Aamir Khan says he wasn’t sure son Junaid would be a good actor; refused to launch him: ‘I can’t fool my audience’

Aamir Khan’s son, Junaid Khan, recently made his Bollywood debut with Yash Raj Films’ Maharaj. In a recent interaction, the Dangal actor opened up about Junaid’s acting debut and candidly admitted that he initially didn’t believe Junaid would be a good actor. Aamir also revealed that before Junaid made his debut, he made it clear to his son that he wouldn’t be producing his films because he didn’t yet believe in his talent.

Speaking to Rhea Chakraborty on her podcast, Aamir said, “Junaid has shown a lot of promise. I have seen him before he learned acting, and he wanted to learn theatre. When he told me that he wanted to be an actor, I was like ‘sure,’ but I also thought that he would be compared to me as soon as his first film released. The tag of being Aamir Khan’s son can’t be removed from him, and he will have to carry this burden. Because of this, I wanted to ask him if he was sure. I wasn’t sure that Junaid would be a good actor. He was very shy, and I was also very shy, so only I know what I can do, but people around me would laugh at me and say that I could never act. So, I had the same thought for Junaid, and I was worried as a father. I was concerned that he might go in the wrong direction.”

Aamir also warned Junaid that he would not be able to help him if he wasn’t a good actor. He said, “As a son, you might feel, ‘Arrey, aap mere liye film produce kar do,’ voh mujhse hoga nahin. Agar aapko kaam nahin aata to main aapke saath film produce nahi kar paunga. Main apni audience ko dhokha nahi de sakta hoon (As a son, you might feel that I should produce a film for you, but I won’t be able to do that. I can’t fool my audience).” However, Aamir shared that Junaid understood and accepted his stance. Junaid even told him that he didn’t expect him to be anything but honest and advised him to stay the same and remain truthful in his opinions.

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Aamir also revealed that nobody could identify Junaid as his son when he would go for auditions since he is much taller than him. He shared that Junaid faced a lot of rejections while auditioning, and the first audition he cracked was for Maharaj. “He has done everything on his own,” Aamir said.