Aamir Khan’s personal and professional life jointly contributed for the gap.
Aamir has always been selective when it comes to films but this was the time when he was going through a personal turmoil. His 16 year married relationship with Reena Dutta was going through a phase of separation which finally ended in 2002.
Aamir was emotionally distressed and took some time away from the industry to handle his personal life.
Professionally, after the release of Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai in 2001, he took a four year sabatical from acting and focused on producing projects like Madness in the Desert (also known as Chale Chalo: The Lunacy of Film Making), a feature length documentary detailing the grueling and inspiring behind-the-scenes making of Lagaan.
In the latter half of the sabatical he was also busy in conceiving Taare Zameen Par which required intensive work besides acting.
Aamir officially signed Mangal Pandey: The Rising during this window and was busy preparing for the role and growing out his hair and mustache. Finally, his acting hiatus came to an end with the release of Ketan Mehta’s historical drama, Mangal Pandey : The Rising which released in 2005.
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