Bollywood star Aamir Khan talks retirement

Indian superstar Aamir Khan, one of Bollywood's highest-grossing actors, said he was on the verge of retirement during the global Covid-19 pandemic until his ex-wife forced him to reconsider.

Khan, 59, is in the US to promote Laapataa Ladies, India's official entry to the foreign language category at the upcoming Academy Awards, which he co-produced with ex-wife Kiran Rao.

He said his family was shocked at his decision to retire.

"I felt that I had not given enough time or bandwidth to my relationships. And that, you know, got me really guilty. And I kind of had a bit of a breakdown," Khan said in a joint interview with Rao, who also directed the film.

It was Rao's words that led him to change his mind.

"She said if you're leaving films, you're leaving. You're leaving us, you're leaving everything. I was a bit taken aback by that. But then I'm glad I changed my mind and I'm back," he said.

Khan, whose last film was the 2022 Hindi adaptation of Forrest Gump, titled Laal Singh Chaddha, has produced and acted in some of Bollywood's biggest blockbusters.

He is part of the famed Khan trio of Indian cinema, alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, leading men who have dominated the industry for the past 30 years.

On the surface Laapataa Ladies is a comedy about two heavily veiled brides who are accidentally swapped out during a train ride.

• 'Acting saved me': Vedang Raina on fame, breaking into Bollywood and the Gen-Z mindset