But be it then, or decades later now, Aamir was never just a boy from a film family who happened to become an actor. He was an exceptional force of talent, who spoke directly to the audiences' hearts. His stardom never superseded his characters, and his relatability was and is his superpower. Be it the unabashed reckless Sanju from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992), or the impulsive and emotional Munna in Rangeela (1995), or the forthright Bhuvan from Lagaan (2001) or the charmingly ironic Deejay from Rang De Basanti (2006), or the staunch Mahavir Singh Phogat from Dangal (2016) the range and depth of Aamir's performances could fill up hours of study time in film schools. He wouldn't just re-imagine himself as these characters, but he would breathe a kind of authenticity within them, which would feel as real as air on the skin. "I was once sitting with Salim-Javed, and Salim saab told me that there are two kinds of actors. An 'Aashiq' and a 'Maashooq'. The former is the kind of actor who falls so in love with his beloved, that he forgets himself. The latter is so in love with himself, that he'd forget the world," he says. On stage he sits down to demonstrate the simple act of pulling a thread through a needle, and how both these kinds of actors would do it differently. He looks innocent and vulnerable in the first kind, and arrogant and ignorant in the second. All this is conveyed just from body language. The audience watched him enthralled. He then moved onto demonstrating a breathing technique that makes it look like he's breaking into sobs. He used this to teach Darsheel Safary from Taare Zameen Par, when the eight-year-old confessed to have never cried, right before a crucial crying scene. The room shifted in energy during this demonstration, proving the power of his performance. "Breathing is everything, both in life and in acting. I read the script hundreds of times and I rehearsed the scenes thousands of times for at least three to four months to seep into the character. Until I start walking, talking, thinking, sleeping, dreaming, reacting like my character, I don't feel like I'm ready," he adds.

Dangal

Aamir Khan proved why he remains a force to reckon with in Indian cinema