Aamir Khan confirms he is doing Mogul, will play Gulshan Kumar in Subhash Kapoor's film

Overturning his earlier decision not to work with filmmaker Subhash Kapoor till he is cleared of allegations of sexual harassment, Aamir Khan has decided to play the starring role of T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar in Kapoor's film Mogul. In addition, Khan will join the project as co-producer. 

In an interview with the Hindustan Times newspaper, Khan confirmed his participation in the venture. He said, "If you remember, last year in October, I had tweeted that I won’t be part of the film. But now, I have decided that I’ll be a part of it. So, I’m back on it now." 

The actor had withdrawn from the film after the director was accused of sexual harassment in the flurry of #MeToo cases that tumbled out of the industry's closet. Khan wrote in a statement then that 'without casting aspersions on anyone involved in the case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film'. 

However, in his interview with the daily, Khan, explaining his U-turn, said, "Every accusation of sexual misconduct must be investigated thoroughly and rigorously by the concerned ICC [internal complaints committee of the production house in question], and strict action should be taken against people found guilty. Just to clarify, the case of Mr Kapoor was not a case of workplace misconduct, hence could not be investigated by an ICC."

The actor was also quoted by the Deccan Chronicle newspaper as saying, "That really troubled us because we felt that our action had inadvertently cost a person who is yet to be tried in a court of law to lose his livelihood. And for how long? Is it for one year? Or 10 years? We don’t know. What if he is innocent? We were very troubled. Laws of natural justice consider a person innocent until he or she is proven guilty. But until such time that the courts reach a conclusion, is it that he or she should not be allowed to work? Is he to just sit at home? Not to earn for himself?" 

The actor also confirmed that he had, as co-producer, approached Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan to take on the role in his stead. Akshay Kumar had been announced as the lead actor during the launch of the film's first poster.

However, Akshay Kumar later dropped out of the project citing script issues. With both actors unwilling or unavailable, Aamir Khan decided to step in.

The superstar is currently preparing for the role of Laal Singh Chaddha, the authorized remake of the iconic Tom Hanks film Forrest Gump (1994). The film will be directed by Secret Superstar (2017) director Advait Chandan and is slated for release in 2020. 

Mogul is being produced by T-Series. The film was announced in March 2017 but is yet to go on the floors.