Aamir Khan is currently basking in the success of his latest release, Sitaare Zameen Par. The spiritual sequel to his film, Taare Zameen Par (2007), arrived at the cinemas on June 20, 2025. It opened to single digits on the first day, but after a positive word of mouth, the film picked up, and it’s doing exceptionally well even in the third week. So far, Sitaare Zameen Par has collected over Rs 200 crore worldwide.
However, it hasn’t been a smooth road for Aamir Khan so far. This is his first big hit after a gap of 9 years. His last successful movie was Dangal, which was released in 2016. After Dangal, Aamir Khan’s Thugs of Hindostan (2018) and his ambitious project, Laal Singh Chaddha (2022) tanked at the box office. While Aamir accepts that Thugs of Hindostan was destined to fail, he is dejected after Laal Singh’s flop show, as the story is close to his heart.
But the 59-year-old actor also knows what went wrong with the release of Laal Singh Chaddha and how he has corrected it now. In a recent interview with Komal Nahta, Aamir confessed that releasing movies on OTT platforms right after the film gets removed from theatres was a mistake, which he also made with Laal Singh Chaddha. The Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor movie arrived on Netflix just a few days after its release. And this, according to Mr. Perfectionist, was an error on his part.
Aamir Khan Reflects On His OTT Release Misstep With Laal Singh Chaddha
When asked why it took so long for him to realize this, Aamir Khan said that he knew about it then also, but three years back it was the norm, and the mainstream was also following this. “Mujhe ye vichar pehle se he aa rahe the aur maine apne thoughts apni team ko express bhi kiye they..lekin poora system bana huwa tha which the mainstream was following (I knew about it then also and had also expressed my concerns with my team, but the norm then was such and the mainstream was also following it). I think in Laapata Ladies and Laal Singh Chaddha, I followed the same pattern, but then I realized I was making a mistake. I should not follow any pattern. I realized maine hamesha apna raasta banaya hai aur wo bhi mujhe wo he karna chahiye ( I realized I have always carved my path and should continue doing it.)
How Amitabh Bachchan Pushed Aamir Khan To Take A Risk With Sitaare Zameen Par
He further said that it was Amitabh Bachchan, who also gave him the confidence to release Sitaare Zameen Par only in theatres and not on any streaming platform. “I was sitting with Amit Ji. Junaid and I had gone to his house for dinner. I was discussing the film’s release, and I told him that I was in a dilemma. He asked why. I told him about releasing my movie only in theatres, and told him my team is telling me not to do it, as I was taking a huge risk. He said you should do it. I said, How are you so sure?. He said, Aamir, you haven’t shied away from taking any risk. In your entire career, you have taken risks, back-to-back. Then why are you scared now? Do it ‘Bindaas’. So, when Amit Ji said this, I got confidence, and then I said, ‘Let’s go for it,” Aamir said.
Well, his plan worked, as a large number of people are now swarming to the theatres to watch Sitaare Zameen Par. Aamir hasn’t revealed his plans to release it on OTT. It has also been rumored that Aamir Khan can release Sitaare Zameen Par on YouTube on a pay-per-watch basis. We will have to wait and see how long the film will attract audiences in the theatres.
