Aamir Uncle Was a Father Figure on Set, But I Was Scared of Him: Darsheel Safary

Remember the little Sardar kid from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? Or Gia from Kal Ho Na Ho? How can we forget Ishaan Awasthi, who won our hearts in Taare Zameen Par? This month, we have the Children's Day special roundtable, where the actors who played the memorable roles - Parzaan Dastur, Jhanak Shukla and Darsheel Safary - share fascinating memories from the sets as children, the work schedules of child actors then and now, their memories of working with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Karan Johar and more.

Recalling auditioning for his role in Taare Zameen Par Darsheel said, "I was a dancer in Shiamak Dhavar's troupe. I was eight and had quite a naughty reputation. Amole Gupte and his assistants would be there, and I had no clue for what. They would just be hanging out and taking notes. The inquisitive child that I was, I started spending time with Amole sir and we struck a bond. They had a handwritten poster, calling for auditions for an Aamir Khan-starrer. They wanted children aged 11-13 and I was quite upset. But I still wanted to go and audition and was invited. I thought I was shooting the film!"

Ishaan added, "One day I actually got a call saying I have been selected". While Jhanak spoke about her first audition for an advertisement, Parzaan said he has a very "bad track record" with auditions.

When asked about how it was like shooting with Aamir Khan Darsheel replied,

"I had a blast on the sets of 'Taare Zameen Par'. There was Aamir uncle, so we used to play chess, solve Rubik's cube etc. Especially when a scene was being shot, I used to try and get serious even though I had no clue what was happening. Ninety-nine per cent of my performance is thanks to Aamir uncle and Amole sir".

Speaking about shooting with Shah Rukh Khan Jhanak said, "We were shooting for the song 'Pretty Woman', and during break I was sitting on the bonnet of a car. There were other dancers around, and Shah Rukh told them, 'Do you know who she is? She is a star in India'. I was blushing and it was a very nice moment for me".

The trio also weighed in on their times as child actors versus what it's like to be a child actor today.

Watch the video for more.

Video Editors: Veeru Krishan Mohan and Arnab Chakravorty