Junaid Khan: I never felt the pressure of being compared with my father As his debut film Maharaj is gaining momentum not only for the story of the film but also for his performance as a debutant actor, Junaid Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, opens up on his best-received advice from his father, the way he looks at cinema, and his future plan to be in the business of entertainment

Living at a time when dodging the question of nepotism is next to impossible, so as the extra pressure and high expectation from a debutant star kid, Junaid Khan, the son of Bollywood producer and star actor Aamir Khan, with his Netflix film Maharaj playing all the right notes to be in the good book of his fans and the film fraternity,.

The film Maharaj is produced by Aditya Chopra under his banner, Yashraj Film Production, and directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra. The story of the film is based on the 1862 Majaraj Libel case. In the film, Junaid played the character of Karsandas Mulji, a social reformist and journalist.

Though, usually, the debut of a superstar's son always makes a lot of noise to create visibility among the audience, it was interesting to notice how Junaid's debut happened without too much of the promotional activities of the film, and he only started to receive all the praise for delivering a nuanced performance.

As the cast and crew gathered on Friday for the celebration of the film, during an interactive session with the media, Junaid was asked if he felt the pressure to succeed in his debut and if a potential comparison could be drawn with his father, Aamir Khan. He answered it with an enormous amount of confidence.

Junaid replied, "I did not have so much pressure on proving a point or matching up to the expectation. My family and the director of the film are very supportive. My team, co-actors, and producer were all standing by my side, so as an actor, I did not feel the pressure. In fact, I did not think anyone would compare me with Papa. I do not think Maharaj is a film that Papa would do now in any case, so..."

As the film is set in 1862, according to the young actor, he had to go through a lot of preparation to get under the skin of the character.

Being the son of Aamir Khan, though he had easy access to get the best advice regarding the business of cinema and acting in particular, he was asked about the best tips he got from his father, and Junaid replied, "Papa only gives advice and tips if you ask for them, and that too about her specific things; he is very hyper specific with his advice on films and performances." So, I cannot really share everything in detail, but he shared things valuable."

As he played a journalist in the film and being a star kid, any star kid faces hard questions from the media asking if such thoughts crossed his mind. Junaid said that he does not think too much on those grounds but rather stays focused on the story of the film and his performance.

However, commenting on Junaid being a youngster and the debate on nepotism and opportunity, Siddharth P. Malhotra, the director of the film, said, "I saw his audition and I interacted with him. So I had the belief that he would be able to pull it off really well. For 15 days, he read the script every day to understand the character of Karsandas. For a year, he worked really hard as an actor to build the character from paper to performance. I have to give him that credit."

"He is not a star kid, really. Maybe he is a star kid in real life, but on set, he does not behave like that; he is a very hard-working and well-behaved guy, a very real and honest person. There is no nepotism tag that can be applied to his kid at all."

The film, now streaming on Netflix, also features Jaideep Alhawat, Shalini Pandey, and Sharvari Wagh.

According to the report, the film was uploaded on Netflix on June 21 and ranked in the top ten lists in 22 countries and territories. In its second week, it was watched for 5.3 million hours, and since then, the watching hours has only increased.