'Thugs of Hindostan has a very normal story. It’s Sholay' Aamir Khan explains why the script shaped his decision to do the film

Actor Aamir Khan recently revealed that he usually considers the storyline of a movie more important than his character, but for Thugs of Hindostan, he had to make an exception, which he now regrets as it ‘bounced very badly.’ In a recent Masterclass conducted by Whistling Woods International in Mumbai, Aamir also compared Thugs of Hindostan with Sholay.

‘It’s like Sholay’: Aamir on the script structure of Thugs of Hindostan

Aamir Khan felt that the basic concept of Thugs of Hindostan was similar to Sholay. He justified this comparison by elaborating on the similarities between their characters. “Thugs of Hindostan has a very normal story. It’s Sholay. In Sholay, you have Sanjeev Kumar’s Thakur, who needs to take revenge for his family being wiped out. And two people come in and help him, Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra). Over here, it’s Zafira (Fatima Sana Shaikh) whose family gets wiped out. She needs help, and Firangi (Aamir) comes in.”

He also added, “It’s a very similar format. So, Jai and Veeru are the heroes of the film, but it’s not their story. It’s Thakur’s story. Similarly, it’s not Firangi’s story. It’s Zafira’s story.” According to Aamir Khan, the reason why he decided to take on the film is because of the character, Firangi, despite finding the plot itself ordinary He said, “I found him to be a very attractive and engaging character. He’s got some great moments.” He referred to the character of Firangi as “an unreliable character. You don’t know when he’s speaking the truth and when he’s not. He’s only about himself.”

Aamir Khan also acknowledged that the movie ended up being very different from what was initially scripted for it. He said that constant alterations to the story had led to its deterioration. He further explained that people never got to see the initial script of the movie penned by the movie's director, Vijay Krishna Acharya.

However, Aamir Khan further said that he had misgivings about the movie even before it was released, but had no choice in making the final call for the movie. He further added, “When the film was made, Adi (Aditya Chopra, producer) and Victor really liked it, the way it was made, but I didn’t like it at all,” he said. I felt that structurally, we went wrong with the writing… I know this won’t work, and I believe if I don’t like it, why should I expect the audience to like it?” Regardless of its poor performance, Aamir further said that he felt nothing wrong since he himself knew that there was something amiss with the movie.

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