Thugs of Hindostan: Aamir Khan says action-adventure film is 'not historical but a fiction set in 1790'

Aamir Khan, who is currently promoting his latest production Secret Superstar in Beijing, participated in the Chinese-Indian film forum held at the capital city on 24 January and answered many questions ranging from his love for China to his ongoing magnum-opus Thugs of Hindostan directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya of Dhoom 3 fame. [caption id=“attachment_4318841” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Aamir Khan. Image from Twitter/@samidsiddiqi91[/caption] “I am very happy to be here. This is my third time here in China and each time I get so much love and a warm welcome from Chinese people. The love keeps growing, and I want to visit often. It feels like a second home. I’m so grateful to all my fans in China for all the love you shower on me. I would extend my appreciation and respect to you all. I hope I will always inspire and entertain you and the relationship grows even stronger,” said Aamir Khan. Secret Superstar hit the Chinese screens on 19 January and took the box-office by storm with its record-breaking opening day, and weekend figures. Asked about how different Secret Superstar is from Dangal, which grossed nearly $200 million in Chinese box-office, Aamir said, “I don’t compare any film of mine. For the past few days, as I see swarms of audiences in theatres and the response on social media platforms, it tells me how the Chinese youngsters connect themselves with the film. The story of Secret Superstar is about a youngster achieving her dream in the most difficult of situations.” Talking about his role in the film, Aamir said, “I play Shakti Kumar, a very flamboyant character. He is very rude and arrogant, but he is funny too. The clothes he sports are flashy on screen. But I’m not like that in real life (laughs).” Spilling the beans on his forthcoming epic_,_ Aamir Khan said, “Right now, I’m shooting for a film called Thugs of Hindostan. It’s a big action-adventure movie. The film is set in the period from 1790 to 1805. It is not a historical film but a fiction set in that period. The look that I sport now, including the long hair, the nose ring, and ear-piercing, is for that film.” Stressing the importance of narrating a story that everyone can relate to, Aamir said, “Usually, when we talk about going global, we try to tell a story that relates to everyone. But, actually, we should think the opposite. If you tell a story about your own neighborhood, perhaps your street, it might relate more to the audience because people like to see different cultures, stories, and characters from different parts of the world. The more inward you go, the more you interest people from all over the world.” Aamir Khan also expressed his desire to work with Chinese talents and talked about bringing topnotch actors from both the countries together in a film. “There are many talented filmmakers in China. I really want to do a film with Chinese and Indian talent. It will be really fantastic. I like to tell stories which people of both the countries would love to see. I think it will also bring two countries closer. It would be wonderful for Indian audiences too to witness Chinese actors and talent,” said Aamir. Secret Superstar has earned a six-day cumulative gross of $41.88 million (₹266.3 cr) and is holding steady at the Chinese box-office, thanks to the excellent word of mouth from cinephiles.