Don't regret passing on 'Darr', 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai', says Aamir Khan

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan on Sunday said he doesn't regret opting out of hit films like Darr, Bajranji Bhaijaan, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, which eventually went on to become massive money spinners at the box office.

The popular actor was speaking at the press conference of PVR-INOX's Aamir Khan: Cinema Ka Jadugar, a special film festival commemorating Aamir's contribution to Indian cinema. Veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar also attended the event.

Darr (1993), directed by Yash Chopra, eventually went to Shah Rukh Khan, with Kabir Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan headlined by Salman Khan. Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Rajkumar Hirani's sequel to Munna Bhai MBBS, starred Sanjay Dutt.

"I was doing a film called Darr but I didn't do it. That was for other reasons. Not for creative reasons. I feel whatever happened happened for the better. Even today, I feel Shah Rukh suited slightly better the 'sur' (note) that Yash ji had visualised for the character.

"Had I done that film it would have become something else because I was looking at it differently. I don't really regret that because that was a good film and went on to be a success," Aamir told reporters here.

The actor recalled that he told Bajrangi Bhaijaan screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad that Salman would be a better fit for the role.

"I really liked the script of Bajrangi Bhaijaan. I said 'I like the film but I feel you should take it to Salman Khan'. But he didn't take the script to Salman, he instead took it to Kabir. Eventually, Kabir went to Salman," he said about the 2015 superhit.

Aamir said Hirani had written a script where he wanted the actor to play the lead role but things changed and that film went on to become Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006). The duo later collaborated on 3 Idiots (2009) and PK (2014).

"... The day he came to narrate the script to me he said 'The script I was narrating to you has changed and that has become 'Munna Bhai 2' and I don't have anything else to narrate to you'... I said 'Even I agree. You should make it as 'Munna Bhai 2''. I don't have any regrets," he said.

After the success of Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, his 1988 debut as a leading man, he was offered 15 to 20 film offers everyday.

"I ended up signing nine or 10 films in the first offers that I got. The directors I liked did not offer me any film so I chose from the rest of the offers. When the shooting of these films began, I realised that I had made a mistake. I used to cry every day after returning from work. That lesson was a very big lesson for me," he said.

The actor said he hit a rough patch when several of his movies Raakh, Awwal Number, and Love Love Love didn't work at the box office.

"My career was going down. The media had announced me as a one-film wonder. And, rightly so... At that time a very important thing happened in my life. Mahesh Bhatt sahab offered me a film. At that time, Bhatt sahab was on the rise." But when Aamir heard the story, he didn't like it, he said.

"I just wanted a film announcement with Bhatt sahab to come out so that I'll get a new lease of life. I was dying to say yes to him. I reached out to him and said 'Bhatt sahab, can I take one day to think about it?' I couldn't sleep that night. I knew if I said no, both the film and my career would go away.

"I promised myself that until the script, director and producer, all three, are not ticked off (I won't say yes to a film). Next evening I blurted out the truth to Bhatt sahab. I realised that at my worst, I had the courage to say no or take a positive step towards preserving my dream. That's what I've done throughout my career. If I had compromised then, my career would have been a series of compromises. It was a turning point for me," he recalled.

"Aamir Khan: Cinema Ka Jadugar" will commence on the actor's 60th birthday on March 14 and will come to a close on March 27.