Mumbai: Master actor-creator Aamir Khan won many a heart with his down-to-earth tips on ‘The Art of Acting’ given from the Creatosphere stage in WAVES 2025 today. The practical advice came from his years of experience in film-making as the veteran actor said, “I am not a trained actor. I wanted to go to the National School of Drama, but couldn’t. I have picked up tips on the way, which work for me.”
Speaking about the future of film-making, Aamir Khan said, that AI technology has enabled films to be shot without the actor in the scene! AI and technology is capable of adding the Actor later in the scene.
The first and foremost task for an actor is to get into the mind of the character, said the versatile actor who over the years have gifted many memorable characters to Indian Cinema. And how does he get into the skin of the character? The dedicated actor states, “I spend a lot of time with scripts. I read the script again and again. If the script is good, you will understand the character, its physicality, attitude etc. will all come from it”. Additionally, discussions on the character and story with the director also gives an idea.
By throwing light on his hard-working nature, Mr. Khan revealed, “I have a weak memory. So, I hand-write dialogues. I take up the difficult scenes first. The dialogues must be by heart. On first day, I just work on it. I do it every day for 3-4 months, and then it gets into me. The dialogues have to become yours. You have to own it. When it was written it was the script-writer’s. It later becomes yours. When you repeat the same line, you realize, you can do it many a way.
What is a difficult task for actors? An actor has to repeat and go for retake of scenes with same emotional intensity every day, said Aamir Khan.
Another important tip for budding actors which came from Aamir Khan is – “The more honest you are, the better you will perform”.
So, how does Mr. Aamir Khan practice his scenes?
The answer is “I visualize scenes before giving shots. I never look into mirror while practicing scenes.”
What is Aamir Khan’s personal favourite of all his film-projects? As many guessed, it is ‘Taare Zameen Par’ as it taught many parents to be patient with their children, support them and be empathetic with their little ones!
What other tips did the veteran actor have for those who are just starting off?
“When I use emotion, it has to come from the script. You have to believe the script. Sometimes there are scenes in the films which are not believable. But the actor may make you believe it. Actor has to convince the audience about what is being shown”.
What is a good script? Aamir Khan said, “A good script will have a clear premise. Goal setting should come in first ten percent of the story. Otherwise the interest of audience will be lost”.
But most important tip for all involved in a film project – “Do what the scene demands, and don’t just think of your own work in it”.
Aamir Khan felicitated by Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju
PIB
