Aamir Hussain Khan, born March 14, 1965, in Mumbai, India, is a highly acclaimed Indian film actor and producer.

Family Background

Aamir was born into a film-industry clan and is descended from Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. His father Tahir Hussain is a producer; his uncle Nasir Hussain was a director. He has acted in a few films directed by his cousin Mansoor Khan. He is the brother of actor Faisal Khan, with whom he acted in the 2000 film Mela. His cousin Tariq was an actor in the 1970s who notably appeared in Yaadon Ki Baraat and Hum Kisise Kum Nahin. His nephew is Imran Khan who appeared as a child artist in his films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.

Career

Aamir began his career as a child actor in the films Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973) and Madhosh (1974). His first film as an adult was Ketan Mehta's Holi (1984). In 1988 he got his first leading role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak which was a huge success and launched his career. He followed this with many other films in the 1990s, which had mixed success at the box office. After his debut his most successful films included Dil (1990), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992), Rangeela (1995) and Raja Hindustani (1996). He acted as well as wrote the screenplay for the film Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993). He has also done playback singing for himself in Ghulam (1998). He was highly acclaimed for his performances as the "Ice Candy Man" in Deepa Mehta's offbeat film Earth (1998) and as a dedicated cop fighting border terrorism in Sarfarosh (1999). In 2001 he produced and starred in the period epic Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. This film was one of the biggest hits of 2001 and was nominated for many awards including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. 2001 also saw the release of Dil Chahta Hai, an urban film about today's Indian youth. This film was also a huge hit at the box office. After three years of no film releases, he returned playing the title role in another historical epic Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005) which also did well at the box office but due to its huge production costs, did not earn a huge profit. His next release Rang De Basanti (2006), a contemporary film about patriotism was one of the highest grossing films of 2006 and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film was not shortlisted as a nominee. His second 2006 release was Fanaa where he played a semi-negative role for the second time after Earth. It has also been one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Family life

Aamir went directly into films from college and made his first big hit film, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak playing a college boy. Publicists tried to position him as a teen idol, every college girl's dream. In order to do so, they buried all evidence of his 1988 marriage to Reena Dutta, who (though not a professional actress and already married to him at that time) made a brief appearance in a song sequence in his first film. It was big news when the marriage was first revealed.Reena Dutta maintained a very low profile and continued her job working in a travel agency. However, Aamir's popularity survived the revelation, and his marriage to Reena seemed to ha

Controversies

Aamir has publicly expressed support for two Indian political movements: the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Bhopal survivor's movement. Aamir's support for the Narmada Bachao Andolan led the BJP, and the state unit of Indian National Congress, two political parties of the state of Gujarat, to prevent his film Fanaa from being screened in Gujarat. He is believed to privately support Congress. He has also been under fire from social and environmental activists because of his endorsement of Coca-Cola, which has been accused of using polluted water, depleting the water table, and contributing to water pollution. Youth for Social Change, a group of college students in Chennai, had appealed to him to stop endorsing Coca-Cola. Aamir has refused to terminate his contract with Coke but promised to take up the issue with the Cola giant.

Trivia

• Aamir performed kissing scenes with Juhi Chawla in two films: Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and in Ishq (1997). He then again performed another kissing scene with Madhuri Dixit in Dil (1990).
• Aamir was known for working on only one film at a time, unusual in the Bollywood film industry. However, of late he seems to have increased his work schedule. He starred in two 2006 releases, Rang De Basanti and Fanaa, and is scheduled for three films in 2007, Kajri, Lajjo and Taare Zameen Pe.
• He wants to see a finished script before he signs on any film.
• He accepts only National Film Awards and Oscars and he refuses to show up at any other of the many movie award ceremonies.
• He is known for his efforts to create believable characters, rather than just playing himself in film after film. He will go to great lengths to give a convincing portrayal. He grew long hair and a mustache for his role as Mangal Pandey in Mangal Pandey: The Rising. For his film Rangeela, he worked on the image of a ruffian and played the part to perfection.
• He was initially reluctant to do the role of DJ in Rang De Basanti. He was afraid that he would not be able to speak with a convincing fluent Punjabi accent; he also worried that he was older than character he was supposed to play. The accent coach who worked on Alice Patten's Hindi worked with Khan on his Punjabi.
• He is considered to be a versatile actor. His colleagues call him "Aamir The Perfectionist".
• Aamir is also known as The Ace Khan