I am 18 in my head, says Aamir Khan

As I get up to leave, happy with my interview with Aamir Khan, he asks me, "How old are you in your head?"
"28", I say.
"Why?", he asks. (It struck me later that perhaps, that was my answer as I got married at that age).

I ask him how old he is in his head and he surprises me with his answer: 18. And then goes on to relate an embarasing incident that took place on the TV show Aap Ki Adalat. He was talking a girl and then asked her mom a question, addressing her as 'aunty'. The girl jumped up and said, "Why are you calling her aunty? She is your age."

He had a deja vu moment recently when he went for a wedding of a youngster and called the bride's mom 'Aunty' only to be rebuked by her bridezilla who reminded him that her mom and he were of the same age. These incidents are probably playing in my mind now, as he turns 50 today.

Aamir Khan is now 50. There's a big party naturally. There was a time when that was considered a retirement age for actors. But Aamir is at the top of his game. He is breaking his own box-office record every year. And there isn't even a frown on his head about crossing over to the other side of 50.

He currently weighs 90 kilos. Isn't he worried about the repercussions on a body that won't bounce back as it did at 30? He agrees, "90 kilos is very unhealthy. But what to do, that is my character in the film. I am just bindass... eating everything... meetha, yeh, woh, sab kuch. Except meat, because I turned vegan a month ago. To answer your questions, yes it's not good for my health. Because when I am carrying an excess of 25 kilos, you can feel the difference (pats his big belly). My breathing has changed. The way I walk has changed.. I feel horrible (laughs). But what to do. I could not have done this role any other way."

Suggest that he could have gone the prosthetic way and he shakes his head, "Nahin, nahin woh sab bakwaas hai. I don't like all that. You have to feel differently. Like when I said my breathing has changed, that is an important part of my performance...I also enjoy becoming a different person."

He continues, "You know, it's so funny. Recently someone I met asked me, what is your original look? Because I am looking like this now (spreads his arms to show his bulk) So I said, there is no original look left of mine now. For the last fifteen years there has not seen a single day in my life when I have been myself. I have always been one character or the other. So I don't know what my look is."

Looking back at 50, what does he see as his biggest achievement? I ask him. Unless, off course, he is not ready to look back? "I can look back anytime I want. If you ask me to look back today, I will (grins). I think perhaps my biggest achievement is that I have not compromised with what I want to do. Money has not excited me, tactical things have not impressed me. I have followed my heart and I have done the work I felt like doing."

As they age, most actors turn to Botox at some point. His PK heroine said she resorted to cosmetic surgery for that role. Would he consider doing the Most actors at some point turn to Botox as they age. Your PK heroine Anushka Sharma said she resorted to cosmetic surgery for that role, would you consider it for a role? "Of course, ya ya, no question about it. If a role required me to look different, I would. within limits of course. I mean if it completely changes my face and it is never going to come back to normal, then obviously not. If it is reversible, I have no qualms."

Personally, if someone said he was looking old, that he should try Botox, what would his reaction be? "Personally, I don't know how I look. Yes, it is an actor's job to look good but these are also very personal (cosmetic surgery) things. I mean if a person wants to look fatter or thinner or taller or shorter or whatever, it's your body, you should do what you want. I have no moral issues with it. None whatsoever.

Aamir is going grey for the first time in his next film Dangal, out December 2016. He plays a wrestler in the film. What does wife Kiran think of his new look? "She quite liked it. Right now, I've made my beard black, but my natural colour is salt and pepper. She is only concerned for my health. She feels that at 90 kilos, I am carrying so much weight, so my heart is pumping for that much more weight, my joints have taken that much more weight. It will remain like that for eight months now."