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Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan is known for some of India's most popular films, including Lagaan and 3 Idiots.
His appeal is so great that he can barely walk down the street without being mobbed by fans.
What is less known is that he secretly stopped acting during the Covid pandemic to spend more time with his loved ones.
“I told my family I was done with theater and cinema,” he told BBC News.
“I didn't want to produce or direct or act. I just wanted to be with family.”
One would imagine that a major star like Khan deciding to leave the industry would have sent shockwaves across India, a nation totally obsessed with cinema.
But, he explains, his decision went unnoticed at the time because very few films were being made due to the pandemic.
“No one knew,” he says.
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Aamir Khan is one of the most famous actors in Bollywood
Fans can breathe a sigh of relief, however.
Khan didn't stop for long. And now he is back and promoting Laapataa Ladies – or Lost Ladies – a film he produced. It is India's official choice for the Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
Khan says it was his children who convinced him to return to work.
“They told me, ‘But we can’t spend 24 hours with you. So be realistic and build your life. “So they gently pushed me to come back to cinema,” he says.
At 59, Khan has worked as an actor, director and producer for three decades.
He is known as one of the three “Khans of Bollywood”, the others being megastars Shah Rukh and Salman.
Known for tackling social issues, Aamir's films are widely acclaimed and break box office records.
He's no stranger to the Oscars, either. Lagaan, a cricket film set in the 19th century under the British Empire, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002.
Khan is now trying to make history with Laapataa Ladies. If successful, it would be the first Indian film to win the coveted international award. He will find out on Tuesday whether he is on the shortlist.
Khan said he “didn't really know how seriously” to take the awards. “Cinema is so subjective,” he says.
But he admits that a victory would mean a lot to India.
Aamir Khan Productions
The film Lagaan, starring Aamir Khan, was a huge success.
“I think Indians are so crazy about cinema and we are dying to win the Oscar for an Indian film, which has not happened so far. So the country will go crazy. They will go crazy if We win.” he said.
“So just for the people of our country and for our country, I would be really happy if we won this award.”
Set in rural India, Laapataa Ladies tells the story of a young man who brings home the wrong wife. Meanwhile, his wife finds herself lost, forced to fend for herself.
It is a satire on the treatment of women, including the sensitive subject of domestic violence.
Khan describes the plot as “a bit Shakespearean”, with its emphasis on humor and mistaken identities.
But, he adds, it says “a lot of important things about women's issues, their independence, their right to decide for themselves what they want to do.”
It was these questions that first attracted him to the film, he explains.
“Every once in a while, as a creative person, you get the opportunity to raise awareness about some of the issues we face in society,” he says.
“Women all over the world have been subjected to a lot of challenges in their lives. Women have a tough life. So I thought here's a story that really highlights that in such a nice way, it That’s why I wanted to produce it.”
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Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan continued to work together after their divorce
Khan was also “very keen” for his ex-wife, Kiran Rao, to direct the film.
The couple, married in 2005, announced their separation in 2021. But they remained close, both professionally and personally.
“I think the reason I chose Kiran was because I knew she would be very honest with it and that’s what I wanted,” he says.
“We get along really well. We really like each other, we respect each other.
“Our relationship may have changed slightly – but that doesn't mean how we feel about each other has lessened or anything like that.”
That's not to say that everything went smoothly.
Khan admits there were arguments on set.
“We can't make a film without arguing. So we discuss every point and we have strong opinions,” he says.
“But our sensibilities are very similar. We don't talk about fundamental things. We just sometimes try to convince the other person of a better way to convey something.”
Bollywood on the world stage
Aamir Khan Productions
Two new wives are inadvertently swapped in Laapataa Ladies
Bollywood produces hundreds of films every year and has a huge audience among Indians around the world.
The influence that movies and stars have on the imaginations of their fans cannot be overstated.
It has enjoyed recent success at the Oscars, with RRR's Naatu Naatu winning Best Original Song and The Elephant Whisperers winning Best Documentary Short.
But victory in the international film category has so far eluded him, which Khan attributes to the competition.
“India has made some very good films over the years. Sometimes the right film is not sent or the best film is not sent,” he says.
“But otherwise, we have to understand that the films that you're competing against – you're not competing against five or six films, you're competing against almost 80 or 90 films, which are the best in the world.”
As for whether a Bollywood film could ever win Best Picture, Khan says it's “possible.”
But Indian filmmakers should first start making films for the global market, he adds.
“I never really looked at an international audience,” he says. “We have such a large audience that it doesn’t occur to us.
“That will only happen when Indians start making films for a global audience. I don't think we have the bandwidth right now.”
“I don’t work after 6 a.m.”
For now, Khan is focused on a series of projects alongside Laapataa Ladies, which also include his upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par, which is scheduled for release in 2025.
In the longer term, he hopes to make one film per year, while his “dream project” is to tackle Mahabharat, the ancient Indian epic.
But since he no longer retired from acting, he is determined to do things differently. Again, this was influenced by his children.
“My son said, ‘You’re an extreme person,’” he says.
“He said, 'You're like a pendulum. You've only made movies, movies, movies. And now you want to go to the other side and not make movies and be with your family, your family, your family. There is also a happy medium.
Khan says his son told him to “try to bring some balance” into his life.
“And I thought he was right. Since then, that's what I've been trying to do: live a balanced life where I work very hard, in fact, I do a lot more work than ever, but I don't work no more after 6 p.m.
Khan says he also began therapy in recent years, inspired by his daughter Ira, who works in the mental health field.
“I think that’s something that really helped me. It really helped me understand myself better.
“I'm actually finding that work-life balance. So I feel like I've reached that space now.”
Watch Aamir Khan: The Interview on BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer.
