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<\/p>\nSINGAPORE \u2013 Few stars have shaped modern Indian cinema quite like Aamir Khan.<\/p>\n
The actor, director and producer is behind some of Bollywood\u2019s most beloved films, including Lagaan (2001), 3 Idiots (2009), PK (2014) and Dangal (2016). Often dubbed Mr Perfectionist, he is known for committing to one film at a time and immersing himself fully in each role.<\/p>\n
He has won four National Film Awards and nine Filmfare Awards, and the Indian government conferred him the Padma Shri in 2003 and Padma Bhushan in 2010, two of the country\u2019s highest civilian honours.<\/p>\n
His films have also found huge audiences beyond India, especially in China.<\/p>\n
On Oct 22, during the Singapore International Film Festival\u2019s (SGIFF) In Conversation With session at Marina Bay Sands, the 61-year-old received the Screen Icon Award, whose past recipients include Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung. It was presented by Khan\u2019s friend, Hong Kong director Peter Chan, who joked that Khan\u2019s cook makes the best aloo paratha he has ever eaten.<\/p>\n
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Bollywood star Aamir Khan receiving the SGIFF Screen Icon Award from his friend, Hong Kong director Peter Chan, on Oct 22.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR<\/p>\n
Accepting the accolade, Khan said film-making is a collective art form and shared the honour with the writers, directors and crews he has worked with.<\/p>\n
SGIFF is also celebrating 25 years of Lagaan, the Oscar-nominated period drama he produced and starred in and the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release, which screens as part of the festival on Oct 23.<\/p>\n
During the two-hour panel discussion moderated by local comedian-host Rishi Budhrani, Khan shared good news for fans: 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani is working on a sequel to the hit comedy-drama and leading man Khan expects to receive the final draft of the script when he returns home to Mumbai in the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
Khan turned reflective the rest of the evening. Here are three things he opened up about, including lessons, regrets and turning points from his four decades in cinema.<\/p>\n
The \u2018no\u2019 that saved his career<\/p>\n
After his first lead role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) became a hit, Khan signed up for nine or 10 films within six months. Most of them flopped, and he said he felt deeply unhappy and stressed, as though he were sinking in quicksand.<\/p>\n
He made a promise to himself: He would take on a film only if he loved the script, the director and the producer.<\/p>\n
This was soon tested. At his lowest point, director Mahesh Bhatt, then riding high after Arth (1982), Saaransh (1984) and Naam (1986), offered him a film. Khan did not like the script, and after a sleepless night, he turned it down. The film was never made.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad I compromised that day… I think my entire career would have been a series of compromises,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Saying no when he was at his weakest, he added, gave him the strength to stand by his convictions for the rest of his career. There were no hard feelings: Bhatt later directed him in the hits Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991) and Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993).<\/p>\n
Making time for family<\/p>\n
The Covid-19 pandemic brought another reckoning. Khan, who called himself a workaholic for three decades, said being stuck at home made him realise how much time he had lost with his three children, his mother and the rest of his family.<\/p>\n