Superstar Aamir Khan's daughter Ira Khan understands what it means to be a 'star kid and living under the constant glare. She says she has normalised herself to different aspects of showbiz and doesnt let it bother her.
"I feel our parents handled us well as children. So, I don't feel a lot of pressure. I am aware of what it means, but I don't feel pressured by it," Ira told IANS while talking about the pressures of being a star kid.
Be it personal or professional, she lives her life under constant scrutiny. Does she sometimes yearn to stay away from the glare?
"I spent (most of) my life away from it. Now, since I got older it has increased and since (the time) I decided to make my social media account public, it has increased. I have normalised myself to it. It is a part of my life. It doesn't bother me and I am just aware of it," said the 22-year-old.
Ira is all set to step into showbiz by making her directorial debut with a theatre production titled "Euripides' Medea". The play is an adaptation of Euripides' Greek tragedy Medea, and stars Aamir's son Junaid Khan and Hazel Keech among others.
"There wasn't any particular reason why I picked theatre first and not a movie. I want to do both of them in my life. I just happen to be working backstage and I saw the stage and I thought let's do this. There was no particular reason why I wanted to do a play first and not a movie," Ira said while explaining her thought behind making her directorial debut with a play.
"Euripides' Medea" revolves around Medea, whose husband Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. She takes revenge by murdering Jason's new wife as well as her own children, after which she heads to Athens to start a new life.
Talking about the play, Ira said: "I haven't changed the play a lot. I cut out some bits, and made it slightly shorter but essentially I have kept it the same. We are doing shows in Mumbai and Bengaluru, and we are going to see how it goes. We are hoping to go in some other cities as well."
Ira, who is Aamir's daughter with his first wife Reena Dutta, with whom he also has a son named Junaid, likes "how it feels like to be told a good story to".
"So I wanted to be in it to tell the stories well and it excites me to see the effect it has on people. I like doing lots of things. When you are acting, you just act and I want to do lots of things so I like working behind the stage and be a part of everything," she noted.
Aamir has won hearts as an actor, with films such as "Dangal", "PK", "3 Idiots", "Ghajini" and "Sarfarosh", but his daughter feels she can't act.
"I am not very good at it. I am shy and conscious. I am sure I can fix that. I can learn to act if I want to but there are way to many things that I want to do in my life, so I don't have time for that right now," she asserted.
What's next?
"I want to do lots of things in my life. (I want to) Direct more plays and direct other things. I have finished school but I fully intend to keep learning things. I have a bunch of projects for which I have said yes, and I keep remembering that I can do this much only. So, there are so many things and I will let you know when I have figured that out," she said, while signing off.
