The meeting room at his Mumbai office is quiet, sunlit and unpretentious—much like the man himself. Aamir Khan greets us with warmth that’s disarming, his eyes crinkling into that familiar half-smile as he ushers us in. “Please, come, sit,” he says, gesturing to the sofa beside him. It’s hard not to feel at ease. There’s no starry pretense, no entourage humming in the background. Just Aamir— candid, curious, fully present.
It’s been nearly three years since he last appeared on the big screen (Laal Singh Chaddha), and now, with ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, he returns not with a safe, splashy blockbuster but with a deeply human, emotionally resonant story about children with neurodiverse conditions. At a time when Indian cinema seems preoccupied with size—of budgets, box office numbers, streaming rights, and egos—Aamir arrives with something far more delicate: a story about empathy, inclusion, and rediscovering joy in unexpected places.
“It’s the kind of film that taps the good in you,” he says with quiet conviction. And indeed, it does.
Adapted from the Spanish hit ‘Campeones’, ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ follows a group of neurodivergent children as they’re trained for a basketball championship by a coach, played by Aamir. The film balances humour with heartache, and playfulness with poignancy. “It’s very funny,” he tells us, “but it also gently changes the way you look at people who are different from you. It makes you wonder, why am I being so judgmental?”
That duality—lightness paired with emotional gravity—has long defined Aamir’s creative choices. From ‘Taare Zameen Par’ to ‘Dangal’, from ‘Lagaan’ to ‘Satyamev Jayate’, he’s chosen projects that aim not just to entertain but to awaken something deeper. “I’ve never made very practical decisions,” he admits with a laugh. “I go with how I feel emotionally about a story. Once it gets into my bloodstream, I have to do it.”
This instinct, or what he calls ‘A fast-moving mind shaped by 60 years of lived data,’ has guided him through some of Indian cinema’s boldest projects. It has also meant turning down easy money—most recently, a reported Rs 125 crore OTT deal to stream ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ within eight weeks of its theatrical release. “I’m not against OTT,” he clarifies. “But a window that short eats into theatrical experience. Six months feels creatively right to me.” This refusal wasn’t a business strategy. It was, like most of his decisions, emotional and principled. “If I’ve asked you to buy a ticket,” he reasons, “and you’ve already paid for that story through your OTT subscription, how is that fair? That model doesn’t work for me.”
Fairness, sincerity, and artistic integrity surface often in our conversation, as does his belief in choosing the Goddess Saraswati over Lakshmi—art over pure commerce. “In this field, if you pray only to Lakshmi, you’ll lose. But if you follow Saraswati, Lakshmi comes along,” he explains.
And when she doesn’t—when the box office falters, as it did with ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’—he retreats. Not in defeat, but in reflection. Aamir’s creative breaks are well-known, and he speaks of them with the wisdom of someone who values silence as much as applause. “You give a lot of output as a creative person. But you need input—human stories, books, solitude. That’s how I reset,” he underscores.
It’s also why his endorsements, few and far between, are never frivolous. “If I won’t use the product myself, I won’t endorse it,” he says simply, adding, “Even my ads must entertain. I want to enjoy them as a creative person.”
He shares a particularly telling anecdote about his partnership with Samsung, how he helped take their mobile business from a single digit to double digit market share, only to walk away when his TV show, ‘Satyamev Jayate’, was launched. “I couldn’t talk about India’s deepest problems in one frame and sell phones in the next,” he says. “So, I gave up all five endorsements. It wasn’t comfortable, but it felt right.”
At 60, Aamir Khan is not chasing trends. He’s still asking the difficult questions—of himself, of the industry, of the society around him. He isn’t here to shock or dazzle. He’s here to listen, to stir, and to change how we feel.
In an exclusive conversation with IMPACT, Aamir Khan opens up about his deep emotional connect with ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, why he turned down a lucrative OTT deal for the film, what marketing really means to him, and why he believes that in cinema, chasing Lakshmi alone never works.
Q] Amid the theatrical success of spectacle-driven blockbusters like Pushpa and RRR, what made you choose such a difficult, inclusive narrative?
Actually, if you look at my earlier decisions too, they’ve rarely been practical. I go by what I feel emotionally towards the material—that’s a very important part of my decision-making. I had already planned ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ after ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, which didn’t do well. A lot of people advised me against it, saying that post-COVID, audiences want big action films, not smaller, emotional stories in theatres. It was practical advice, based on trends. But I just couldn’t follow it. When this script (based on a Spanish film) came to me, I just fell in love with it. It’s a life-affirming story, very positive, very funny. It taps the good in you. While it sensitises us to neuroatypical individuals, it also talks about being less judgemental and more inclusive. It shows people on the fringes—like a cook and an older woman, or a neurodivergent man and his girlfriend, who is a sex worker—with empathy and warmth. That moved me deeply. I just had to do it. That’s how I’ve always worked. Even ‘Taare Zameen Par’ didn’t make economic sense, but I still chose it. Same with ‘Lagaan’, ‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, ‘Dangal’. I understand the practical side, but I follow what I feel as an artist.
Q] And yet you walked away from a `125 crore OTT deal to back theatres. Isn’t that a risky move in today’s digital-first world?
Well, I don’t want to put a number on it publicly, but yes—I walked away from a big deal because the OTT platforms weren’t okay with a six-month theatrical window. They said ‘Two months or no deal’. And I said, ‘No deal’. It’s not that I’m against OTT. I think they’ve done great things—given work to actors, Directors, Writers; brought in variety; and reached new audiences. But if you release a film too soon on OTT, it cannibalises the theatrical run. That’s the problem.
If you look at France—they’ve legislated a minimum eight-month gap between theatrical and streaming. I’m not in favour of such laws, but I think some balance must be found. In India, we used to have six-month windows, and it worked fine. I just don’t think two months is sustainable for theatres.
Q] So will ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ release on OTT in the future?
I’m not against OTT. I’m just saying that window doesn’t work for me. And I know this won’t change the industry, but it’s the right choice for me. They told me, ‘If we do it for you, we’ll have to do it for everyone.’ And I understood that. So, I said, ‘Fine. You don’t want to change it, and I can’t accept it—so let’s not do the deal.’
Q] Is there a chance we’ll ever see Aamir Khan in a web series?
Why not? If the material excites me, of course I would. I don’t have any rigid rules for myself.
Q] You’ve always chosen content that stirs thought— ‘Taare Zameen Par’, ‘Satyamev Jayate’, now ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’. In today’s era of content overload, how do you define impact?
I go with my emotions. If something moves me, I do it. I don’t calculate the business angle. With ‘Taare Zameen Par’, I knew it wasn’t a
Rs 300 crore film. It was about dyslexia—most people didn’t even know what that meant. My belief is simple: follow Saraswati, and Lakshmi will follow. Not the other way around.
Q] Most of your contemporaries are still doing action or romance in films, and you’re exploring different genres. We heard that you also plan to make children’s films. Why this shift?
I’ve always been like this. I choose material that touches me. I also like to surprise myself—and my audience. If I’ve just done one kind of film, I want to do something completely different next.
So, I don’t get locked into genres. That’s not exciting for me.
Q] The cinema business is under pressure in India, and most filmmakers rely on selling TV and streaming rights to recover the costs. What’s the way forward?
This isn’t just a Bollywood problem—it’s global. Every industry is facing the same challenge: feast or famine. Either a film explodes, or it earns nothing. That’s not natural. As for OTT, audiences know that the film will come to their screens soon. So, they wait. Which is why that theatrical-to-OTT window is important. It’s not fair business when someone has already paid for an OTT subscription and then we ask them to buy a theatre ticket. They’ve already ‘paid’ for half the film. That logic is very hard to counter.
Q] You did a landmark television show, ‘Satyamev Jayate’, Uday Shankar was the CEO of Star India then and had called it one of the most defining TV shows of his tenure. Today, the TV industry is struggling, partly due to the rise of OTT and the perceived dip in content quality. What advice would you give to help television win back audiences?
Uday was very proud of that show, and he told me, ‘Of course, I look at the numbers, but this isn’t what gives me sleepless nights. The impact of ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was so outsized—you can’t value that in money. It resonated not just externally, but deeply within the company. It became a landmark for them. Honestly, I’m not a television person in the traditional sense. ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was the only show I did, and even then, I broke all the conventional rules of TV. So, I’m not sure if I’m the right person to give advice on reviving the industry.
That said, I must admit—I don’t watch much TV myself. In fact, I don’t watch a lot of content in general—not even movies or OTT shows. I read a lot instead. So my perspective is a bit removed. But I do believe that television, like any other medium, has to ask itself what it truly wants to say, and who it wants to speak to. If you’re offering something that moves or excites people, they’ll find their way back to the screen.
Q] People still remember your iconic campaigns like ‘Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola’, ‘Isko Laga Dala to life Jhingalala’ (Tata Sky) and even the recent hilarious ad with Ranbir Kapoor for Dream11. You’re considered one of India’s finest brand ambassadors. What’s the one key factor you always keep in mind before associating with a brand?
I’m very particular. First, I must be happy using the product myself. If I won’t use it, I won’t endorse it. Second, creativity has to excite me. I’m an entertainer, even in ads. I don’t want to just say ‘buy this.’ I want to engage the audience, make it fun, make it memorable.
I also make sure I understand what the client wants. Their sales must go up after they sign me. For example, when a large scale mobile manufacturer approached me, they had a very small market share. But they had a great product—technologically the best. We worked on the campaign together, and they shot up to double-digit by the time I stepped away.
Q] And you stepped away because of ‘Satyamev Jayate’, right?
Yes. I had five endorsements at the time—Innova, Samsung, Titan, etc. But when ‘Satyamev Jayate’ started, I felt it would be wrong to appear in ads selling products while I was talking about serious societal issues. So, I walked away from all of them. It was a loss financially, yes. But again—Saraswati first.
Q] How important is marketing to the success of a new film, and how do you think it has evolved—especially now with social media and influencer-driven promotions taking Center stage?
I don’t view marketing as something separate from storytelling. For me, it’s part of the same process. If you’re telling a story, it’s unlikely you’d want to share it in an empty room. Why? Because storytelling is inherently meant for an audience. It’s about communication, connection, and emotion. Let me give you an example.
Suppose you’re at a party—there’s music, people chatting, food being served—and something incredible just happened to you. Maybe you got an unexpected phone call, or something exciting just came to light, and you’re dying to share it with everyone. Now, you’re not just going to start blurting it out, right? First, you’ll try to get everyone’s attention. You’ll say, ‘Hey guys, listen! You won’t believe what just happened.’ You might even lower the music, gather people around. That act—of grabbing attention so you can tell your story—that’s marketing.
So, for me, marketing is not an add-on. It’s embedded in the storytelling itself. You have something you’re excited to share with the world, and you want to make sure people hear you. That effort to ensure people are listening, that’s marketing.
And because of this belief, I approach marketing very creatively. It’s an extension of the creative vision of the film. It can’t be formulaic. Each story demands its own way of being told—and of being introduced to the audience.
Take the ‘Dhoom’ franchise, for example. It was a huge brand, and yet we gave away very little in the promotions. Why? Because sometimes, the less you reveal, the more curious the audience becomes. If I walk into a room with my hands behind my back, your mind immediately starts wondering—what is he hiding? That curiosity becomes your hook. When we marketed that film, we didn’t release the full songs. We only put out 30 seconds of each track. Just 30 seconds! Which meant that if you wanted to hear the full song, you had to come to the theatre. You couldn’t watch the whole thing on YouTube. That was a conscious strategy, and it came from the material itself.
You see, the nature of your story often tells you how to market it. That’s why I believe every film has to be marketed differently. You can’t apply a one-size-fits-all formula. Marketing is not just about reach or buzz—it’s about understanding the soul of your film and then finding the most compelling way to invite the audience in.
Social media and influencer marketing, of course, have changed the landscape. They’re powerful tools, no doubt. But even there, the essence remains the same—how do you emotionally connect with your audience? Whether it’s a tweet, a reel, or a teaser, it should intrigue people, move them, or make them curious. That’s where I feel the real art of marketing lies.
Q] You’ve often taken long breaks—two or three years—between projects. What has silence taught you that stardom never could?
Every film takes a lot out of me. When it’s over, I feel like I can’t do it again. It’s too much. You feel drained. You give a piece of yourself. But then, slowly, the excitement comes back.
As creative people, we need input. I read a lot. I travel. I meet people. Through ‘Satyamev Jayate’ and the Paani Foundation, I’ve spent 12 years engaging with people directly at the grassroots. Those are invaluable inputs. That’s what fuels me creatively.
