'Dangal' girl Sanya Malhotra talks about her year-long stint shadowing superstar Aamir Khan at work. Please note: The Bollywood actor will take two new interns under his wing starting April
Aamir Khan, Sanya Malhotra
Aamir Khan
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Who doesn't want a good boss? And when it is Bollywood's Mr Perfectionist, anyone would jump at the opportunity to work with him.
Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Sheikh not only got the chance to play Aamir Khan's daughters in Dangal, but also bagged an internship with his production house, to learn more about tricks of the trade.
Sanya Malhotra
"In January 2016, we wrapped up the film's shoot and didn't have anything to do," recalls Sanya. "So, Fatima and I decided to go on an India darshan. That's when AK [that's how they address Aamir] asked us if we would want to intern with him. For a moment, we went totally blank, but then nodded at the offer," she adds.
Interning with Aamir was not an easy task since they had to be with him all the time, and on their toes. During their year-long stint as Aamir's interns, Sanya and Fatima accompanied the actor to meetings of his NGO, Paani Foundation, which is working towards a drought-free Maharashtra. They also tagged along for the shoot of his latest ad on women empowerment, prep work for Thugs of Hindoostan with Amitabh Bachchan, and post-production of Secret Superstar.
"People know him as a brilliant actor, but we got to know how brilliant he is as a person. We got a sneak peek into his life. It is encouraging and motivating to learn everything from someone so talented and experienced," says Sanya.
Describing a normal day during their internship period, she says they would report to his office by 9 am; Aamir was working on the post production of Dangal then. "On some days, we would sit for almost five to six hours at Pritam's [music composer] office working on the background score. Later, we would go with Aamir for dubbing sessions, which would be followed by a meeting with the music or editing team. We would return home by 10 pm. When we went to work, we would listen to stories of how Aamir worked till 4 am."
With Sanya and Fatima having completed their internship, Aamir will take two new interns under his wing starting April. Application is simple — one has to drop their resume at the star's Bandra office; his team will scan the CVs and take the final call.