Aamir Khan almost rejected Dangal; felt Shah Rukh and Salman Khan had sent Nitesh Tiwari to throw him out of Bollywood

Aamir Khan initially hesitated to take on Dangal, fearing it could harm his career, and that Shah Rukh and Salman had something to do with it.

Aamir Khan's 2016 Dangal is one of the biggest blockbusters of Indian cinema. The sports drama, based on the life of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita, charmed audiences worldwide. However, the actor recently revealed that he was not ready to take on the film and thought Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan might have sent the director Nitish Tiwari to end his career. (

Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan perform at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's pre-wedding bash in Jamnagar in March, 2024. (File Photo/PTI)

In a podcast with Just too Filmy, Aamir was asked what made him choose his projects. The 60-year-old actor said that he always goes with his instincts without thinking about what the audiences want or the trends.

Aamir doesn't believe in trends

"A lot of people in mainstream cinema gauge what people like and decide to cater to that. It is a natural reaction because you are working so hard, putting in a lot of time and money, and what if the audience doesn't like it? It is a valid concern. But as a creative person, I haven't thought like that. Whenever a story comes to me that I like a lot, I put all my heart into it believing that audiences will react the same way as I perceive the story, as a human being," the actor said.

Aamir wondered if Shah Rukh and Salman sent Nitish to end his career

Sharing an interesting anecdote about Dangal, the actor said, "When Nitish (Tiwari) came to discuss the story, I told him it is a fantastic film and I want to do it, but I can't right now. I am fresh out of Dhoom 3 looking like a million bucks. My body fat is 9.67 and you want me to play a fat 55-year-old, father of four daughters?," the actor said with a laugh.

He quipped that he wondered if Shah Rukh and Salman had planned to send Nitish to cast him as a 60-year-old to push him out of the industry. The actor admitted that he asked the Dangal director to come after 10-15 years, and surprisingly, Nitish agreed to it too.

The rest, as we know, is history. Dangal became the highest-grossing Hindi language film of the year, collecting ₹2000 crore worldwide.

Aamir will be next seen in Sitaare Zameen Par, a spiritual sequel to Taare Zameen Par. The film, his first in three years, will be released some time this year. An official release date has not been announced.