‘Those years are not coming back’: Bollywood star Aamir Khan fights back tears over lost family time

SINGAPORE, Oct 29 — After a career spanning decades, Aamir Khan has made a name for himself, but not without regrets.

The 61-year-old Bollywood star was in town on Oct 22 for the annual Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), where he received the Screen Icon Award and chatted with viewers here for nearly two hours during his In Conversations With session.

On top of a look-back at his journey as an actor, director and producer, Aamir also opened up about one of his lowest moments.

Sitting around at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, after being a workaholic all his life, gave him time to reflect.

“About 30 years of my life had passed — and it’s okay to work like a madman, completely obsessed with what you’re doing, for one year, two years, five years, but if it goes on for 30 years… You’ve lost your relationships. Your kids have grown up, they are adults now, so I felt a deep sense of loss,” he shared.

Tearing up, Aamir, who has three children from his two previous marriages, paused for a few moments to collect himself.

“I was sitting alone and thinking about this, feeling really horrible about myself. And then I decided to correct what I had done or what I had not done,” he said.

“I realised that I’ve lost those years, and no matter what I do, they’re not going to come back. There’s no way those years are coming back, but at least I have the years ahead. So I made a big change in my life.”

He shared that he’s been spending time with his loved ones in recent years and is actively making sure he’s “connected” to the people who are important to him.

“I’m so glad that this thought occurred to me when I was 56, and not when I was 86, when it would be really too late to do anything about it.”

He added: “A lot of us have so many things happening in our lives. We are doing so many things that are important to us, which mean a lot to us, and life just races. But I think it’s very important for all of us to just stop, take a pause, and look at the people and our relationships, who are really important to us, and who mean a lot to us, and we must give them time, love and nourish those relationships.”

‘This is where my heart belongs’

Aamir has starred in countless beloved films and dramas — Mann (1999), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Ghajini (2008) and Dangal (2016), to name a few — but arguably he’s best known for the global hit that is 3 Idiots .

The 2009 movie was popular not only in India, but also in countries such as China and South Korea.

Speaking candidly, Aamir’s next remark drew a surprised reaction from Singaporean host Rishi Budhrani.

“I have to thank piracy. I mean, it’s the truth. My popularity in China is thanks to piracy… Had the Chinese kids not pirated the film and shared it, I don’t think I would have got that out,” he remarked.

He clarified he’s not an advocate of piracy and likes to pay for what he consumes but is aware of the practicalities.

“Sometimes things which are not good for you work in your favour in odd ways. This is one case of that… The first time I went to China, I met a lot of film people there and I realised that they had seen seven, eight films of mine,” he said.

For fans of 3 Idiots , all hope for a sequel is not lost as Aamir confirmed at SGIFF that it is in the works.

Earlier this year, director Rajkumar Hirani revealed he’s working on the script and Aamir said the story picks up 10 years after the first film.

Aamir, whose father was also a film producer, was asked if he envisioned himself taking a different career path.

The former started Aamir Khan Productions in 2001 and its first film Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) — which was screened at SGIFF — was a commercial success.

“If I was not an actor, I think I would still be in the film [industry]. I would probably be a filmmaker, producer or editor… Because I think this is where I belong. This is where my heart belongs,” he said.

SGIFF will run until November 1. — AsiaOne

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新加坡，10 月 29 日——经过数十年的演艺生涯，阿米尔·汗已经功成名就，但他也并非没有遗憾。

这位 61 岁的宝莱坞明星于 10 月 22 日来到新加坡，参加一年一度的新加坡国际电影节 (SGIFF)。他在电影节上获得了银幕偶像奖，并在“与……对话”环节与观众进行了近两个小时的交流。

除了回顾自己作为演员、导演和制片人的历程外，阿米尔还敞开心扉地谈到了他人生中最艰难的时刻之一。

新冠疫情期间，他一直待在家里，而疫情前他一直是个工作狂，这让他有时间反思。

“我生命中大约30年的时间就这样过去了——疯狂工作，全身心投入到你正在做的事情中，持续一年、两年、五年都没问题，但如果持续30年……你会失去人际关系。你的孩子长大了，他们现在都是成年人了，所以我感到深深的失落，”他说道。

阿米尔·汗眼眶湿润，他与前两任妻子育有三个孩子，他停顿了一会儿，平复了一下情绪。

“我当时独自一人坐着思考这件事，感觉自己糟透了。然后我决定改正我做过或没做过的事情，”他说。

“我意识到那些年已经逝去，无论我做什么，它们都再也回不来了。那些年一去不复返，但至少我还有未来的岁月。所以我改变了自己的人生。”

他表示，近年来他一直在花时间陪伴家人，并积极确保与对他重要的人保持“联系”。

“我很庆幸自己是在 56 岁时想到这一点，而不是在 86 岁时，那样就真的太晚了，什么都做不了了。”

他补充道：“我们很多人生活中都发生了很多事情。我们做了很多对我们来说很重要、意义重大的事情，生活节奏飞快。但我认为，对我们所有人来说，停下来，稍作休息，看看那些对我们真正重要的人和关系，非常重要。我们必须给予他们时间、爱和滋养这些关系。”

“我的心属于这里”

阿米尔主演过无数深受喜爱的电影和电视剧——例如《Mann》（1999）、《Dil Chahta Hai》（2001）、《Ghajini》（2008）和《Dangal》（2016）等等——但可以说，他最著名的作品是风靡全球的《三傻大闹宝莱坞》。

2009 年的这部电影不仅在印度很受欢迎，在中国和韩国等国家也很受欢迎。

阿米尔坦率地说出接下来的话，引起了新加坡主持人里希·布德拉尼的惊讶反应。

“我得感谢盗版。我是说，这是事实。我在中国的人气要归功于盗版……如果不是中国的孩子们盗版了这部电影并分享出去，我想我不可能获得这样的知名度，”他说道。

他澄清说，他不是盗版的拥护者，喜欢为自己消费的东西付费，但也意识到其中的实际情况。

“有时候，对你不利的事情反而会以意想不到的方式对你有利。这就是一个例子……我第一次去中国的时候，遇到了很多电影界人士，我发现他们看过我的七八部电影，”他说。

对于《三傻大闹宝莱坞》的粉丝来说，续集的希望还没有破灭，因为阿米尔在新加坡国际电影节上证实，续集正在筹备中。

今年早些时候，导演拉吉库马尔·希拉尼透露他正在创作剧本，阿米尔表示故事发生在第一部电影的 10 年后。

阿米尔的父亲也是一名电影制片人，有人问他是否设想过自己会走上不同的职业道路。

前者于 2001 年创立了 Aamir Khan Productions 公司，其第一部电影《印度往事》（2001 年）——曾在新加坡国际电影节上放映——取得了商业上的成功。

“如果我不是一名演员，我想我仍然会留在电影行业。我可能会成为一名电影制作人、制片人或剪辑师……因为我觉得这里才是我的归属。这里才是我的心之所系，”他说道。

新加坡国际电影节将持续至11月1日。——亚洲新闻网

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