'More Than Mr Perfectionist, Aamir Is Mr Passionate'

'Aamir is really competitive.'
'I feel that keeps him young.'

Advait Chandan was 18 years old when he first met Aamir Khan as a production assistant on the sets of Taare Zameen Par.

Twenty years later, work titles may have changed but the bond has only gotten closer.

As Aamir celebrates his 60th birthday on March 14, the Laal Singh Chaddha director fondly tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com about his fond equation with his mentor, saying, "As his manager, I spent five years, day in and out, with him. I have woken him up from his sleep, got his son's birth certificate."

'I was a production assistant and he was a producer'

I met Aamir Khan 20 years back when I was a production assistant. I was around 18 at the time.

It was a very big deal for me to meet him. I grew up on his films.

I don't think we hit it off immediately because I was a production assistant and he was a producer.

Slowly, slowly it happened.

I remember we were shooting a night scene in Chembur (north east Mumbai) during Taare Zameen Par and Aamir said, 'Advait, I want to have an ice-cream.'

I was surprised that he even knew my name.

I offered to get some.

He asked, 'From where?'

Those days, there was no Swiggy or Zomato, and it was past midnight.

I told him I would get it from a five star hotel.

He said, 'No, I can't eat ice-cream alone. You can never eat ice-cream alone. If one person is eating ice-cream, the whole unit has to eat ice-cream. So I want ice-cream for 150 people.'

Then he said he wanted Choco bars.

So I went to those milkmen who usually sleep in their milk dairy. I woke them up, and we got our 150 Choco bars.

'Why don't you become my manager?'

Kiran (Rao) was producing Taare Zameen Par, she was the backbone of that film.

We became close. Then Dhobi Ghat happened and Kiran ma'am asked me to assist her.

After Dhobi Ghat, Aamir said, why don't you become my manager?

So I became his manager for five years.

He did about eight or nine projects during this time, like Talaash, Dhoom 3, PK, Delhi Belly, Satyamev Jayate's three seasons...

One day, Aamir was in office and I was sitting on the office computer, looking at my Facebook. This was some 20 years ago when Facebook started.

He asked me about Facebook, and then said that he wanted a profile too.

So I made an account for him. For the longest time, he would call me and ask me his passwords for e-mail and Facebook.

After that, I moved out because I started directing Secret Superstar.

'He doesn't care about the Mr Perfectionist tag'

People started calling him 'Mr Perfectionist' but he doesn't care about the tag. More than a perfectionist, he is really just a hard-working person.

He enjoys his work, and he's really passionate.

More than Mr Perfectionist, he is Mr Passionate.

You give him any task and he will do it out of passion, not out of some need for perfection.

Whether he's acting or producing, he keeps working towards making that story shine.

'Working with Aamir is like going to film school'

Aamir is my boss, my guru.

Everything I've learned, I've learned from him.

He's an institution.

When I was managing him, it was like going to a film school.

One day, he's editing, the next day, he's planning some marketing, then, he's in a script session, one day, he is shooting.

I have learnt so much just by observing him.

'Aamir has a close group of friends'

He is like a normal person; it's not like he takes more time to open up to people.

But he does not constantly hang out with people.

He has a close group of friends, who have been his friends for the longest time.

As his manager, I spent five years, day in and out, with him.

I have woken him up from his sleep, got his son's birth certificate.

He has a lot of patience.

He doesn't lose his calm.

He's very understanding.

He's not someone who loses his temper.

But I guess he would get angry if somebody is not giving enough time to his film or ignoring work. I think he would get angry if someone messes with his film.

'Aamir is really competitive'

Aamir enjoys playing games. Like now, he has a pickleball court in his compound. He has a table tennis table at home.

He's constantly playing board games or foosball.

There's a board game called The Settlers of Catan, which has become really popular now. He's been playing it for 25 years.

He taught me the game, he taught his son the game, he taught his whole office the game!

Then he has a tournament.

He bonds over board games and sports.

He's really competitive.

I feel that also keeps him young.

He's constantly trying to defeat someone in a game, constantly trying to better his technique.

Even when I play pickleball, he spins the ball in a way that you can't return it.