If You Are Leaving Films, You Are Leaving Us

New Delhi:

Aamir Khan, who was last seen in the official Hindi remake of Forrest Gump, opened up about the time when he had decided to quit films to spend time with family, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. A few months ago, Aamir Khan also talked about this issue on Rhea Chakraborty’s podcast show Chapter 2. Aamir said he felt he wasn’t spending enough time with family and his decision was influenced by a sense of “guilt.” Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Aamir Khan said, “I decided to quit before Laal Singh Chadha. I was going through a personal journey of my own. Towards the end of Covid, I suddenly realised that I have spent the bulk of my adult life, starting from the age of 18 right upto now, all of my bandwidth and focus has been on cinema and films.”

Aamir continued, “As a result, I felt that I haven’t been there enough for my relationships – my kids, siblings, and family. Whether it was Kiran or Reena, when I was married to them. I felt that I wasn’t there for these people enough. This was midway through Laal Singh Chadha, because half the film was shot before Covid and the other half happened after that,” the 59-year-old continued. “So, in the middle of Covid, I went through an emotional moment where I felt that I have given my whole life to cinema and I haven’t been there for my family.”

Reflecting upon his “guilt”, which eventually propelled his decision, Aamir said, ” I felt a lot of guilt and didn’t feel good about what I had done. And, I have done enough films in the past 35 years, I can now focus on my family. I am glad I realised this at the age of 56-57 and not 88, it would have been too late by then, at least now I can do something.”

When asked how Kiran Rao reacted to his big decision, Aamir said, “She asked me to come to the balcony to talk alone. She said, ‘You are leaving us’. I said, ‘No, I am not leaving you, I am leaving films’. She said, ‘You are a child of cinema, and if you are leaving films, you are leaving us.'”

Aamir Khan was last seen in Laal Singh Chadha. He shared screen space with Kareena Kapoor in the film.