Principles & Amir Khan

First film that amir khan ever did ended up being a hit. Usually this sets the stage for any upcoming actor to accelerate themselves to the top, just by choosing the right projects. Similarly, amir was also bombarded with hundreds of offers with moderately-known directors and producers. Out of which he ended up signing 8 films. He grossly underestimating the responsibility of acting as a lead in the film. He had to work 3 shifts a day to keep up with the shooting. The release of his second ever film did not go well. Nor did the third and fourth. His 3 consecutive films did not do well, and those coming are even worse.He could see his career plummeting towards a crash. That’s when he came up with three core tenets for any films that he will ever do after that. He would only consider these three things - screenplay, director and producer. Nothing more, nothing less. Unless all three of these boxes are ticked, we will not do the film. Mahesh Bhatt was a renowed director of that time. And an offer from director like him, is what amir needed to revive his career. An established and successful director Mahesh offers a role to an expiring actor amir. This was like a godsend to amir. All that was now left to do was to go to Mahesh Bhatt’s house, listen the narration and say yes. This was his chance back to glory. But he didn’t like the script. Now he was in a dillema, he can either compromise on his core tenets or he can give up on the opportunity of his lifetime. After spending a restless night thinking about his situation, He had made his decision. He goes to mahesh bhatt’s house and politely apologizes for declining the film. A failing actor declines offer from messiah director. This meant that mahesh might never offer a film to amir again. But for amir, the compromise on his core tenets is something that he could never do. Thinking about that decision now, amir says “If I had compromised on my tenets then I would have compromised them every point of the way. This decision gave me courage to choose the films that I have throughout the years”.

Compromising on your values is insidious and lethal. It’s effect reverberate in every next decision that you make. A compromise with your values now means compromise every step of the way.