Happy Birthday Aamir Khan: Interesting facts about the superstar Born on March 14, 1965, superstar Aamir Khan celebrates his birthday today. In 1999 he founded Aamir Khan Productions, with Lagaan (2001) being the first film it produced, which went to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie also got a National Film Award for Best Popular Film and two Filmfare Awards (Best Actor and Best Film).
By Kabir Singh Bhandari •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Born on March 14, 1965, superstar Aamir Khan celebrates his birthday today. If one were to compile a list of the hit films he has given us, it would be quite a long one, but that's not the only reason why we love him. Throughout his career, Khan has made an effort to make meaningful films, which stay with us long after the credits have stopped rolling. His approach to method acting is second to none and so were his creative promotion techniques he uses for his film's publicity.
In 1999 he founded Aamir Khan Productions, with Lagaan (2001) being the first film it produced, which went to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie also got a National Film Award for Best Popular Film and two Filmfare Awards (Best Actor and Best Film).
But there are various aspects about his life which we are unaware of, and given below are just some of the interesting nuggets from the life and career of the actor, entrepreneur and activist:
1. When he was 16, Khan was involved in a short film titled Paranoia, directed by his school friend Aditya Bhattacharya. However, the shooting of the film was mostly kept under wraps, since Khan's parents didn't want him to pursue a career in films and preferred a more stable career option as an engineer or doctor. In the film, he played the lead role along with actors Neena Gupta and Victor Banerjee.
2. Post that he joined Avantar, a theatre group, making his stage debut with a Gujarati play, Kesar Bina, at Prithvi Theatre.
3. Khan was actively into sports as a teenager and was a state level tennis player.
4. Rajkumar Hirani had approached Khan to play Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt's role in Sanju (2018). However, Khan refused since he was more interested in portraying the role of Sanjay, for which Ranbir Kapoor had already been finalized.
5. Many of you might not be aware of Khan's film Raakh (1989) which was his second film after his blockbuster debut in Qayamat Sei Qayamat Tak (1988). Raakh was a crime thriller that didn't do well at the box office due to its violent theme, but was critically appreciated. Even if you look out on the various OTT platforms, this is a difficult find, so do let us know if you find it!
6. His first silver screen appearance was in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973) as a child actor while his first role in a film as an adult was in Holi (1984), which was based on ragging in colleges.
7. Khan is an activist and humanitarian, regularly speaking about social causes. This also led him to host the successful television talk show Satyamev Jayate and he was featured on the Time Magazine's list of most influential people in the world in 2013.
8. One of the main reasons why Chinese markets opened up to Indian films was due to Khan. Lagaan was the first Indian film which was released all over China.
