Lucknow, March 15: Aamir Khan's plan to buy his mother's ancestral house in a narrow Varanasi bylane has hit a hurdle, with the property's current owner saying he would not part with it "at any price".

Aamir had expressed the wish while speaking on his 51st birthday yesterday, saying he wanted to gift Khwaza Manzil to his mother Zeenat Hussain.

"My mom is 80 years old. She had spent her childhood days in a house in Varanasi. It is my greatest wish to buy it for her so that she can return to her childhood days. I would like to request those who live there... that would be my greatest happiness," the actor had said, speaking in Mumbai.

Today, Badri Gupta, a businessman who co-owns the 8,000sqft house in the Kashi area with an uncle, turned down the star's offer. "I wish Aamir a very happy birthday. But I have no plan to put on sale the house which was bought by my father Chauthiram Gupta in an auction in 1947," said the 58-year-old.

Gupta said some members of Zeenat's family had migrated to Pakistan and others to Bombay after Partition.

"My father had bought this house because it was big enough to accommodate his and his brother Rajaram's family. This house is precious for us. So we have no plan to give it to anybody at any price," said Gupta, a former councillor.

Khwaza Manzil, in Kashi's Chauhatta Lal Khan locality, is in a dilapidated shape. Gupta lives there with wife Shakuntala and two sons, while his uncle's son Dinesh stays in another portion with his family.

Aamir's quest for the house had actually begun when he visited Varanasi in 2009 for the promotion of 3 Idiots.

Ram Lakhan, an auto-driver who had met the superstar then, said today that Aamir had repeated his wish to buy the property recently.

"I was in Mumbai two months ago and had met him. He had told me that he wanted to buy Khwaza Manzil. But I told him that the area is too small for him.

"He needs a bigger place. I had told him I would find a large plot for him in Kashi where he can build a house. He actually wants to spend time in Kashi whenever he feels lonely in Mumbai," Lakhan said.

During the 2009 visit, Aamir had gifted gold rings to half-a-dozen people, including Lakhan and Lallan Singh, another auto-driver, for driving him around the Uttar Pradesh town during the promotions of 3 Idiots.

The actor had also given rings to Nawab Qayum and Hassan Raza, two locals who had helped him locate his mother's childhood home. Nawab and Lallan are no more.