Aamir Khan tears up as he recalls family’s financially tough days: ‘Abba jaan ko dekh ke takleef hoti thi’

Actor Aamir Khan says there were a lot of misconceptions about his family’s financial health while he was growing up. His father, Tahir Hussain was a film producer so everyone assumed they would live a cushioned life. However, such was not always the case. (Also read: Manav Vij says people apologising after watching Laal Singh Chaddha on Netflix ‘should transfer ₹500 to Aamir Khan’)

In an interview with Humans of Bombay, Aamir recalled how the family when through a big lull when he was about 10 years old. His father had taken loans on interest for a film which did not get made for almost eight years. Aamir got emotional thinking about the time and left the interview for a bit to compose himself.

As he returned, he told the interview not to get concerned as he often gets emotional too quickly, About the days he then explained, “Thing that would trouble us most was Abba Jaan ko dekh ke (seeing our father). Because he was a very simple man. Maybe he didn’t have enough sense that he should not have taken so much loan,” he said. Aamir said that due to the film tickets getting sold in black, producers would also often not get their dues. He added that though a few of his father’s films did work, ‘he never had money’. “Unko problem mein dekh ke takleef hoti thi kyuki un logon ke phone aate the jinse paise liye hain. Unka jhagda shuru hojata tha phone pe ki ‘main kya karu, mere paas paise nahi hai. Meri film atki hai, mere actors ko boliye dates dein mujhe, main kya karu.’ (So it would hurt us seeing him in trouble. Because lenders used to call us. We would hear him fighting with people on the phone, telling them ‘what do I do, my film is stuck. Tell the actors to give me dates).”

Aamir also mentioned that his dad still made sure to return everyone’s money. He remembered how Mahesh Bhatt was surprised to finally get his money back for a film when even he had given up all expectation for it.

The actor also added that despite the crunch, Aamir’s school fees was always paid. He, however, recalled that his mother used to buy extra long pants for them and fold the hem in so they could be used for longer.

Aamir was last seen in Laal Singh Chaddha, which did not perform well at the box office but was loved upon its release on Netflix. He has not announced his next project yet.