Although Khan slipped into the skin of an iconic character in this remake, we couldn’t grasp the freshness or the newness of his role. Rather we could sense the flavour of all the past characters he has essayed.

Interestingly, it was when I saw Laal Singh Chadda‘s trailer that I went down memory lane, recalling all of his ‘hatke’ roles, that ultimately served the same look and feel. 

Wide-open eyes, raised eyebrows, ear-to-ear smile, and a tilted face, this is Aamir Khan’s starter pack of playing a ‘different’ character in his films. 

Did this give you a flashback of Dhoom 3’s clown thief Sahir or PK from the movie PK or Rancho from 3 Idiots? Al iz not well, it seems. 

Perhaps the thing is Aamir Khan has been playing unusual characters one after the other in a row, which is why they seem repetitive, to say the least. There hasn’t been much innovation in voice modulation either, which besmirches the charm of every new project he takes. 

Here’s a still of Aamir and Kareena from Laal Singh Chadda…

…. which took us back to Aamir and Anushka from PK. Déjà vu enough?

And a glimpse of the graduation ceremony we got in Laal Singh Chadda’s trailer…

…compelled us to recall the same from 3 Idiots. It’s the expression that, to an extent, needs to be injected with some innovation. 

Nothing much, but when an actor makes an entry on-screen once a year, the audience craves something fresh and unique. And Khan’s lack of experimentation in his roles is not creating expectations but simply conforming to them.