I don’t like to deal in rumors. But then, on the other hand, I also know there are so many rumors flying which aren’t being outlined clearly. So if you are feeling like you are missing something, read this post so I can fill you in.
Aamir Khan! Let’s start way back with his childhood. His maternal uncle was a movie producer, and some of his cousins on that side worked as actors. He started college and then dropped out to be an actor. His big starmaking film, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, was produced by his uncle and directed by his cousin. Right at the same time that the film came out, he quietly married his Hindu girlfriend Reena Dutta. This was before film wives were really part of the celebrity world. Aamir worked hard, the usual 20 hour days of a new star, and Reena stayed home and raised their 2 children.
There are other parts of Aamir’s personal life that is simply never discussed. His brother has mental illness issues. Aamir sued for custody of his brother versus his father. Aamir and his father had an increasing falling out after that. Aamir has a large close extended family, but not so much his father. He supported his nephew Imraan Khan not just in his career but in giving him and his wife the family home to live in. Aamir isn’t as showy and obvious about it as Salman, but he is the head of a large family that relies on him in the background.
In the late 90s, Aamir started to be more interested in directing and controlling and doing a few films very well. Not so coincidentally, this is around the time his uncle Nasir Hussain (informal head of the film family) was dying. In 2001, he decided to produce Lagaan, a huge risk which had a huge pay off.
On the set of Lagaan, two things happened. First, a British female journalist came to visit and write a profile on him. She went back to England and had a son who she named an Indian name and strongly hinted was the child of Aamir Khan. I’m not giving names because I think it is wrong to bring an innocent child into this story, but part of the oddness of this story is that his mother doesn’t seem to find it wrong? She made him a child model and has dropped all kinds of hints that his father is really Aamir. If you google “Aamir Khan white son”, he pops right up.
Second thing that happened, young Kiran Rao was working as an assistant director on set. She was 8 years younger than him, 28 to his 36. They met and were friends on set, no one denies that. And then shortly after Lagaan released and became a hit, Aamir announced he was divorcing his wife.
Most innocent version of this story, which is of course my preferred version, Aamir married young, he increasingly grew apart from his wife who was happy to stay home with the kids and not interested in the artistic world where he lived. As the marriage was falling apart, he made one big mistake and had a love child. Marriage over, he reached out to a nice young assistant director he had met on set and started a relationship.
There is nothing to say that this version is wrong necessarily. But there is also nothing to say that an alternative version is wrong either. For example, we know about this one affair and love child because the mother is strangely public about it (strangely, because it seems strange for any parent to shove their child into an international gossip story). Does that mean there might be other affairs and even other children who have been kept more protected and hidden?
Kiran says she was dating someone else at the time that she worked on Lagaan so of course there was no relationship with Aamir. Aamir says he was interested in her, but it was messy, so he waited until his divorce was final and stuff and then tracked down her phone number. All of that could be true, but it could also be true that Aamir charmed Kiran into cheating on her boyfriend and their relationship started on the Lagaan set, not later. At the same time Aamir was also having his fling with the British journalist.
Aamir and Kiran get married and start working together on film productions, on charity, all kinds of things. Much more public partners than he ever was with his first wife. The most innocent version, again my preferred version, this is why they worked as a couple and what they both wanted. Aamir wanted a partner who was interested in international affairs and pushing the artistry of film and all of those things he was doing now. It just made sense for him to find a partner that fit with him, and Kiran had already been into the artier film world before she got together with Aamir.
10 years after their marriage, they co-produced the film Dangal. There was a massive search for the young stars of the film. Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra ended up being cast. Fatima was a former child actress, who had done a few small roles as a friend-of-the-heroine type already. It’s hard to pin down her age, but based on how she looked in One 2 Ka 4 in 2001, I would guess she was born around 1990. Making her about 24 during Dangal. Kiran was very involved in casting Fatima and Sanya, in fact they were invited to Kiran and Aamir’s house to be told they got the roles.
After Dangal released and became a massive hit, Aamir announced his next film, co-starring Fatima, another big budget long filming movie, Thugs of Hindostan. Meanwhile the other actress, Sanya, broke off on her own and started taking a variety of smaller films without any seeming support from Aamir. Innocent version, Aamir likes to mentor his co-stars and help them in their careers, Sanya chose to go her own way but Fatima welcomed his mentorship. Less innocent version, Aamir and Fatima were starting an affair.
For the past 5 years there have been persistent rumors about Aamir and Fatima. On the one hand, any time an older man is friends with a younger woman, you will have those rumors. Plus being already divorced once made folks natural suspicious of him. But on the other hand, it is kind of strange that as the years ticked by, they stayed so close? While Sanya, the equivalent co-star in Dangal, formed her own identity separate from Aamir.
And now Aamir and Kiran are announcing their divorce after apparently a long secret separation. Is this because Aamir is having an affair with Fatima? Does that mean that Aamir has been a constant cheater? How does it change how we look at him?
For myself, I’ve gone from “Aamir married too young, had one affair while the relationship was falling apart, then found a second wife who made more sense” to “Aamir maybe just needs a new challenge, a new relationship, every few years”.
What do you think?
dontcallitbollywood 
I just got on my computer to see what’s up while I put Netflix on. So I’m watching Madness in the Desert, the making of Lagaan film. As I’m reading this post, I’m seeing Reena Dutta on screen talking about getting into fim production bc Aamir asked her at bedtime. I’m in a weird alternate universe!
LikeLike
Yes! Reena was more public during Lagaan than she had been in years, and then poof! Divorced!
On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 12:10 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
And there’s Kiran Rao, 3rd AD
LikeLike
This is actually very moving as a film. Love this deep BTS look.
LikeLike
Yeah, that’s what I had heard.
On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 2:00 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
It doesn’t change the way I look at Aamir because I always thought he was a cheater and I’ve never liked him as a person. He can do whatever he wants in his personal life tbh but I don’t like other aspects of his personality either.
I liked his old movies quite a bit – Rangeela, Dil Chahta Hai, Sarfarosh, etc but don’t like any of his pretentious and dull newer stuff. I’d rather take a long nap than watch something like Dangal. And the truly commercial stuff like Dhoom 3 and Thugs of Hindustan is even worse. But if he released a movie promo that looked interesting, I’d watch the movie.
So basically my feelings are unchanged. Never liked him on a personal level and not that interested in his movies either. But still okay enough to watch his next movie if the promo looks good.
I wish Kiran well. She’s better off without him. Now she won’t have to put up with his self-importance and pretentiousness. Feeling sad for Fatima though. She’s too young to waste her life away on a cheating old man. I hope she sees the light.
LikeLike
I am curious about Kiran. She was on the way to being a minor director in her own right. Is she going to branch off and start doing more things under her own name and power? Or is she going to stay associated with Aamir?
LikeLike
Kiran is talented. Her Dhobi Ghat was one of the few Aamir movies I’ve liked in the last 15 years. I’m surprised she was never able to take her career further but maybe Aamir lost interest in her so she never got the second movie. I don’t even know why she wants to remain associated with him – what is there to gain from it? She’s going to end up in a thankless position like Reena who gets paraded out for the occasional family or Paani foundation photo op.
She should just call it a day and try to make a low budget movie on her own. With Netflix and Amazon around, getting something on streaming is much easier than releasing a theatrical movie. She must have some contacts now after all these years in the industry. You should not attach your boat to an ex-partner. It’s just foolish.
LikeLike
I think she truly did run the production company with him and was involved in his films. Which could have been very creatively satisfying. But yes, everything she did was under his name, so now if he cuts her loose, she has no real credits on her own. I hope she starts taking some jobs separate from the shared foundation and production house.
LikeLike
I completely agree with everything you just said except that I don’t particularly like his earlier stuff either (except the stupid snake movie, I love that) and that I also famously have a deep and eternal lust for him.
LikeLike
Actually I did like Dhoom 3 and Thugs of Hindostan, too. But anything supposedly good he did, never.
LikeLike
Haha, wow. You’re one of the only people I’ve ever encountered who has lust for Aamir!! I guess there’s someone for everyone. Do you like the older version or the younger one? The younger one is at least easier to understand. lol
LikeLike
Not the only one on here! Younger is better, but somehow I found him the hottest in ToH. Anyway, he’d never go for me except as an act of vengeance because I don’t take him seriously.
LikeLike
He’s so SHORT!!!
On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 3:36 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
What can I say, I like a man whose head I could crush like a grape if I wanted to.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ugh! There were always rumours about affairs – Pooja Bhatt (at the time of dil hain ke maanta nahin) being a very intense love affair if I remember right.
I have always pegged him as the guy who thinks he loves strong women, but can’t actually deal with the reality of strong women. If Aamir was as controlling in the home as he is supposed to be in the workplace, marriage would have been extremely difficult. Maybe I am overthinking things, but when I see Reena in photos these days, she looks extremely relaxed and happy. Whereas in the few photos of her during her marriage, she seemed to look grim.
LikeLike
I agree about Reena. I always chalked that up to the pressure of being a star wife. Which I still think is the main reason, but part of that pressure is also accepting your husband being gone for long periods and maybe being with other women. Kiran had a much better marriage, just because Aamir was established and could control his schedule. But I guess it still had problems.
On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 5:41 AM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
Huh, I find this theory of Aamir convincing, maybe because it’s something I’ve seen in other men. And it tracks as a pattern – decisive getting into relationships, even if they transgress social norms, and a successful early union, but then increasing friction over time as she has her own opinions and ideas, expects him to compromise and doesn’t want to just conform to his demanding life. (Plus the seeking new fulfillment outside his marriage, which gross.)
I remember an interview he and Kiran did around Dobi Ghat, he told a story about how they had a big argument locked inside the bathroom of the apartment where they were filming because she wasn’t listening to him when he was giving her input (maybe he cried? can’t remember if I’m exaggerating that part). This was after he talked her into casting him, when she was initially sharing the script with him as her partner and possibly for production support. It struck me that this was the anecdote that made it into the publicity tour, because it scratched that itch of curiosity about their relationship but it made him look high strung, quite a handful, and took some of the ownership of the film away from her in that the ending of the story was that she listened to him more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a general rule that I follow. When a man says he likes strong women, what he really means is he fears/dislikes strong women.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is entirely true.
LikeLike
I would put it as, he likes women that appear strong and then agree with him. Saying “I like strong woman” is honestly kind of a weird statement. Strength isn’t something like height, it’s not a universal objective measure. What he is really saying is he likes women who are direct and ready to enter into an argument with him. Whereas I would say I am a very strong woman, and if Aamir Khan tried to argue with me, I would just politely refuse to engage and do my own thing no matter what he thought.
On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 11:23 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike
Yes! That makes total sense! I had hope for him and Kiran because they seemed so similar that there wouldn’t need to be compromise. But I guess that is impossible in any relationship, you always have to change a little bit for the other person. And Aamir is a very his way or the highway kind of person.
On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 11:09 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
>
LikeLike