Mansoor Khan, a noted director in the Hindi film industry, speaks To Subhash K Jha about working with Aamir Khan, who by the way is his cousin, the role he never planned Aamir to play, and which film that they did together was his favorite.
Mansoor, you went on to do three very successful films with him. Akele Hum Akele Tum?
Yeah. Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Jo Jeeta Hoi Sikandar, Akele Hum Akele Tum. That’s it.
What is your opinion of him as to how he has evolved as an actor?
I think Aamir chose some very wrong films. Especially in the beginning. Yeah, in the beginning. But one film which I think opened him up was Dil. Indra Kumar’s style is very different from mine. His moments are loud, you know. You know, every scene is a little more intense and more over the top. So, I think that helped him. Because in some scenes, he was feeling very awkward. I didn’t like was when they make fun of this overweight girl.
During those days, it was considered okay to make fun of fat people, dark people, stammerers, etc?
I told Aamir, ‘How could you do this?’ And at that time, Aamir said, ‘No, no, what’s wrong? It’s funny.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not funny.’
Well, I can tell you one anecdote when Mela was released, and there was a scene where he pees into a bottle. So I asked Aamir, how can you do something so crass? ‘No, no, no. People loved it.’ So he was in that phase at that time.
Also, in one of my father Nasir Hussain’s films, there was some crass humour: booze flowed from a water spring. He made films where everyone could go and have a picnic inside the theatre. That’s not crass at all.
Did you miss Aamir in Josh?
No, I was very clear that I wanted Shah Rukh for that role. But Aamir wanted to do that role and not the Chandrachur role. When I was writing the script, I wrote Chandrachur’s part for Aamir. I was hoping that I could bring these two actors together. But that was the point when Aamir was shifting gears. So I narrated to him, and I didn’t tell him which character he was playing. And then he started imagining that he was playing Max.
Okay, he thought you were going to offer him that anyway?
But I didn’t… It must have come as a shock to him. Yeah, so the next day, Aamir came to my diary office, and he had a chain around his hand. He was trying to be Max. So he was trying to tell me. And still, I didn’t know how to tell him because I hadn’t narrated the script to Aamir or Shah Rukh. So I said, wait a minute, let me play my cards slowly. So then I went to Shah Rukh. And I narrated to him, and after the narration, Shah Rukh said, ‘Yeah, in fact, see Max can do this, in fact, see Max can do that, in here is this and that.’ So I said, wait, Shah Rukh, forget that. Are you doing the film?’ He said, ‘No. No? He said, ‘I’m sure you’ll give Max’s role to Aamir, so I’m not doing the film.’ So I left. Then I came back and told Aamir, sorry, I’m taking Shah Rukh for Max. And Aamir said, oh no, I won’t do the film. Because one is that he’s pitted against his arch-rival. Right, right. The second was that he was at the point where he was trying to break out of the lover boy, goody-goody image. So he told me very clearly, and I said I was disappointed, but I said I wish he could have made that sacrifice.
Would you have made the role of Rahul Sharma any different if Aamir had played it?
No, the role would have been the same. So, I didn’t re-narrate it for Chandrachud Singh. But obviously, when Aamir would re-narrate it, it would bring a lot more; I mean, Chandrachud did it well in his own way. But he has a romantic lead, you know? But honestly, Max’s character was so charismatic that at that time, I was thinking of casting Aamir, Shah Rukh, and Shah Rukh’s sister would have been Kajol. But she, too, wanted to play Max. So then I realised that Max is such a powerful, visualised character.
Of the three films that you did with Aamir, which is your favourite?
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, I guess. It also relates to my own journey, because I was a college dropout, was a wastrel, you know, a rebel without a cause, you know? So that’s why that script was inspired because it was me. And I had to prove myself to my father.
And Akele Hum Akele Tum?
I thought I had made a bad film. So I didn’t watch it after the release for fifteen years now because I felt it required time for the audience to mature to accept that a woman, she can also have a career and yes the child doesn’t have to be the be-all end-all of her existence. But when I saw it fifteen years later, more objectively, I said it’s not bad. I slowly started really appreciating loving our work appreciating. Baba Azmi had done such a good job behind the camera and Raju Khan has done some excellent choreography. I had a screening where I called Baba Azmi, I called Anu Malik, and I called Aamir. I felt, hey, this is a good film. I should celebrate this at least once with the core team, and why only the team. Akele Hum Akele Tum should go out to the audience once again.
