Aamir Khan: Bollywood superstar on why he secretly quit films

For now, Khan is focusing on a range of projects alongside Laapataa Ladies, which also include his next film Sitaare Zameen Par, due for release in 2025.

Looking further out, he’s hoping to make one film a year, while his “dream project” is to take on Mahabharat – the ancient Indian epic.

But since unretiring from film, he is determined to do things differently. Again, this was influenced by his children.

“My son said, ‘You’re an extreme person’,” he says.

“He said, ‘You’re like a pendulum. You only did films, films, films. And now you want to swing to the other side and do no films and be with family, family, family. There is a middle place also you can think about’.”

Khan says his son told him to “try and bring some balance” into his life.

“And I thought he was right. So since then, that’s what I’ve been trying to do – living a balanced life where I’m working really hard, in fact I’m doing much more work that I ever did, but I don’t work after 6 o’clock any more.”

Khan says he has also started therapy in recent years, inspired by his daughter Ira, who works in mental health.

“I think that’s something that’s really helped me. That’s really helped me understand myself better.

“I’m actually finding that balance between work and a personal life. So I feel that I’ve reached that space now.”

Watch Aamir Khan: The Interview on the BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer.