Why Aamir Got Married At 21

‘Reena
stayed
in
the
next
building.
We
fell
in
love
but
had
to
meet
secretly
because
her
parents
didn’t
approve
of
me.’
‘I
would
always
be
afraid
that
her
parents
would
get
her
married
off
to
somebody
else.’

At
23,
Aamir
Khan
became
a
star
with

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak
(1988).
Within
a
year,
the
then

Movie
magazine
Editor

Dinesh
Raheja
brought
out
a

Postermag
on
the
new
romantic
icon
which
contained
posters
as
well
as
an
interview
with
the
actor.

Presenting
excerpts
from
that
interview
in
1989,
which
reveals
Aamir’s
beliefs
at
the
time.

As
a
teenager,
Aamir
looked
totally
different
from
the
well-turned-out
youth
idol
he
became
as
a
star.

“I
was
an
extremely
careless
dresser,”
Aamir
admitted
sheepishly.

“Uncombed
hair,
all
tangled
and
knotted,
un-ironed
clothes
and
an
unshaved
visage
were
my
trademarks
as
a
teen.”

So
engrossed
was
he
in
reading
that
the
mirror
never
got
a
second
glance.

“I
read
a
lot
—
something
today’s
teens
just
don’t
do.”

From
comics
(Denis
The
Menace
and

Charlie
Brown)
to
more
literary
works
by
Tolstoy,
Gorky,
Goldman
and
Dickens.

He
has
changed
three
schools
—
Petit
Girls
High
School
(up
to
primary),
St
Anne’s
and
finally
Bombay
Scottish
School
—
because
“I
was
interested
in
Engineering.”

While
the
lives
of
other
teenagers
revolved
around
good
looks,
new
cars
and
girls,
Aamir
was
different.
More
of
a
feminist
than
the
females
themselves,
Aamir
often
didn’t
see
eye-to-eye
with
his
peers.

“My
group
of
friends
was
small,”
Aamir
said.

“I
was
quite
reserved
but
at
the
same
time,
very
vocal
about
my
views
on
feminism
and
such
like.
I
hated
eve-teasing.
Not
many
guys
liked
me
for
that.

“I
have
the
broad-mindedness
of
a
modern
teenager
without
the
indiscipline,
and
the
values
and
principles
of
an
old-fashioned
teenager
without
the
narrow-mindedness.

“I
could
solve
the
Rubik
cube
in
28
seconds
flat.”

He
was
top-seeded
in
tennis
at
the
sub-junior
level
in
Maharashtra.
He
also
played
underarm
cricket.

‘I
am
not
self-destructive’

Aamir
said
he
never
needed
emotional
crutches
and
never
let
himself
into
the
drinking-drugs
groove.
He
made
an
exception
and
drank
champagne
to
celebrate
the
success
of

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak.

He
asserted,
“I
am
not
self-destructive.
I
have
always
been
very
clear
about
what
I
wanted
to
do.”

And
what
Aamir
wanted
to
do
was
act.

While
in
college,
he
did
a
Gujarati
play
without
knowing
the
language.
He
managed
to
get
by
with
mugging
up
all
the
dialogue.
While
still
in
college,
a
role
in
Aditya
Bhattacharya’s
short
film,

Paranoia
convinced
him
of
his
vocation
in
life.

The
long
wait
ended
when
his
uncle,
noted
filmmaker
Nasir
Hussain,
came
up
with
the
idea
of
making

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak
with
his
son
Mansoor
Khan
as
the
director,
and
nephew
Aamir
as
the
hero.

The
film
took
the
country
by
storm,
sweeping
Aamir
into
the
top
chair
with
it.
And
a
star
was
born.

Aamir
said
his
favourite
song
from

Qayamat
Se
Qayamat
Tak
was

Ae
Mere
Humsafar.

The
other
song
he
loved
to
hum
is
‘Don’t
know
much
about
history,
don’t
know
much
about
biology,
which
was
used
in
the
film

Witness.

His
favourite
playback
singer
was
Mohammed
Rafi.
In
English,
he
liked
lan
Anderson
and
Lionel
Richie.

Even
at
that
age,
Aamir
had
set
a
high
bar
when
it
came
to
performers:
Naseeruddin
Shah,
Om
Puri.
Raghuvir
Yadav
and
Dilip
Kumar.
Govinda,
he
named,
as
one
of
the
better
actors
at
that
time.

‘I
love
witty
women’

Aamir
elaborated
at
length
on
what
attracts
him
in
a
woman.

Starting
with
beauty.

“Sure,
good
looks
are
important.
Sridevi,
Nargis,
Madhuri
Dixit,


Liv
Ullmann
and
Whoopi
Goldberg
are
my
concept
of
beauty.
They
have
faces
that
express
sensitivity,
strength,
intelligence
and
warmth.
Eyes,
being
the
mirrors
of
one’s
soul,
are
an
important
feature.
These
women
have
eyes
that
fit
the
bill
perfectly.”

The
second
quality
he
cited
was
intelligence.

He
said,
“Intelligence
in
a
woman
makes
me
respect
her
more.
Academics
or
degrees
don’t
affect
me
but
I
can’t
imagine
myself
falling
in
love
with
somebody
unintelligent.”

Having
a
sense
of
humour
was
also
an
important
criterion.

“I
love
witty
women,”
Aamir
said.
“Of
course,
if
it’s
in
the
right
spirit.
She
shouldn’t
have
a
really
caustic
tongue
or
try
to
insult
me.”

Aamir
concluded,
“Self-reliance
is
very
attractive
in
a
woman.
In
love,
one
is
bound
to
be
dependent,
yet
one
doesn’t
have
to
breathe
down
each
other’s
necks.
This
is
the
relationship
I
share
with
my
wife,
Reena.
If
I
can’t
help
with
the
housework,
I
make
sure
Reena
too
doesn’t.”

Startlingly,
the
star
revealed
that
even
after
his
stardom,
his
then
wife
Reena
still
used
various
modes
of
public
transport
because
the
family
had
only
one
car.

As
Aamir
said,
“Obviously,
I
can’t
travel
by
buses.
So
I
have
to
use
the
car
and
Reena
takes
the
bus.
When
we
buy
another
car,
she’ll
certainly
travel
by
it.”

The
First
Mrs
Aamir
Khan

Even
in
his
early
20s,
Aamir
was
not
footloose
and
fancy-free.
But
was
very
happily
married
to
Reena
Aamir
Khan.

An
independent
young
woman,
unaffected
by
Aamir’s
super-success,
Reena
had
turned
down
even
the
national
press
in
their
effort
to
get
her
to
talk.

But
Aamir
was
more
than
willing
to
gab
about
his
wife.

“Reena
and
my
sensibilities
are
similar,”
he
revealed.

“Our
sense
of
judgement
is
similar
but
we
have
our
differences
in
taste,
of
course.
Like
for
instance,
we’re
doing
up
our
house
right
now.
She
likes
small
geysers,
and
I
like
big
ones.
She
is
neat,
tidy
and
organised
while
I’m
totally
messy
and
untidy.
I
can
never
remember
where
I’ve
kept
a
pen.
While
I’m
quite
philosophical
and
introspective,
she
is
most
practical,
sensible
and
down-to-earth.”

Their
love
story
was
as
full
of
dramatic
twists
and
turns
as
any
reel
love
story.

Aamir
explained,
“Reena
stayed
in
the
next
building.
We
fell
in
love
but
had
to
meet
secretly
because
her
parents
didn’t
approve
of
me.
I
would
always
be
afraid
that
her
parents
would
get
her
married
off
to
somebody
else.
So
as
soon
as
I
turned
21,
I
applied
for
a
marriage
license
and
on
April
18,
1987
we
went
through
a
civil
marriage.”

Five
stars
then
rated
Aamir’s
desirability

Madhuri
Dixit:
His
innocence
is
so
inviting.
If
he
was
taller,
Wow!

Neelam
Kothari:
A
real
cutie
pie.
His
chocolate
looks
are
a
relief
in
this
crowd
of
unconventional
faces.

Dimple
Kapadia:
Such
expressive
eyes!
He’ll
be
perenially
young.
Another
Rishi
Kapoor
in
the
making.

Amrita
Singh:

Papa
kehte
hai
bada
naam
karega
is
coming
true.
And
how!

Kimmy
Katkar:
His
innocence
is
his
bearer
cheque.
He
can
cash
it
anytime.