Aamir Khan admits to being passive-aggressive, says it ruined his bond with Juhi Chawla for 7 years

Aamir Khan, known for his honesty and introspection, recently offered a rare glimpse into his personal growth during a group interview held for the promotion of Sitaare Zameen Par. Opening up about his emotional red flags, Aamir candidly shared revelations from his therapy sessions, admitting to deep-seated behavioral issues that once strained his relationships.

Aamir Khan and Jula Chawla's spat

He explained, “I’m a very loving person, but I had major red flags. One of them was how I handled hurt or anger, I would emotionally shut down. Whether it was Reena or Kiran, if I felt deeply upset, I would stop communicating altogether. They would try to talk, apologise, make things right, but I’d shut them out completely. It was like hitting a wall. That level of ego, where you’re unwilling to come down from your ‘moral high horse,’ is dangerous.”

Aamir recalled a specific incident with Kiran Rao where he didn’t speak to her for three days over a disagreement. Despite her efforts to reconcile, he ignored her completely. “She finally broke down and asked me what she had done wrong. She said she felt cut off from my life. I wanted to comfort her, to say ‘It’s okay,’ but I couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come out. That’s when I realized how unforgiving I had become.” Identifying his behavior as passive-aggressive, Aamir noted, “I wasn’t yelling, I wasn’t reacting, I just went silent. And silence can be far more painful than shouting. It’s much harder for your partner to handle.”

He also shared how this same behaviour cost him his friendship with Juhi Chawla, with whom he didn’t speak for seven years. “Reena would keep telling me to let it go, to stop being so rigid. But I was stubborn. Therapy helped me understand and overcome these flaws.”

Lightening the mood, Aamir joked, “I’m a lot like Raja Hindustani! When he got angry, he wouldn’t even look at the person. I was the same. It’s not easy living with someone as emotional as me and that’s the takeaway!”