Dangal broke box office records and changed Aamir Khan's image

[Rekha]

Dangal didn't just break box office records, it also changed the way we look at Aamir Khan

There's this one scene in Fanaa that nobody really talks about. Aamir's character is running through Kashmir to catch up with Zooni, and when he finally reaches the house, he's still out of breath, even while talking to Kajol. What's amazing is that he actually ran at high altitude before filming that scene so his body would react like a normal person's would. No other star in Hindi cinema would even think of doing something like that. It's this kind of attention to detail that sets Aamir Khan apart, not just the label of being a perfectionist. When he was in his 40s, he chose to do Rang De Basanti, which was a pretty experimental film for mainstream Hindi cinema at that time, and to prepare for his role, he hired a body language coach to completely change the way he carried himself. And he totally nailed it. In Taare Zameen Par, he didn't even play the lead role for most of the film, and instead let a child actor take center stage. Ghajini was all about physical transformation, which was pretty new for Bollywood back then, and more than that, it was about portraying a completely different emotional state, which was a huge challenge. In 3 Idiots, he played a 20-year-old college student at the age of 44, and it worked because of the body language coaching he had done earlier. If you watch Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots together, you'll feel like you're watching two completely different actors. Then he went on to do Dhobi Ghat, which was an indie art-house film where he played a really unlikeable character with almost no dialogue. Most stars can't pull off playing unlikeable characters, but he didn't shy away from it. In Talaash, he played a character who's falling apart on the inside but still managing to hold it together on the outside, which was a really internal performance. There are so many other films from the 90s and 2000s that I could go on and on about. Then came Dangal, where he played a 50-year-old man with two adult daughters, which is a role that most superstars would have passed on. But he took it on and nailed it. If you watch Dangal and Taare Zameen Par together, you'll see how differently he plays the role of a parent in each film. While other actors were sticking to safe and formulaic films, Aamir kept challenging himself with each new role. Every single one of these films required him to solve a specific physical or psychological problem, and that's what made him a true craftsman. He didn't just hire a body language coach for the sake of it; he did it because he knew he couldn't play the role authentically without it. Then Dangal went on to break all these records, and it opened up the Chinese market for Indian films. Aamir Khan became an institution, and that's when things started to change. He stopped being an actor who took risks and started playing it safe. When you're carrying the legacy of a film like Dangal, taking risks starts to feel like you're gambling with something that belongs to a lot of people. The same success that validated all his past choices made him feel like he couldn't afford to get the next one wrong. So he did Thugs of Hindostan, where he played a buffoon, and it bombed. Then he did Laal Singh Chaddha, which was a remake of Forrest Gump, and it was a safe choice, but it still bombed. What problem did he solve to play these roles? What did he research? What did he physically transform? What scared him about these roles? There's this saying that even superstars have, which is 'I want success back'. The scene in Fanaa where Aamir is gasping for breath happened because he refused to fake it, and that's the kind of actor he used to be. Somewhere between Dangal and Thugs of Hindostan, that actor stopped showing up, not because he lost the ability, but because success can be really good at making you feel like you've already figured everything out. This is the tragedy of success.

[Ehsan]

I think you make a compelling point, and I also think age has a lot to do with why our senior generation of actors aren't doing the kind of cinema they used to, and all the interesting projects are going to younger actors.

[Jatin]

Wow great read

[Douglas]

I completely agree with all of this. I think Aamir Khan's career took a hit with Laal Singh Chaddha, and he knows it, which is why he keeps talking about its failure in every interview. He wasted the last few years of his peak with Laal Singh Chaddha, and he can't get over that fact. He could have easily had one or two more blockbusters if he had stuck to what works for him.

[Arpita]

Also, let's not forget that he was part of some really different and interesting films like Dil Chahta Hai and 1947 Earth, Lagaan, and Dil Chahta Hai, all of which were in the late 90s and early 2000s. He played some really unique characters in those films.

[Mukesh]

I heard he wanted to act in Lapata Ladies but they ended up going with Ravikishan, I think he still wants to do small films if the story or character is good

[Hemant]

I totally agree with you, I mean in the late 90s and early 2000s Aamir was doing some really different stuff and people were responding to it in a big way, it was like he was on a different level compared to SRK and Salman, and his movies were really interesting and amazing, but after Dangal I think he started thinking more about what the audience wants and thats not what he used to do, I used to wait for his movies because they were always something different and cinematically attractive and had a good message and the music was great, but now thats not the case as much, SZP was good but he has set the bar so high that its tough to live up to it

[Sangeeta]

Secret Superstar

[Yatin]

I think something similar happened with SRK, he was doing well till 2014 but then the critics were all over him and he started trying different things and made movies like Fan and Dear Zindagi and Raees and Zero, but most of them didnt do well, so now he is trying to get his box office mojo back before trying anything different

[Bharat]

Great post, we want the old Aamir back, he doesnt need to make another movie like dch or lagaan or 3 idiots or dangal, we just want him to go back to what he used to do, even a smaller movie like Talaash would be great

[Lokesh]

Wow, amazing analysis, nobody thinks about this kind of stuff when it comes to actors, you have a real talent for writing, you should start writing scripts or screenplays, you would definitely be successful, thanks for this post