Aamir Khan recalls when his family was ‘almost homeless’: 'My father was not a good businessman, he always lost money'

In a recent interview, Aamir Khan said there was a time when him and has family were ‘almost homeless’ as his father was under a lot of debt.

Aamir Khan comes from a family that has been a part of Bollywood for decades. His father Tahir Hussain was a film producer, while uncle Nasir Hussain made successful films like Dil Deke Dekho, Yaadon Ki Baraat, and Aamir’s debut film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. But Aamir maintains that he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth as his family wasn’t rich, largely because his father lost a lot of money. Also red: Aamir Khan recalls being late in paying school fees due to family debt

Aamir Khan talks about the financial hardships he and his family faced when he was growing up. (AFP)

Tahir Hussain, Aamir’s father, began as an actor in the 1960s working in films like Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai and Pyar Ka Mausam. But by the end of the decade, he started his career as a producer. Over the next two decades, he produced several films like Caravan, Anamika, and Tum Mere Ho for. But barring his first few films, most did not work at the box office.

In an interview with YouTuber Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane, Aamir said, “A lot of people say you are from the film industry because my father was a producer. Everyone assumes that when you are a film producer's son, you are rich. My father was not a good businessman. He always lost money. He made successful films but did not make money. We were always in debt for some reason.”

Aamir recalled how one of his father’s films called Locket, which took eight years to make, left him with a lot of debts. “He had taken a lot of loans and at that time the rate of interest was 36 percent and there was a point of time that we were almost going to be homeless. Financially we were not well off but otherwise, we had a happy childhood. We've been through rough times, my father has struggled a lot. We haven't been financially secure but we had a good childhood,” Aamir added.

A few days ago, in conversation with the Humans of Bombay's Facebook page, Aamir had teared up while talking about how he and his brothers would often not have money for school fees, due to which they had to face humiliation in the school assembly. “Often, our names would be on the list of students who haven't paid the fees and it was embarrassing during the school assembly, they would announce their names in front of the school,” he had said.

Aamir will be next seen in Laal Singh Chaddha, the official Hindi adaptation of Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump. The Advait Chandan film also stars Kareena Kapoor, Mona Singh, and Naga Chaitanya, and is releasing in theatres on August 11. It is Aamir’s first release in almost four years.