The 1980s were an uncertain period in Indian cinema. The anger of the 1970s ‘Angry Young Man’ had fizzled out, and filmmakers did not know what to replace it with. Some of them continued to churn out films of vengeance and violence half-heartedly, only to face the wrath of audiences. Finally, it was a few star kids like Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol who gave the film industry a much-needed facelift. Both were launched as romance heroes in the films Rocky (1981) and Betaab (1983). But the romance of the 1980s really came of age with two other youngsters―Aamir Khan in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Salman Khan in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989). The Angry Young Man’s gunshots had been drowned out by Aamir’s guitar as he sang ‘Papa Kehte Hain’ to an adoring Juhi Chawla.
Years later, many things have changed, but what has not? Star kids being launched through love stories, like Janhvi Kapoor in Dhadak (2018), Ananya Panday in Student of the Year 2 (2019), Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda and Khushi Kapoor in The Archies (2023). Even as Aamir set the ball rolling with Qayamat, it took his son Junaid to break with this tradition. Junaid did not debut with romance, instead going for the hard-hitting crime drama Maharaj, based on true events. In it, he plays Karsandas Mulji, a 19th-century journalist who exposes how the religious leader Jadunathji Maharaj sexually abused the wives and daughters of his devotees. This resulted in the Maharaj Libel Case of 1861, when Maharaj filed a libel suit against Mulji. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Mulji.
“I don’t see Maharaj as an out-of-the-box film,” says Junaid, 31, on why he did not debut with the ‘safe’ genre of romance. “Yash Raj [Films] is one of the best studios in the country today. I loved the story the moment I heard it. I also love Siddharth’s (Siddharth P. Malhotra, director of Maharaj) body of work. So, I immediately wanted to be a part of it.”
Junaid was selected when Aditya Chopra, chairperson of YRF, came across his screen test for another film and found him to be perfect for the role of Mulji. “He told me to take a couple of weeks to think and prepare,” says Junaid.
Crusader for truth: A still from Maharaj.
Ever since Maharaj dropped on Netflix on June 21, Junaid has been getting rave reviews for his performance. Comparisons with his father, however, were inevitable. Even though they debuted in different genres, Junaid brings to screen the same purity to his art. Their acting styles might be different, but there is something about the way their eyes speak that makes one feel that the son is carrying forward the father’s legacy.
“There are similarities and differences,” says Junaid. “As an actor, I don’t know if I will be best-suited for the roles he did and vice versa. But I love his body of work.”
Junaid with Aamir | AFP
It was 15 years ago, when he was 16, that Junaid confessed to his father that he wanted to be an actor. Aamir was supportive. In college, he acted in several plays and worked behind the scenes in production. He later enrolled at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Since 2017, he has been auditioning for films. According to Aamir, his son never sought his help to make it in the industry. He spoke on The Great Indian Kapil Show about how Jackie Shroff asked for his help to launch his son Tiger in the industry, while his own children never did. Junaid, instead, decided to hone his skills in theatre before appearing on the big screen, proving that he inherited his father’s perfectionism. He also got his father’s love for taking risks and exploring diverse topics.
It is probably no surprise that Junaid wanted to become an actor; cinema is in his blood, after all. It is his filmmaker uncle who launched Aamir’s career, his mother Reena Dutta is a film producer, and his step-mother Kiran Rao is a filmmaker. Asked if cinema is the main subject of their dinner conversations, Junaid says they are a very “easy-going” family. When together, they hardly discuss cinema. “Everyone has different opinions, but we are open to different points of view,” he says. He describes his upbringing as “modern”, where he was given full freedom to make his own choices.
In fact, both his parents visited the set on the first day of Maharaj’s shoot and were pictured hugging him. He says Aamir did not really give him any feedback after watching the film. “Papa is a very easy audience,” he says. “He is a sensitive person and tends to like most things. My mom is a much harder audience. My grandparents loved the film, too.”
Except for the chiselled features, Junaid might not resemble Aamir physically, but perhaps that is because both love to undergo physical transformations. Although he shed many kilos for his lean look in Maharaj, Junaid says his weight loss journey began much earlier. Aamir, too, has undergone drastic transformations for his roles. “Papa has an experience of 40 years,” says Junaid. “So, there is a wealth of knowledge on how to go about it in a healthy way.”
Junaid is currently doing a project with Aamir’s production banner and a play called Strictly Unconventional, out in September. “I don’t think I will ever direct films but I have already produced a film, which will be out soon,” he says. I am also continuing to do theatre and loving it. I just want to be a part of good stories, no matter the medium.”
Quiet and camera shy, he prefers the stage to social media. Unlike his contemporaries, one would hardly see Junaid getting papped at celebrity events or outside swanky restaurants. It is more likely to find him leaving the theatre still in makeup, with no thought to his ‘image’. Recently, he was photographed outside Prithvi theatre still dressed as his character Shikhandi in the play, with his hair parted midway and eyes rimmed with kohl, wearing a black T-shirt and shorts. He humbly smiled at the media. You could tell that he cared more about being an actor than a star.