Please welcome the movie star who has 2016’s best film, Dangal. You haven’t seen it but I have and I can vouch for it.” That’s how Karan Johar welcomed the guest for his Sunday episode of Koffee with Karan on STAR World. Here are some takeaways from the chat with Aamir Khan, in the run-up to his December 23 release.

Conspiracy theory

Karan: I have seen Dangal and it has the best performance by Aamir Khan. So why so stressed?
Aamir: When we test a film, we show it to 500 people. And people have liked it; I am happy about that. But I also feel a film takes a life of its own when it reaches a theatre, the lights dim and the film comes on. It has a life of its own, which we often are not able to predict. 

Karan: You put all your eggs in one big basket. You come every two-three years...
Aamir: It’s worth it. A film may not work but for me the process is very exciting. I love what I am doing and I love diving into it. That’s why I get so nervous. 

Karan: The other thing that’s said about you is how you can take over a film: Is it about Aamir Khan or is it about the director? It’s not an acquisition but a…
Aamir: Conspiracy theory?
Karan: Right!
Aamir: I find it unfortunate and sad. Each of the directors I have worked with has made great films. Lagaan has been made by Ashu (Ashutosh Gowariker). Nitesh (Tiwari) has made Dangal…. I believe that it’s the director’s vision we all follow. All my inputs go towards helping him achieve that vision. It’s not about having my vision and about going on another route. If I were following my vision, all my films would have been very similar. 

Sultan vs Dangal

Karan: Was there any anxiety that Sultan was also a wrestling-centric film?
Aamir: No, not really. 

Karan: When both the films were announced, texturally it seemed there could have been an overlap.
Aamir: Correct. Adi (Aditya Chopra) is a close friend and I called him up. I asked him if there were any similarities. He said: ‘Meri love story hai.’ As soon as he said that one line, I knew the films were different. Mine is not a love story but about the father-daughter relationship. The background maybe similar, it’s about wrestling. It’s like saying Sarfarosh is a cop film but there are so many cop films. 

Karan: But when... there’s Salman Khan and there’s Aamir Khan... there is a level of fear that one may eat into the cream of the other....
Aamir: Sultan has helped me, definitely helped me. Every person who has seen Sultan — which is a huge audience — will want to compare (it with Dangal). So I was praying Sultan bahut badi hit ho.

Decoding Aamir

Anushka Sharma: The first time I met him was suddenly. He just walked into my look test. I thought he was quite chilled-out. He was cracking jokes. Sometimes he makes fun of himself a lot. I guess he does it to make people feel comfortable. 

Prasoon Joshi: His meetings are open-ended. You can’t enter an Aamir meeting thinking there is one hour.

Rajkumar Hirani: Aamir is such an actor that he always has a bag of tricks. We were shooting PK. He was supposed to widen his eyes or blink constantly. I would tell him: ‘You’re not looking like an alien but yesterday you were looking like an alien.’ Then he would go and do something and immediately he would start looking like an alien. I asked him what he did to look like an alien. He told me much later that besides widening his eyes, he was extending with his lower jaw. 

Rapid fire

What advice would you give the following people…

Shah Rukh Khan: He doesn’t need my advice. He is doing fine without my advice.
Salman Khan: Actually Salman can give me advice. He is very accurate.
Akshay Kumar: He is one I would also try to get advice from. Financial advice. He knows how to invest.

One thing you dislike about the industry but have to pretend to like is…

Your show. (Laughs) I don’t like filmi parties. But I have to attend them. 

If actors had secret lives who would be the following…

A stripper: Ranveer Singh.
A sex therapist: Me. It’s a hidden talent.

Have to maintain your calm with?

Vinod Chopra.

Yes or no…

Will you join politics? No.
Leave Bollywood to work in Hollywood? No.
Accept a two-hero film with Shah Rukh Khan? Ya.
Play a homosexual on screen? Ya, why not?
Play father to a current hero? Ya, why not?