Aamir Khan Reveals He "Almost" Worked With Mani Ratnam On Lajo: "Didn't Work Out For Some Third Reason"
New Delhi:
Aamir Khan, currently busy promoting his upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par, has opened up about a missed opportunity to work with acclaimed filmmaker Mani Ratnam. The actor revealed that he was close to collaborating on a project titled Lajo, which ultimately fell through at the last moment.
'I have always been a huge fan of Mani and have wanted to work with him for the longest time. I have met him many times, been to his house, and we have had wonderful conversations," Aamir said, in an interview with Galatta Plus.
He added, "We wanted to work with each other and almost did, Lajo, but that didn't work out for some third reason. Nothing to do with him and me. I am a big admirer of his work, and one day I hope we will work together."
Lajo was set to be a period musical drama set in pre-independence India, based on Indian Urdu writer and feminist Ismat Chughtai's short story. The film was to star Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, with music composed by AR Rahman and lyrics by Gulzar, as per reports.
Despite the promising lineup, the project faced several hurdles. Reports suggest that creative differences between Aamir Khan and Mani Ratnam, coupled with challenges in acquiring the rights to Chughtai's story, led to the film being shelved. The film's producer, Bobby Bedi, faced apprehensions regarding the project's budget, especially after the commercial performance of Mangal Pandey.
Coming back to Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan's 90-year-old mother Zeenat will be making her acting debut in the film. His elder sister Nikhat will also be a part of the movie.
In an interview, Aamir shared the story of his mother's unexpected cameo in his film. The actor said that one day she expressed her wish to visit him on set and he happily obliged. Later, during the filming of a happy wedding song in the movie, director RS Prasanna requested that she be part of the scene. While Aamir initially thought it was an absurd idea, he eventually asked her to make an appearance in the scene and she surprisingly agreed.
"She is there in one or two shots. It's the only film of mine that she has ever been a part of. I don't know what came into her. She is turning 91 on June 13, a week before our film's release," the actor said.
Sitaare Zameen Par features Genelia Deshmukh as the female lead. There are 10 debutantes in the movie - Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar.
The film is scheduled to release on June 20.
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