Aamir Khan He has often spoken about the emotional investment he makes in his films, and the superstar has once again revealed how much failure affects him. Known as “Mr Perfectionist” in Bollywood. Aamir he revealed that whenever one of his films fails at the box office, he goes into a phase of emotional distress for months.In a recent interview with Zee Music Company, the actor said that rejection of a film feels very personal to him as he treats each project like his own child. Clarifying that he was speaking in a figurative and emotional sense rather than a clinical diagnosis, Aamir reflected on the heartbreak that comes with audience disappointment.
“When a film falls apart, it feels like losing a child”
Talking about the impact of a film’s failure, Aamir said, “It breaks my heart when a film loses. In the end, we make a film for our audience. When they buy tickets and come to the theaters to have fun, and they don’t like a movie, then there is a flaw in your work; the audience never deliberately decides to go see a bad movie. If they’re disappointed, there’s a mistake you’ve made.’He further added, “I go into depression for 2-3 months when a film doesn’t work, when a film is like your child, when it doesn’t work or is rejected, it’s very painful. I think it’s important to mourn your losses. When your film doesn’t work, it’s like losing a child, so you should cry, help it move out of your system and give it time.”Interestingly, a week ago, Aami’s son Junaid Khan Ak Din also talked about how he was dealing with Ek Din’s poor performance. The film marked it Sai PallaviBollywood debut.
Aamir recalls reworking films after the disappointing first cut
The actor also talked about the filmmaking process and revealed that there were times when he felt that a film didn’t fit well at first. However, he emphasized that films can always be improved with patience and persistence.“Sometimes you imagine on set that a film won’t work, it’s rarely happened to me. When I see the first cut of a film, I never fool myself; I look at it objectively. If I don’t like it, there’s something wrong,” he shared. Aamir then cited examples of films that underwent major changes before release. “It’s happened with a lot of my films where we didn’t like the first cut. The first cut of Delhi Belly wasn’t pretty at all; people did not enjoy it. Then we worked on it again. You can always direct a film if you want; it requires a lot of endurance, stability, patience and passion.”He added that films like Taare Zameen Par, Delhi Belly and Laapataa Ladies also experienced huge editing struggles before finally reaching the desired version. According to Aamir, filmmaking is essentially communication with the audience, and audience feedback plays a major role in helping the filmmakers understand whether they have succeeded in conveying the desired emotion.
“Real success is making the movie you want to make”
Aamir also explained his belief in audience testing and honest feedback. “Filmmaking is communication; if you get a different message, then I have to change my communication. This process starts after the first cut. I’m a big believer in testing the film, so we call the audience and ask them how they liked the film. Based on their opinion and reaction, we measure whether the film is working. For me, real success is managing to do what you say,” he said.Meanwhile, Ek Din did not do well commercially, despite receiving critical acclaim. According to Sacnilk, the film earned Rs 1 crore on its opening day. In 11 days, it managed to collect only 4.25 crores in India and 5.44 crores worldwide.
