Aamir Khan: A Journey of Excellence and Transformation in Bollywood

From ‘Dil’ to ‘Dangal’: The Inspiring Story of Aamir Khan’s Rise to Stardom

Actually, Mohammed Aamir Hussain is popular as Aamir Khan. He is an Indian actor, television personality and a film maker. He works in Hindi films. He is referred as “Mr. Perfectionist” in the media. His career span is over 30 years.

He has established himself as one of the most notable actors in Indian cinema. He is a recipient of many awards such as nine filmfare Awards, four National Film Awards and one AACTA Award. One of his film productions also received an Academy Award nomination.

Even in 2003, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Govt. of India & he was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2010. In 2017, he received an honorary title from the Govt. of China. 

In 1973, he entered as a child actor from the movie Yaadon Ki Baraat. In 1984, he played his first role in movie Holi as an adult. In 1988, he got a leading role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak against Juhi Chawla. That was a block buster movie.

Aamir Khan earned a National Film Award for his performance in special Mention category for his movie Raakh in 1989. After acting for many films like Dil, Rangeela, Raja Hindustani, Sarfarosh etc. he established himself as a leading actor.

He won his first filmfare for best actor in Raja Hindustani. He founded Aamir Khan productions in 1999. Lagaan was their first movie, it was nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. It also earned him a National Film Award for Best Popular Film and two more Filmfare Awards (Best Actor and Best Film).

Aamir Khan received appreciation for his performance in Dil Chahta Hai. After a short break, in 2006, he appeared in Fanaa and Ragng De Basanti. In 2007, he made his directorial debut from the film Taare Zameen Par. The movie won him the Filmfare Award for best film & best Director.

His biggest commercial success came with Ghajani, 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3, PK & Dangal. Each of these films had the record for being the highest-grossing Indian film. For Dangal, he won his third Best Actor award at Filmfare.

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Aamir Khan is having large fan following, especially in India & China. Newsweek described him as “the biggest movie star in the world”. He has been listed among the 500 Most Influential Muslims of the world.

He created and hosted the television talk show named Satyamev Jayate. He also works as a social reformer, for that in 2013, he earned appearance on the Time 100 list of most influential people in the world.

Aamir Khan Early life

Aamir Khan was born on 14 March 1965 in Bombay to Tahir Hussain, a film producer, and Zeenat Hussain. He is the eldest of four siblings; he has a brother named Faisal Khan and two sisters named Farhat and Nikhat Khan. His family have roots from Herat in Afghanistan.

Khan is a descendant of independence activist Maulana Azad and the former president of India, Zakir Husain.

As a child actor, he appeared on screen in two minor roles at the age of eight. He appeared in Yaadon Ki Baaraat & Madhosh.

Aamir Khan attended J.B. Petit School for his pre-primary education, later he switched to St. Anne’s High School, Bandra, until the eighth grade. At last he completed his ninth and tenth grades at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim.

He played tennis in state level championships and became a state-level champion. He completed his twelfth grade at Mumbai’s Narsee Monjee College. He described his childhood as “tough” due to the financial problems his father had, as his film productions were mostly unsuccessful.

He said, “There would be at least 30 calls a day from creditors calling for their money,” and that he was always at risk of being expelled from school for non-payment of fees.

At the age of sixteen, he got involved in the experimental process of making a 40-minute silent film named Paranoia. It was directed by his school friend Aditya Bhattacharya. It was funded by filmmaker Shriram Lagoo, an acquaintance of Bhattacharya, who provided them with a few thousand rupees.

His parents did not want him to make films and wished that he would instead pursue a “steady” career as an engineer or doctor. So, the shooting schedule of Paranoia was kept secret. In the film, he played the lead role alongside actors Neena Gupta and Victor Banerjee while simultaneously assisting Bhattacharya.

Aair subsequently joined a theatre group called Avantar, there he worked backstage for over a year. He made his stage debut with a small role in the company’s Gujarati play, Kesar Bina, at Prithvi Theatre. He went on to act in two of their Hindi plays, and one English play, which was titled Clearing House.

After completing high school, he decided to discontinue studying, and work instead as an assistant director to Hussain on the Hindi films Manzil Manzil and Zabardast.

Aamir Khan Personal life

Aamir Khan married Reena Dutta, who had a small part in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, on 18 April 1986. They have two children: a son named Junaid and a daughter, Ira. Dutta was involved briefly in his career when she worked as a producer for Lagaan. In December 2002, he filed for divorce and Dutta took custody of both children.

On 28 December 2005, he married Kiran Rao, who had been an assistant director to Gowariker on the set of Lagaan. On 5 December 2011, they announced the birth of their son, Azad Rao Khan, through a surrogate mother. In July 2021, the couple announced their separation and stated they would raise their son Azad as co-parents.

As a practising Muslim, he along with his mother Zeenat, performed Hajj, an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims, in 2013. As his former wife Rao is a Hindu. In March 2015, he stated that he quit non-vegetarian food and adopted a vegan lifestyle after being inspired by her.

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Before pursuing a full-time acting career, Aamir was an avid tennis player. He played professionally in state level championships in the 1980s and became a state level tennis champion prior to entering a full-time acting career.

His children have also ventured into the entertainment industry. In September 2019, his daughter Ira announced on social media that she would be directing a theatrical production, her first, a version of Euripides’ Medea.

Acting career of Aamir Khan

Director Ketan Mehta offered him a role in a low-budget experimental film Holi. As of The New York Times the film was “melodramatic” but “very decently and exuberantly performed by the nonprofessional actors”.

In 1988, Mansoor and his father Hussain casted him for the lead role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak with Juhi Chawla. It became a major commercial success and catapulted both Khan and Chawla to stardom. The movie received seven Filmfare Awards including a Best Male Debut trophy for him.

Aamir Khan was awarded a National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention for his performances in both Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Raakh. Later that year, he reunited with Chawla for the romantic comedy Love Love Love, that was a commercial failure.

In 1990, he performed in AwwalNumber, Tum Mere Ho, Deewana Mujh Sa Nahin & Jawani Zindabad.
His movie Dil was a major success. It was highly popular among the youth and emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year.

Aamir Khan followed this success with a leading role alongside Pooja Bhatt in Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, a remake of the American film It Happened One Night, it was also a box office hit.

In 1990s, Aamir Khan appeared in several other films including Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (for which he also wrote the screenplay) and Rangeela. Most of these films were successful critically and commercially. Khan was also cast in Time Machine; however, due to financial constraints, the film was shelved and remained unreleased.

Aamir Khan continued to act in just one or two films a year, which was an unusual trait for a mainstream Hindi cinema actor. His only release in 1996 was Raja Hindustani, in which he was paired opposite Karisma Kapoor. The film earned him his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor after seven previous nominations and went on to become the biggest hit of the year, as well as the third-highest grossing Indian film of the 1990s.

In 1997, Aamir Khan acted in Ishq, which performed well at the box office.On the next year, Khan appeared in the moderately successful Ghulam, for which he also did playback singing.
In 1999, he acted in Sarfarosh against Sonali Bandre. His movie, Earth was internationally acclaimed by critics such as Roger Ebert.

In 2001, Aamir Khan produced and starred in Lagaan. The film received critical acclaim at several international film festivals, in addition to winning numerous Indian awards such as a National Film Award. Khan also won his second Filmare Award for Best Actor for Lagaan.

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Later that year he acted in Dil Chahta Hai.He made a comeback in 2005 as the lead in Ketan Mehta’s Mangal Pandey: The Rising. which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2006, his movie Rang De Basanti earned him Filmfare critics Award for Best actor & various nominations for Best Actor.

Later in the same year he acted in Fanaa. In 2007, he made his directorial debut with movie Taare Zameen Par. Khan received the Filmfare Awards for Best Director and Best Film of 2007, as well as the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare.

In 2008, Aamir Khan appeared in the film Ghajini. The film was a major commercial success and became the highest-grossing Bollywood movie of that year.

In 2009, he appeared in 3 Idiots. His next venture was Dhoom 3 with Yash Raj Films, which he considered to be the most difficult role of his career in 2013. In 2014, he appeared as the eponymous alien in PK. The film received critical acclaim and emerged as the 4th highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time.

In 2016, Aamir Khan produced and starred in Dangal. The film won him two more Filmfare Awards (Best Film and his third Best Actor award). In October 2017, he starred in a supporting role in his production Secret Superstar.

Television

Khan made his television debut with his talk show, Satyamev Jayate, which dealt with social issues, on 6 May 2012. On the radio, Khan said that in view of a phenomenal public response, he would come up with a second season of the show.

The show went live simultaneously on StarPlus, Star World and national broadcaster Doordarshan in the 11 am Sunday slot in eight languages, being the first to do so in India.

Humanitarian causes

In April 2006, Khan participated in the demonstrations put up by the Narmada Bachao Andolan committee after the Gujarat government’s decision to raise the height of the Narmada dam.

Later he faced protests and a partial ban on his film Fanaa, but the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, supported him by saying, “Everyone has the freedom of expression. If someone says something on a particular subject, that doesn’t mean you should start protesting.” He also lent his support to the Janlokpal Bill Movement led by Anna Hazare in August 2011.

Aamir Khan quit the GOI’s copyrights panels in February 2010 after facing sharp differences with other members.

On 30 November 2011, he was appointed national brand ambassador of UNICEF to promote child nutrition. He is part of the government-organised IEC campaign to raise awareness about malnutrition. He is also known for supporting causes such as feminism and improved education in India, which are themes in several of his films.

Aamir Khan is a co-founder of Paani Foundation with Rao. The foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation which is active in the area of drought prevention and watershed management in the Maharashtra, India. In October 2014, he was appointed as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia.