Aamir Khan on why Taare Zameen Par was personal: Junaid is dyslexic
Actor Aamir Khan recently opened up about his son Junaid's struggle with dyslexia. He revealed that the story of his popular film, 'Taare Zameen Par' (2007) had an emotional connection with him because of the subject. Aamir also admitted that he initially used to scold Junaid when he used to have problems with understanding the alphabet.The 'Sitaare Zameen Par' actor admitted that he had earlier not spoken about it to respect his son's privacy. However, now that Junaid has himself said it in one of his interviews, he can discuss his son's condition.advertisementDuring a 'Taare Zameen Par' fan-meet, Aamir said, "I've never spoken about this until today. Maybe this is the first time I'm saying it. And the reason is that many years have passed. And secondly, the person I'm going to talk about has already spoken about this publicly. So now I can talk about it openly. I'm talking about Junaid – my son Junaid."
"It's been 17–18 years since that film was released, and I've never said this until now: Junaid is dyslexic. So when I first heard the story (of Taare Zameen Par), it hit me so hard – because I've been through it myself. I was like Nandkishore Awasthi in the beginning (the father from Taare Zameen Par). I used to scold Junaid," he addedAamir will next be seen in 'Sitaare Zameen Par' which is a spiritual sequel to 'Taare Zameen Par.' The film is directed by RS Prasanna and produced by the actor's home banner Aamir Khan Productions.advertisementOther than Khan, the film also features Genelia Deshmukh in a pivotal role. 'Sitaare Zameen Par' introduces 10 new debutant actors - Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishna Varma, Samvit Desai, Vedant Sharma, Ayush Bhansali, Ashish Pendse, Rishi Shahani, Rishabh Jain, Naman Mishra, and Simran Mangeshkar.'Zitare Zameen Par' is a remake of the Spanish film 'Champions' (2018). Aamir plays a basketball coach to a team of specially-abled children in the sports-drama.The film will release in theatres on June 20, 2025.Must Watch
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The movie, which releases June 20, comes three years after "Laal Singh Chaddha" that tanked at the box office when it was released in theatres in August 2022. At the time, the movie faced calls for boycott on social media with hashtags #boycottlaalsinghchaddha and #boycottbollywood garnering tens of thousands of posts on X. "You work so hard, and then a person is saying something wrong just because of negativity. He has neither seen the film nor does he know about the topic, you just have to be negative. So, whatever you say, that person will speak negatively. So that is the meaning of trolling. Troll is not an angel. We don't call them angels. We call them trolls," he said. However, the actor dismissed the notion that online trolling has an effect on a movie's box office performance. "There was a lot of trolling in 'Laal Singh Chadha'. Maybe people think that it didn't work because of trolling. They are absolutely wrong. Imagine if the same trolling was there during '3 Idiots', what do you think would have happened? Then the trolling doesn't work. Why? Because the film is good." "Laal Singh Chaddha" didn't work at the box office because it was not made well, Aamir stressed. "It couldn't touch the hearts of people. If 'Dangal' had released on the same day in place of 'Laal Singh Chaddha', it would still have been a super hit. So, trolling didn't make a difference. The film was weak so it couldn't sustain. If the film was good, it would have gone up. So, I'm not disturbed by trolling, I don't have any tension. The film should be good," he added. The actor said he has read the social media comments on 'Sitaare Zameen Par' and is able to figure where the post is coming from. "I know about the troll in a second as they write, 'Boycott, boycott' or 'Go to Pakistan', so I understood it's a troll... That reaction doesn't affect me at all. I want to listen to the real audience, who are neither a troll nor anything, they see your work and they either like it or they don't like it. If they like or dislike it, they say it from their heart. So, I'm bothered by the reactions of the real audience for whom I make films. I don't care about the reaction of the trolls."
