Aamir Khan admits having overconfidence on 'Laal Singh Chaddha'; Rs 200 cr spent on Rs 80 cr film, reveals costly mistakes

Aamir Khan has opened up about one of the most difficult chapters of his career, which is the failure of 'Laal Singh Chaddha'. The actor, who has long been celebrated as Bollywood’s “perfectionist,” revealed that his overconfidence and miscalculations pushed the film’s budget to a staggering Rs 200 crore, even though it should not have crossed Rs 80 crore.

Why did the budget for Aamir Khan's film go high?

In a candid chat with Komal Nahta, Aamir explained how the film’s costs went out of control. The pandemic played a big part, but his decisions added to the burden. He continued paying his crew during COVID-19 shutdowns, something he felt was his duty as a producer. However, the prolonged delays, overseas shoots, and an expensive sequence in China that was eventually deleted only worsened matters.

Knowing the risks, yet taking the leap

Aamir admitted that he always knew 'Laal Singh Chaddha' was not a mainstream crowd-pleaser. “This film had a question as its premise, the story was driven by the character rather than a strong plot, and even the sub-plot stretched longer than the main story,” he said. Despite this, he failed to set a realistic budget. By his own estimate, the film was never going to earn more than Rs 120 crore, so the budget should have stayed under Rs 80 crore. Instead, it ended up being almost three times that.

Lessons after a streak of hits

Until 'Thugs of Hindostan' in 2018, Aamir had enjoyed nearly two decades without a major flop. Perhaps it was this long run of success that clouded his judgment. “I became overconfident. I stopped applying my economic filter that I usually put every project through,” he confessed.

'Coolie' failure

Coming to the present, Aamir Khan was last seen in the Rajinikanth starrer action flick 'Coolie'. Aamir Khan played the character Dahaa in the Lokesh Kanagaraj's directorial. Unfortunately, with high expectations, 'Coolie' didn't impress the audiences. Aamir Khan's cameo appearance also received much backlashes from the viewers.