‘Aamir Khan shot amid public, no one recognised him’: Nitesh Tiwari recalls actor took 1 year to say yes to Dangal, describes his prep

The music sessions with Amitabh Bhattacharya used to happen at his farmhouse in Panchgani. We had to whisk away Pritam da (composer) there so that he can fully give us his time without being distracted by anything else. That’s where we did most of our music, those were also really fun moments with the team.

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‘Aamir took one year to say yes to Dangal’

I always had Aamir in my mind as Mahavir Phogat. I am so glad and lucky that he came on board. He connected with the role and script instantly. However, he took his sweet time to say yes. He loved the script the moment he heard it, but he was not sure at that stage of his career, he wanted to play the role as he was essaying characters who were much younger, including Dhoom 3. He said that if you are ready to wait for a few years, then we can reconnect again. But then within a year, when PK was going to release, I narrated it to him again and he said, ‘Lets do it, this has not left me’. So, he took a year to say yes finally, I was actually willing to wait longer.

No phone rule on Dangal sets

Aamir sir is somebody who follows rules. If there were certain rules made for everyone on the set, he wasn’t allowed to flout them. There were times when he would try to say jokingly, ‘Dekhiye sir, aapka security mujhe phone andar nahi laane deraha hai (Your security is not allowing me to take phone inside)’. I would just say that no one is allowed to bring in their phones and the same rule applies to you. He used to laugh and say sportingly, ‘Acha, theek hai beta!’

Aamir Khan’s character prep

He can take a joke on himself. We would all crack jokes on his expense when he was really overweight, and he would take them sportingly. When he was putting on weight, it had reached a point where his metabolism and the body parameters had gone for a toss, his cholesterol was also high. There was a time when he wasn’t even able to tie his shoelaces due to the belly fat. He used to say, ‘Dekho sir, kya kardia aapne mereko (See my condition)?’ He is such a sport and took everything with a smile.

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There was a time when we were shooting with Aamir sir in the crowd, literally on the road with public. However, he wasn’t mobbed or even recognised because of the weight and look. He would sit in a rickshaw and travel and people would pass him by! Nobody thought that’s how Aamir Khan can also look. We took our own sweet time while shooting, we didn’t have to rush the shoot because of this factor.

Aamir Khan, beyond work

He is very kind-hearted and intelligent, that’s the first thing I noticed about him. His critical and analytical thinking is fantastic. You can see his knowledge base in his work today. He has absolutely no ego and is a very easy-going person. Not to mention, he really values other people’s opinions and feedback. For example, when we went to a theatre to do a sound and quality check, we normally sit in the middle and come back. But, Aamir sir would sit in every corner, be it the front row or the last seat. He said that he wanted to see how it would look and sound from everywhere, as not everyone will sit in the middle. That’s the kind of person he is! You end up learning a lot from him.