Bollywood star Aamir Khan was in two minds about playing wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat in his upcoming film Dangal.
“For Dangal I had to play a 55-year-old man, which is closer to my real-life age. I was worried about that [because] I was playing young parts in [other] films and for Dangal I [would] have to play an old man, be fat, [have] grey hair. So, I was worried about my future,” Khan, 51, told reporters in Mumbai at the launch of the movie’s poster.
“I felt practically I shouldn’t do the film but my heart felt I should do it,” he added.
It was the storyline of the biopic that ultimately moved the actor.
“Then I asked [director] Nitesh Tiwari to meet... [I] felt I should just do the film and not think about anything. I have faith in my audience that they will understand that whatever look I have is for a film and I am just being honest to [the role]. I just followed my heart,” Khan said.
Khan said he requested Tiwari to shoot the older version of the character first.
“I was fit at that time so we could have gone in order by shooting [the] young portion first then the old look. I wanted Nitesh to shoot the old part first, where I had to gain weight, and then the young portion later,” he said.
“I told Nitesh I am doing this because if we shoot the old portion later I will not have a reason to lose 97-100kg. The reason to lose weight will be for this film [Dangal], there will be pressure and a goal to reduce the weight. So we did [it in] reverse... I started with gaining weight for the old look and then losing it for the young look,” Khan added.
The PK star said gaining weight was easy.
“One can eat all the tasty food items. I had it for six months. I enjoyed the process of gaining weight. Then came the task to lose it,” he said.
“I had a great team including my nutritionist and trainer — Rakesh and Rahul Bhatt. I was training even when I was fat... it is difficult to train that time. Both pushed me to work hard.”
The actor-producer said his wife, director Kiran Rao, joked that he was not the same person she married 10 year ago “as I am into some or the other look”.
“In Dangal, I like the elderly, old look. Kiran also likes this look,” Khan said.
The actor also revealed there are six songs in the film.
“There is a promotional video that we will shoot at the end of this month. This song might not be there in the film.”
Dangal is set to release in India on December 23.
