't have been possible, had he listened to his parents, who wanted him to pursue engineering.

Aamir, son of director Tahir Hussain and nephew of filmmaker Nasir Hussain, has revealed that despite being a film family, his folks were against the idea of him joining Bollywood as they found it volatile.

"At that time almost everyone felt, film industry was not a good place to be. My own family, Nasir saaband papa jaan were telling me, 'No. Don't go in films.' Both filmmakers were telling me not to go in films."

"Chacha jaan, abba and ammi felt it was such a volatile profession," the 51-year-old said during a panel discussion at the 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival.

Aamir said his family wanted him to do something, which was more 'stable.'

"One minute you are up there, one minute you are not. There is no certainty or security. They wanted us to be more stable in life, to go into a profession which is more stable. Engineer, doctor, charted accountant. I wouldn't have managed to do any of these things. But they wanted me to get into a good professional course. They didn't want me to go through the uncertainties and the traumas, in the volatile business that we are in," he said.

Aamir said nevertheless he undertook a course at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), though secretly.

"I was very conscious of one thing. I never wanted Nasir saab and abba jaan to ever feel that 'Now it is our responsibility to launch Aamir.' I didn't want them to ever feel that, or be a burden on them. So, I knew by the time I wanted to act. I was doing my own thing, I used to go to FTII, do diploma films over there. But I never, even by mistake, mentioned to chacha jaan or to abba jaan about me wanting to act. I didn't want to come close to it."

Aamir recalled he shot for a 40-minute short film called Paranoia directed by Aditya Bhattacharya, after he passed 10th grade.

It was a silent film made by his classmate, who asked him to feature in it as an actor, assistant director, and spot boy, and the experience of doing that film made him interested in filmmaking.

Aamir said veteran actress Shabana Azmi watched the movie and heaped praise on him.

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"Nobody in my house knew I had gone to shoot the film. I used to pretend that I was going for hockey match, but used to go for shooting. Shabana ji saw the film and asked about me. At that time, she was working with my father in a film titled Khoon Ki Pukaar. She said, 'Oh you're Tahir saab's son! I must tell him you're a fantastic actor!' I said, 'No! You can't tell him that!' She said, 'You are a fantastic actor, you should be acting'. I felt so good," Aamir recalled.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)