I’m not sure how much of this I believe, but at least some parts of it seem easy to verify, and it’s interesting to think about how else they could be interpreted.
Bollywoodhungama is reporting that Aamir straight up “stole” Thugs of Hindostan from Hrithik. They say that Hrithik was fully committed and was waiting on re-writes, when suddenly Yash Raj announces Aamir as the lead instead. I don’t know if I agree with the whole “Aamir was selfish, Yash Raj dumped Hrithik” version of it. But what seems verifiable is that Hrithik was taking meetings at Yash Raj and was rumored to be in this movie. And then suddenly Aamir was announced instead.
I can believe that Aditya and Vijay Krishna Acharya decided to switch from Hrithik to Aamir as soon as Aamir expressed interest, because you would never turn down Aamir. And I can believe that Aamir found something interesting in the project, a chance to be in a Yash Raj film with Amitabh on an interesting topic and reunite with his Dhoom 3 director. But I can’t believe that Aamir would have been so tacky and short-sighted as to actually steal a project from another actor.
What I can believe is that it just wasn’t working out with Hrithik. This is what I find so fascinating, that Indian films really are built from the ground-up around their stars. The article reports that Hrithik was sitting in on meetings for months with Acharya and Aditya, trying to come up with a tone and direction and everything for the film. And I can believe that after months and months of trying to craft this film in a direction that would work for where Hrithik is right now in his career and personal life and public persona etc. etc., they finally just gave up and realized they could never find a way to make the film fit to Hrithik.
Speaking of fitting films to stars, Munnabhai 3 is going on floors next year! Woo! Hoo! So happy! Sanjay says he is thrilled to go back to the character, Arshad Warsi is thrilled, and presumably Rajkumar Hirani is thrilled too. The Munnabhai series really is the perfect setting for Sanjay Dutt.
dontcallitbollywood 
Wasn’t there news about Aamir stealing PK from Ranbir Kapoor too? Something like Aamir convinced Rajkumar Hirani that Ranbir was too young to play the role of PK or something.
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I missed that story, but it explains why Ranbir did the cameo at the end! To try to cut through the rumors.
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Actually the rumors came out after the movie released.
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/did-aamir-khan-compel-rajkumar-hirani-cast-him-pk-instead-ranbir-kapoor-619481
Anyway, while looking for that I ended up finding this interview of Aamir’s. It’s really fascinating, especially the part where talks about him dying.
http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-i-told-nitesh-to-cast-ranbir-or-ranveer-as-young-mahavir-if-i-die-during-dangal-aamir-khan-2230911
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That Aamir interview was so interesting! That sense of responsibility to the film crew and the film as a whole, that his biggest fear is dying and leaving his production in the lurch. He didn’t consciously tie it back to what he was just saying about growing up around film, but that has to be part of it, right? Being raised with filmmakers and among film and having this ingrained sense of responsibility to everyone involved.
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Yes, it was really interesting! Especially since you don’t hear actors talk about death or even not being to finish a movie due to other circumstances. I mean, did Salman say anything about his movies when there was a chance that he would go to jail? I agree that Aamir’s childhood probably influenced him so that he feels responsible for the people who work on his movies. By the way, did Aamir have a grand launch as a star kid since he was producer’s son or was he just a newcomer that happened to have good connections in the industry.
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Aamir had as much of a “launch” as anyone got in those days. Releases were just so much smaller than. His first movie, Holi, which no one really talks about, was just some campus thing and he played a supporting role. But then his cousin was working on directing a film which his uncle was producing and it had a really good role for him, and that’s what made him a star. It turned into a huge hit (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, super good movie, watch it if you get a chance), but it wasn’t released on hundreds of screens or with a massive international promotional campaign or a huge budget, the way “launch” films are now. It was only a “launch” in that it was a really good role he probably wouldn’t have gotten if his cousin hadn’t been directing the movie. It also meant he didn’t have to deal with the pressure star kids do now! Where their “launch” film is make or break and the whole family is riding on it because they spent so much money.
With the jail thing, Sanjay Dutt (another industry kid) had a bunch of projects pending when his case was decided, and he spent the last few weeks before he had to report to jail working marathon hours to complete them all, including setting up a soundroom in his apartment, so he could work on dubbing long into the night. And he hit the ground running once he was released to complete the films he had promised to work on before he went in.
I talk about this whole thing a lot in my book (which is brilliant and you should read! Especially because it is just $2.99 on kindle), how the industry is run more on loyalty and responsibility to others than on contracts and salaries.
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@TJStevens — Aamir did indeed have a “grand launch” (may not have been as “grand” as Hrithik’s), in that a film was produced by his uncle ( who was also a producer) explicitly for him, to launch him as a hero, at age 23. It was a hit, too, so it worked. But, unlike Hrithik, he hid the fact that he was already married, so as not to lose his appeal to potential fans. The film was also a “launch” of sorts for his cousin Mansoor Khan, who directed it, and who is the son of its producer. So it was very much a family affair.
Salman has talked many times about how it is everyone’s responsibility to keep the industry healthy, and when he talks about “industry”, he does not refer to producers or actors, but all of the crafts people, the “little guys” like the carpenters who build sets, the semi-skilled and unskilled laborers that all toil to bring a film to screen, and how it’s important to keep the industry going to keep their livelihoods intact. Salman has never talked about his cases or their impact on his films, mostly because he is prohibited from saying anything remotely connected to his cases while the trials are still ongoing. But, if you look at the pattern of his films in the last 10 years or so, he only worked primarily with producers who are his close friends, and who would be willing to adjust their film schedules according to his trial events, or with his family as producers. It is also the reason why he prefers to shoot mainly in India. Sajid Nadiadwala was twice affected by fallout from Salman’s cases (in Jaan -E- Man and Kick), and both times he and Salman adjusted it between themselves in terms of who absorbed what cost. So it is not like he is unaware or irresponsible about it. Kabir Khan also made some remarks about how they worked around Salman’s court dates when they were filming for Bajrangi Bhaijaan. You can hunt up those interviews if you are interested. (Of course, Salman was co-producer of BB).
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Sorry, Margaret, it just struck me that you might feel I was usurping your position in replying to TJ Stevens, instead of waiting for you to reply. So my apologies, and I’ll resist the temptation in future. 🙂
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Thanks! I do like the chance to answer questions that are asked me 🙂
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Moimeme and Margaret:
So is Hrithik the first person to get a grand launch that allowed him to show off all of his skills?
That makes sense why Salman is usually working with family members. Is he going to produce more of his own movies now that he started with Bajrangi Bhaijaan?
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Hrithik was kind of precedent setting. His launch was huge, much more money sunk into promotions and release than ever before. Although I think that was also partly because of the changes the industry as a whole had just gone through, the releases were getting bigger and bigger, the Internet had changed the way news spread, suddenly you really could be an international success overnight.
And Hrithik was such a success! Like, not since Rajesh Khanna had there been such an immediate star. After that, everyone started chasing the same kind of hit, and suddenly “star kids” were all getting these big debuts.
It makes it a little harder for them, in a way, before they were able to fail and try again and no one really noticed or cared. Now if you aren’t a Hrithik level success right from the start, you are a flop.
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Was Abhishek launched after Hrithik or were they both around the same time? I can imagine there being a lot of hype around Abhishek especially if he was launched after Hrithik. Were there any other star kids launched grandly after that became successful? I can only think of Student of the Year being the launching pad of Varun, Alia, and Sidharth.
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Abhishek was launched in just 6 months after Hrithik, and his fairly successful first movie (Refugee) was deemed a disappointment because it didn’t live up to Kaho Na Pyar Hai.
After Hrithik came Ranbir, Saawariya was supposed to be a big big deal, and then it was just a big big flop. But Ranbir managed to recover from that. Uday Chopra was supposed to be launched in Mohabbatein but never really took off. Imraan Khan, of course, had a perfect launch but couldn’t follow through. Viviek Oboroi is technically a star kid, but he didn’t really have a “launch” movie, just sort of slid out on his own with Company. Ditto for Shahid Kapoor. Aditya Roy Kapur is still hanging in there, although he hasn’t really lived up to his launch. Oh! Tiger! He had a big launch, and at 3 films old is still doing all right. And Emraan! His uncle gave him a very nice launch film and kept him working for years while he learned how to actually act.
The most famous flop that I can think of is Harman Baweja, who was being touted as the next Hrithik, and who got this huge HUGE launch from his producer father, and it was just the worst movie! Love Story 2050. But apparently that wasn’t enough to convince his Dad to stop supporting him, and he got another chance in What’s Your Rashee? I think he’s still acting, but not in big budget big release films any more.
Really, the success ratio of the star kids with the big launches (Ranbir) is about the same as the success of star kids without big launches (Shahid), or non-star kids who got big launches (Ranveer). But of course that doesn’t stop anyone from trying to re-create Hrithik.
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I totally forgot about Ranbir and Tiger! You can add Sooraj Pancholi to the list too but we’ll have to see whether he’ll make it or not. I thought Aditya Roy Kapoor started off in a bunch of supporting roles.
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A couple of supporting parts, and then Aashiqui 2 was his big launch thing. He hasn’t really lived up to it, but maybe the OK Kanmani remake will do it.
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Sounds like a usual rumour in “Aamir “stole” Thugs of Hindostan from Hrithik” style.
I remember watching one of Hirani’s interviews when he himself told he and Abhijat first had the idea of PK while still filming 3 Idiots. They immediately thought of Aamir as the lead and shared the basic story with him hoping he would like it enough to participate. Aamir liked it a lot and agreed to be a part of it. Vinod also said it would be difficult for them to imagine anyone else except Aamir as PK and they were glad their attempt to get Aamir into the project was smooth enough.
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The media is always so excited to paint the film industry as these money and fame obsessed people who are constantly stabbing each other in the back.
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