Filmmaker Indra Kumar, best known for the Masti and Dhamaal movies, began his career with Aamir Khan. In an interview, he recalled working with the star, who hadn’t delivered a hit after his debut film, and was determined to prove himself. According to Indra Kumar, Aamir was just as clear-eyed back then as he is known to be now; the actor has earned a reputation for being a perfectionist. But he has also gone on the record to distance himself from certain aspects of the film Dil, which was directed by Indra Kumar.
They first collaborated on the film Mann, which flopped at the box office. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Indra said that he lost control of the film, and that Aamir himself voiced his concerns during production. After the film flopped, Aamir said a version of ‘I told you so’ to Indra. The filmmaker said that there were several instances where Aamir’s instinct was wrong, and cited the example of a scene in Dil, which the actor wasn’t sure about but ended up working in the film.
He said, “There was a scene in Dil, which Aamir has spoken about in his interviews; the one where he breaks a stick and gets married. Aamir wasn’t convinced. He said, ‘Indu tu paagal hogaya hai, stool tod ke koi shaadi karta hai (Indu, you’ve lost your mind. Who gets married after breaking a stool)?’ This was the only time that we had a disagreement. From 9 am to 1 pm, we kept discussing the scene. I told Aamir that I was ready to bet my life that the audience would applaud at the scene. And I was right. I thought Mann would work, but I was wrong. That’s how it is.”
In the same interview, he admitted that Aamir voiced his concerns about Mann while they were making it. “One day, Aamir told me on the set, ‘Indu yaar yeh picture mujhe kahin aur jaate hue dikh rahi hai (Indu, I can see that this film is going in some other direction)’. He said that he was feeling uneasy. I told him that I have discussed this already. We have to be confident,” he recalled.
Aamir isn’t very proud of Dil. In an interview with Aaj Tak some years ago, Aamir admitted that he is ‘ashamed’ of a lyric in a song that was featured in the film. “Hindi films have not been responsible enough, especially the way we project men and women. When we show something wrong in the films, we also show that the result of it is something positive. Which is wrong. And we often make the women an ‘item’ in films. Even the songs are like ‘tu cheez badi hai mast mast’. And even I am involved in this and I have done such films. ‘khambe jaisi khadi hai, ladki hai ya chadi hai.’ We are calling women ‘khamba’ but not humans. I am very ashamed of it,” he said.