Aamir Khan begged God to transfer all his success to brother Faissal, moved heaven and earth to support his career: ‘I failed'

Indian Express

a day ago

Actor Aamir Khan's brother, Faissal Khan, recently shared an insight into their relationship, as he spoke about his failed acting career and struggles with mental health. Following his comments, Aamir and their family issued a statement expressing their dedication to getting Faissal help; in the past, Faissal has been institutionalised for his reported mental illnesses. He began his acting career with the box office flop Madhosh, and followed it up with the even bigger failure Mela. In an interview with Pinkvilla, Faissal said that the movie took four years to make, and endured a particularly difficult production that nearly forced Aamir to quit. Not too long ago, Aamir had spoken about trying to launch Faissal as an actor, and failing to do so.
Chatting with Raj Shamani prior to the release of his film Sitaare Zameen Par in theatres a few months ago, Aamir was asked about his son Junaid Khan's acting career, and if he feels worse when one of Junaid's films don't work. Citing the example of Faissal, Aamir had said, 'This is a new emotion for me. I've always wanted audiences to love my films. But at this stage, I am more concerned about Junaid and his success. As a father, that's my priority. Forget success, I want him to be happy with the work he has done, I want him to get the due of what he's doing. Whether it's Junaid or Ira today, or Azad when he starts working, as a father, I'll be more concerned about their success and failure than mine.'
Also read – 'Aamir Khan-Reena Dutta's love was pure; he gave me Rs 30K job when no one employed me': What Faissal Khan said about superstar brother
Aamir said that he cannot, in good conscience, cast members of his family in roles that they don't deserve, because he can't betray the film as a whole. 'Up till now, I've never interfered in Junaid's career, and I won't. I tried to help Faissal a lot when he started his career as an actor. Unfortunately, his first film, Madhosh, didn't work. I was very worried, and I tried very hard to support his career. I did a film with him called Mela. I moved heaven and earth to help him, but I realised that this is the one field where nobody can help you. All I can do is pray to God that he takes my success and gives it all to him. I couldn't do a thing beyond that. I tried and failed. Your success in this field depends entirely on your destiny and the hard work you put in.'
In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, Faissal shared that he never wanted to be an actor in the first place, as he opened up about the problems they experienced while making Mela. The delay in production was caused due to differences between his brother and the director. He shared, 'After Madhosh, I was critical about myself and I decided to start from scratch. I knew I was not a great actor, so I took lessons. I practiced singing to open up my voice. On the side, I was also learning to dance and fight. It was after all this that my performance in Mela came through.'
After Faissal's interview, Aamir's family issued a statement stressing upon their determination to get Faissal all the help that he needs. 'We are distressed by Faissal's hurtful and misleading portrayal of his mother Zeenat Tahir Husain, his sister Nikhat Hegde, and his brother Aamir (Khan). As this is not the first time he has misrepresented these events, we feel it necessary to clarify our intentions and reaffirm our solidarity as a family,' the statement read, adding, 'It is important to share that every choice regarding Faissal has been taken collectively as a family, in consultation with multiple medical professionals, and has been based on love, compassion, and a desire to support his emotional and psychological wellbeing. For this reason, we have refrained from publicly discussing the details of a painful and difficult period for our family.'
In the Pinkvilla interview, Faissal said that he lives off of a monthly allowance that Aamir has agreed to give him until he finds his footing. He said that Aamir is a 'good man at heart', and that Aamir even offered him a job at his production house after his acting career didn't take off.