Despite being two of the most celebrated figures in contemporary Indian cinema and sharing a warm bond, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and acclaimed filmmaker Mani Ratnam have never collaborated to date. Although they have met on numerous occasions and even discussed potential projects, things never quite materialised as they had hoped. Recently, Aamir opened up about a time they nearly worked together, having zeroed in on a story, but the project fell through at the last moment.
In a recent interview, he revealed that they were keen on adapting legendary Indian Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai’s short story Gharwali (The Homewife) into a film centred around its protagonist, Lajjo. “I have always been a huge fan of Mani Ratnam and always wanted to work with him. I’ve met him many times as well. I’ve been to his house, and we’ve had wonderful conversations. Both of us have wanted to work with each other. We almost worked together in Lajjo. But that didn’t work out for three reasons; it had nothing to do with him or me,” he shared during a chat with Galatta Plus. Praising Mani Ratnam, Aamir added, “I’m a very big admirer of his work. I still hope that one day, he and I will work together.”
After a three-year hiatus, Aamir Khan is all set to make his grand comeback to cinema through director RS Prasanna’s Sitaare Zameen Par. A spiritual successor to the actor’s Taare Zameen Par, which also marked his directorial debut, Sitaare Zameen Par is produced by Aamir Khan and Aparna Purohit. It also features Genelia Deshmukh, Aroush Datta, Gopi Krishnan Varma, Vedant Sharmaa, Naman Misra and Rishi Shahani in key roles. Aamir was last seen in director Advait Chandan’s critical and commercial failure Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), a remake of the 1994 American film Forrest Gump.
Mani Ratnam is currently facing significant backlash following the release of his latest film, the Kamal Haasan-starrer Thug Life, which opened to negative responses from the audience. Also starring Silambarasan, Trisha Krishnan and Abhirami, the movie marked Mani and Kamal’s first movie collaboration in 37 years since Nayakan (1987).
