Aamir Khan on romancing Fatima Sana Sheikh in Thugs of Hindostan after playing his father in Dangal, 'asal mein thode uska baap hoon'

Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan in a still from Thugs of Hindostan

For an actor like Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who usually gets good screenplays, Thugs of Hindostan was a shocking flop. The film bombed at the box office despite having an A list cast. In his latest interactions, Aamir Khan has been open about what went wrong with the movie.

In an interview with The Lallantop, Aamir Khan spoke about casting the female lead part and how it was very challenging.

He revealed that no other female actress expressed interest in playing this role during casting. “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.

Many were also worried about a young Fatima Sana Shaikh's chemistry with a much older Aamir Khan. Since Fatima had played his daughter's role in Dangal.

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“I don’t believe in all of this. Main asal mein thode uska baap hoon, aur na asal mein main uska boyfriend hun. Hum log film bana rahe hain bhai. 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 argued.

Aamir said that the original script kept changing and this could be one of the reasons for it not working at the box office. Aamir recalled that after the film's completion, he got a call from producer Aditya Chopra, who said: "I have seen the first cut and it is a brilliant film. You have no idea what you have made."

But Aamir said he had a completely opposite reaction to the film and said that the movie won't work for 'a day'.

“I was shocked. 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 further said: "I would fight with them every day that we have made it all wrong. This is structurally incorrect."

Aamir said he has little control over the choices that were made during the filming. And he also spoke revealed that there was a plan to kill off Amitabh Bachchan’s character at the interval during the original script but it was also scrapped.

"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 added.

Thugs of Hindostan released in 2018 and was made at an estimated budget of Rs 200–Rs 300 crore. It was one of the most expensive Bollywood films. The film failed miserably at the box office.