Birthday Special: When Aamir Khan Refused to Star in 2.0

Aamir Khan is one of the most popular names in the Hindi film film industry. The seasoned actor enjoys a strong fan following because of his striking screen presence, effective performances, and remarkable range as a performer. ‘Mr Perfectionist’, who turns 59 today (March 14), is known to be quite choosy about the films he gives the nod to. This essentially means he has turned down several films in his career. One of them is ‘2.0’. 

In an interview with Komal Nahta, Aamir once revealed that the makers of ‘2.0’ wanted him to replace Rajinikanth in the biggie, a sequel to Superstar’s 2010 blockbuster ‘Enthiran’. The ‘3 Idiots’ actor further said that he loved the script but didn’t take up the film as he couldn’t visualise anyone but Rajinikanth in that role. 

“There’s a film coming robot, 2.0, I am a big fan of Shankar and I am big fan of Rajini ji. In fact, Shankar offered me that film. It’s a superb script and it’s going to do very well but whenever I used to shut my eyes, I used to see Rajini sir in that role,(sic)” he said.

‘2.0’, directed by Shankar, hit screens in 2018 and emerged as as massive commercial success. The film featured Rajinikanth in a triple role and proved to be a treat for his ardent fans. It starred Akshay Kumar as the antagonist and marked his Tamil debut. The cast included Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey, and Adil Hussain. 

Coming back to Aamir, he was last seen in ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. The film opened in theatres in 2022 amid fanfare but failed to live up to expectations. The film, a remake of Tom Hanks’ ‘Forrest Gump’, featured Kareena Kapoor Khan as the leading lady and marked her third collaboration with the the actor. They had previously teamed up for ‘Talaash’ and ‘3 Idiots’. 

Aamir was to star in the Hindi remake of ‘Champions’ but refused because of personal reasons. He is currently working on ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, which features him in a new avatar.