Aamir Khan on romancing Fatima Sana Shaikh in Thugs of Hindostan after playing her father in Dangal: 'Asal mein thodi...'

After appearing as a child actor in films such as Ishq, Chachi 420, and One 2 Ka 4; Fatima Sana Shaikh made her debut as the leading actress in the 2016 blockbuster Dangal, in which she played Aamir Khan's daughter. In her next film Thugs of Hindostan, Fatima played Aamir's love interest. The 2018 release, which also starred Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif, flopped at the box office. In a recent conversation, Aamir shared that he had no issues romancing Fatima after playing her father.

Talking to The Lallantop, the Rang De Basanti actor shared that Thugs of Hindostan was rejected by Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and Shraddha Kapoor. She said, "No heroine said yes to that film. Deepika, Alia, Shraddha (Kapoor), everyone said no. That film was offered to probably everyone in the entire industry but that one role was not getting locked. Ultimately, Victor (director Vijay Krishna Acharya) went with Fatima. Victor and Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) said 'Fatima's test is good, let's take her but we won't keep your romance with her because she is your daughter in Dangal. How can she be your girlfriend in this one? Audience will reject it."

Aamir replied them, "I don't believe in all of this. Main asal mein thodi uska baap hoon, aur na asal mein main uska boyfriend hoon. Hum log film bana rahe hain bhai (I'm neither her father, nor her boyfriend in real life. We are just making a film)." He further cited the examples of how Rakhee and Waheeda Rehman have also played Amitabh Bachchan's lover and mother in different films as he added, "Bachchan Sir has played Rakhee's lover as well as her son. He had done the same with Waheeda (Rehman) ji. This has happened historically. The audience is not this stupid that they will think that he is the actual father. We are underestimating our audience if we say that."

Thugs of Hindostan scored the biggest opening for any Indian film at that time with the first day collections of Rs 52.50 crore net in India. However, the movie turned out to be one of the biggest flops in Bollywood after its first weekend. Made in around Rs 300 crore, the Vijay Krishna Acharya directorial just earned Rs 151 crore net in India in its entire theatrical run.

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