‘Aamir Chased Me With A Snake And Made Me Cry’

‘We’ve
had
our
fights,
and
our
laughs
too.’

It’s
been
over
three
decades
since

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak
released
but
they
are
still
the
QScuties.

Bollywood’s
once
favourite

jodi
may
not
have
collaborated
of
late
but
when
we
reached
out
to
her,

Juhi
Chawla
instantly
agreed
to
speak
because
the
interview
was
going
to
be
about
Aamir
Khan.

In
a
tete-e-tete
with



Rediff.com
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya,
Juhi
speaks
about
her
friend,
co-star
and
prankster,
who
turns
60
on
March
14.

“You
can
ask
him
anything
and
Aamir
will
explain
it
beautifully
to
you,
in
depth,
in
that
logical,
detailed
way
of
his.
He
can
make
the
most
mundane
topic
engaging.”

‘He
rehearsed
my
dialogues
with
me’

I
don’t
recall
too
much
of
my
first
meeting
with
Aamir.

I
was
so
lost
myself,
not
knowing
what
was
happening
in
my
life
or
where
I
was
headed
that
I
did
not
really
notice
this
young
person
who
was
casually
lounging
around
in
Nasirsaab‘s
(Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak
writer-producer
Nasir
Hussain)
office
when
I
went
across
to
meet
him.

I
had
no
idea
he
was
Nasirsaab‘s
nephew.
For
me,
Aamir
was
just
someone
who
coached
me
and
rehearsed
my
dialogues
with
me
for
the
audition.

On
the
day
of
the
screen
test,
we
auditioned
together,
along
with
two
other
aspirants.

After
that,
we
went
our
separate
ways
till
one
day,
I
was
called
back
to
Nasirsaab‘s
office
where
I
signed
a
three-film
deal.

One
of
the
films
was

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak,
and
Aamir
Khan
was
my
co-star.

I
reported
for
the
shoot
straight
from
a
40-50
day
schedule
of
my
Kannada-Tamil
bilingual,

Premaloka/Paruva
Ragam.

That
stint
down
South
helped
polish
me
as
an
actress.

Aamir
too
had
a
film
called

Holi
behind
him.

But
we
were
still
too
young
and
inexperienced
to
help
each
other
then.

However,
in
my
later
films
with
him,
many
a
time
Aamir
has
guided
me
on
how
to
do
a
particular
shot
and
even
rehearsed
my
dialogues
with
me
to
make
a
scene
better.

‘I’ve
always
been
at
ease
with
Aamir
perhaps
because…’

While
Aamir
has
done
just
a
film
or
two
with
his
other
leading
ladies,
with
me,
there
have
been
as
many
as
seven:

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak,
Hum
Hain
Rahi
Pyar
Ke,
Ishq,
Daulat
Ki
Jung,
Love
Love
Love,
Aatank
Hi
Aatank
and

Tum
Mere
Ho.

Some
were
really
good,
some
miss-able
and
some
just
came
and
went.

But
in
so
many
of
them,
there
are
many
moments
when
I
was
able
to
perform
better,
thanks
to
Aamir.

As
we
did
more
work
together,
I
came
to
realise
that
he
is
a
really
intelligent
person.

You
can
ask
him
anything
and
Aamir
will
explain
it
beautifully
to
you,
in
depth,
in
that
logical,
detailed
way
of
his.

He
can
make
the
most
mundane
topic
engaging.

He’s
also
a
prankster
who
has
chased
me
around
the
set
with
a
snake
and
made
me
cry.

We’ve
had
our
fights,
and
our
laughs
too
because
Aamir
is
such
good
company.

During

Ishq,
Ajay
(Devgn)
and
Aamir
would
gang
up
and
play
pranks
on
the
film
unit
members
while
Kajol
and
I
would
be
laughing
our
heads
off.

With
him,
there
is
no
formality.

I’ve
always
been
at
ease
with
Aamir
perhaps
because
we’ve
known
each
other
since
the
beginning
of
our
careers.

‘Aamir
wasn’t
too
happy
with
some
of
the
work
he
was
doing’

After

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
established
us,
there
were
a
lot
of
film
offers.

I
was
still
new
to
the
industry
and
accepted
many
of
them
without
thinking
too
much
but
I
could
see
that
Aamir
wasn’t
too
happy
with
some
of
the
work
he
was
doing.

He
would
constantly
ask,
‘Hum
yeh
kyun
kar
rahe
hain??
(Why
are
we
doing
this?)

He
wanted
to
do
something
more
meaningful
and
stimulating
in
terms
of
content
instead
of
the
frivolous
campus
romances
we
were
flooded
with.

Films
with
solid
human
stories,
depth
and
logic.

After
a
while,
he
took
a
step
back
and
started
doing
just
one
or
two
films
a
year.

It
was
a
brave
move
at
a
time
when
all
other
actors
had
at
least
20
films
in
their
kitty
at
any
given
time.

These
were
films
he
believed
in,
unusual
subjects
in
different
genres,
and
one
by
one,
they
turned
out
so
wonderful
that
today,
it
is
hard
for
me
to
pick
a
favourite.

‘I
wished
we
had
made
a
film
like

Lagaan‘

I
love

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak
for
all
the
love
it
still
brings
me.

I
will
be
eternally
grateful
to
Nasirsaab,
Mansoor
(Khan,
Director)
and
Aamir
for
choosing
me
to
be
a
part
of
this
film.

But
it
was
after
seeing

Lagaan,
his
first
production,
that
I
wrote
a
letter
to
Aamir.

It
was
my
first
letter
to
him.

By
then,
I
was
doing
more
films
with
Shah
Rukh
(Khan).

In
fact,
our
home
production,

Phir
Bhi
Dil
Hai
Hindustani,
was
vying
with

Lagaan
that
year
in
the
race
to
be
India’s
official
selection
to
the
Oscars.

Lagaan
was
chosen
and
when
I
saw
the
film,
I
was
so
impressed.

It
had
everything!

Story,
scale,
performances,
music,
action,
emotions,
some
light
moments
and,
of
course,
cricket
that
had
you
mesmerised
till
the
last
ball.

The
attention
to
every
tiny
detail
left
me
spellbound.

I
wished
we
had
made
a
film
like
this
one.

‘What
made

PK
doubly
special
was…’

I
also
loved

PK.

Raju
(Rajkumar
Hirani,
Writer-Director)
has
made
some
lovely,
refreshingly
different
films.

This
one
too
had
an
unusual
subject:
A
nude
humanoid
alien
who
is
stranded
on
Earth
while
on
a
research
mission
when
the
remote
to
summon
his
spaceship
is
stolen.

It
was
a
challenging
role
and
concept
and
Aamir
and
Raju
pulled
it
off
beautifully
and
convincingly.

What
made
the
film
doubly
special
was
the
way
they
incorporated
the
angle
about
God
and
religion
to
propagate
a
message
of
communal
harmony.

It
was
so
touching!

‘Laal
Singh
Chadda
should
have
ended
a
little
earlier’

I
enjoyed

Laal
Singh
Chaddha.

I
thought
it
was
a
really
nice
film
up
to
a
point
but
I
felt
it
should
have
ended
a
little
earlier.

Aamir
played
Laal
beautifully.
His
love
for
his
childhood
friend
Rupa
is
so
pure
and
selfless
that
the
audience
wanted
them
to
come
together.

Finally,
after
years,
they
reunite
and
get
married,
and
then,
just
when
you
were
expecting
them
to
live
happily
ever
after
with
their
son
Aman,
Rupa
falls
sick
and
dies.

That
was
a
shock!

I
told
Aamir
after
watching
the
film
that

yeh
India

hai,
you
can’t
break
our
hearts
like
this.

‘Jahnavi
and
Arjun
had
never
met
Aamir
before’

Aamir
and
I
had
not
met
in
a
long
time.

By
chance,
he
messaged
me
last
December.

I
complained
that
we
didn’t
get
to
see
him,
and
telling
me
he
was
free
on
a
certain
evening,
he
invited
Jay
(Mehta,
husband)
and
me
over.

We
took
our
kids
(Jahnavi
and
Arjun)
along
but
unfortunately
that
day,
Junaid
was
shooting
and
Ira
was
at
a
relative’s
house
following
a
bereavement.

Jahnavi
and
Arjun
have
not
watched
many
Hindi
films
and
had
never
met
Aamir
before.

I
was
worried
they
might
get
bored
but
it
turned
out
to
be
one
of
the
most
fun
evenings
ever.

They
were
thoroughly
entertained
as
Aamir
and
I
flashbacked
to
all
the
mad
things
we
had
done
and
the
crazy
moments
on
our
sets.

He
also
shared
stories
of
his
future
projects.

My
children
had
a
great
time,
and
when
we
returned,
they
raved
about
how
cool
Aamir
uncle
is,
what
an
amazing
storyteller,
how
bright,
nice
and
fun!

‘My
wish
for
him
on
his
60th
birthday
is
that…’

I
would
absolutely
love
to
work
with
Aamir
again,
his
films
are
so
well-crafted.

Aamir
has
gone
from
strength
to
strength
with
every
film,
not
just
as
an
actor,
but
as
a
director
and
a
producer
too.

I
loved

Secret
Superstar
and

Laapataa
Ladies
which
he
produced.

I
hope
he
makes
more
such
fabulous,
path-breaking
films.

My
wish
for
him
on
his
60th
birthday
is
that
he
rises
to
even
greater
heights
as
an
actor,
director
and
producer
in
the
years
to
come.

That
he
keeps
in
touch
and
we
spend
some
more
memorable
and
fun
times
together.