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In 1996, Aamir Khan attempted to launch his brother Faissal as an actor in director Dharmesh Darshan‘s Mela. It remains one of the most disastrous movies of that era; it took four years to produce, according to Faissal. He’d made his acting debut with the 1994 film Madhosh, which tanked at the box office. Aamir, producer Suneel Darshan, and former actor Twinkle Khanna have spoken occasionally about the disaster that was Mela, and, in a recent interview, Faissal explained what went wrong with the film, and shared some insight into his relationship with Aamir. Because of his personal issues and the failure of his films, Faissal’s career never took off. He said that he lives on a monthly allowance paid to him by Aamir, in one of their family’s many apartments in the same Pali Hill complex in Mumbai.
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In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, Faissal shared that the delay in production was caused due to differences between his brother and the director. He shared, “After Madhosh, I was critical about myself and I decided to start from scratch. I knew I was not a great actor, so I took lessons. I practices singing to open up my voice. On the side, I was also learning to dance and fight. It was after all this that my performance in Mela came through.”
Faissal shared he had to prove himself as the film featured several great actors. “Mela had many great actors. Apart from Aamir Khan, it also starred Johnny Lever, Asrani, Archana Puran Singh. Dharmesh (Darshan) said, ‘Faisal, I am pitting you against Aamir because he is the best. And if you stand out against him then you will prove your mettle.’ And they had just given Raja Hindustani together, which was their biggest hit. Aamir was being appreciated everywhere. So he said, ‘If you can stand against Aamir and give your shot then you will prove yourself.’”
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In the same interview, the actor revealed, “Mela took four years to make. It started in 1996. Aamir was trying to get a film for me because at that time, many brothers were coming together. Like Dillagi, with Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, and even Arbaaz Khan and Salman Khan in Hello Brother. Aamir thought if nobody wants to feature Faissal alone, we should do a film together and Dharmesh thought it was a very good idea. It was a test for me.”
Sharing the reason behind the delay, Faissal said, “During the making of the film, Aamir and Darshan had differences, which delayed the making of the film. I had promised (producer) Ratan Jain that I would not sign any other film until I finish doing Mela. And finally, the film released in 2000.” Faissal said that, at one point, Aamir even threatened to walk out of the film due to his differences with Dharmesh Darshan, who kept trying to get Faissal in his corner. But they would eventually make up and continue the film.
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Previously, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Dharmesh blamed Aamir for interfering in the film. He shared, “I was very strict in Raja Hindustani. But I became very soft in Mela. It got diluted. It also had a major casting issue. Don’t forget, besides Aamir, everybody was on a low. I’m not a magician. But despite everything, I think Faissal did very well. If you see his growth, from Madhosh to Mela, you’ll see the difference. Faissal did very well. In some scenes, he’s better than Aamir. He’s giving a very real performance.”
According to NDTV, Aamir admitted that he regrets making Mela. After the film flopped at the box office, Aamir and Dharmesh never collaborated again.
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