When Aamir Khan got shooed away by auto drivers for pasting Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak posters on their rickshaws: ‘Kaun Aamir?’

Actor Aamir Khan might be a a superstar today, but there was a time when he had to run around on the streets of Mumbai pasting advertisements of his debut film on autorickshaws. Aamir forayed into the film industry with the tragic romantic drama Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, which starred Juhi Chawla. In an old interview, Aamir recalled how nervous he was about the film.

He said, “I was quite scared about the film and whether it would work. Whenever I would meet someone, I would tell them to please watch the film. I would stick the film posters on autos with my other co-stars, and stop taxis, to tell them. Some would say no, we don’t want you to stick this and would ask who was in the film. I would say, ‘Aamir Khan.’ They would say, ‘Kaun Aamir Khan?’ I said, ‘I’m Aamir Khan.’ We tried very hard for people to get to know about the film.”

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, directed by Mansoor Khan, released in 1988 and was a glowing commercial success and received high critical acclaim, too. The plot was a modern adaptation of the classic romantic tragedies such as Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha and Romeo-Juliet. Both actors became established stars after the film and won several accolades for their performances.

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Aamir will next be seen in Laal Singh Chaddha, which is slated for an August release. The film is an adaptation of the Hollywood classic Forrest Gump, and stars Kareena Kapoor as well. Meanwhile, Juhi Chawla will next be seen the film Sharmaji Namkeen, due out later this month.