Aamir Khan blames nepotism debate for son Junaid Khan's Loveyapa box office failure: ‘Bhut negative backlash aaya'
Aamir Khan's son Junaid Khan made his acting debut with the Netflix film Maharaj, earning praise from both critics and audiences. However, his theatrical debut, Loveyapa, failed to perform at the box office. In a recent interview with Raj Shamani, Aamir blamed the nepotism debate for Loveyapa's failure. (Also Read: Aamir Khan feels bad Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan don't get as much credit as him, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman)
When asked what affected him more, his own films failing or Junaid's, Aamir said, 'I always felt that I was deeply attached to my work, almost obsessively, and what happened to my projects really mattered to me. But when Junaid entered the industry, I realised that a father's emotions take over. These days, I'm more concerned about Junaid's work. I want him to succeed, to be happy, and to get the recognition he deserves for the work he's doing. As a father, that's a very strong emotion.'
He then went on to discuss Loveyapa's failure, saying, "When Loveyapa released, I really liked the film and thought Junaid had done a good job. The role he played was quite different from his real personality. Junaid has this quality — he transforms into the character. I think uss film ko bhut negative backlash aaya. It was heavily trolled, nepotism mein bhut chali gayi ki yeh nepo kids hai (I think the film received a lot of negative backlash. It was heavily trolled and got dragged into the nepotism debate, labelled as a 'nepo kid' film). But Junaid and I are not like that. Until now, I've not interfered in his career, nor do I want to. In fact, I discouraged him from formally learning acting."
Directed by Advait Chandan, Loveyapa is a remake of the 2022 Tamil film Love Today. The romantic drama stars Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor in the lead roles and tells the story of a young couple forced to swap phones before marriage. The film earned only ₹8.85 crore worldwide at the box office but found some appreciation after its OTT release. It is currently streaming on JioHotstar.
Aamir will next be seen in Sitaare Zameen Par, a spiritual sequel to his 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par. The film also stars Genelia D'Souza in the lead role and is scheduled for release in cinemas on 20 June.
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