'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.