‘We need to change our thinking about sports’

Superstar Aamir Khan has heaped praise on Indian athletes for their performance at the Rio Olympics and said the country needs to change its outlook towards sports if it wants more wins at the global platform.

While athletes like PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik have received accolades for their medal-winning feats at Rio, the dismal show by other Indian participants has invited a lot of criticism from fans.

Aamir, who is set to bring the life of Haryanvi wrestler Mahavir Phogat on the big screen with Dangal, however, feels Indian athletes gave their best and the people need to start taking sports seriously. “I don’t blame the athletes at all. They are giving their all. If we want to see Olympic medals and world-class athletes then we have to change the way each one of us thinks about sports. “So, as a child you are telling me that this (sports) is not important. All that I learnt in school, history geography algebra nothing has come of use in my life. But what I learnt in sports has been useful,” the 51-year-old actor said. The actor, however, added the reason behind doing Dangal was not to promote sports but it was the film’s script which got him on board. “I loved the script. When Nitesh (Tiwari, the film’s director) narrated me I laughed, I cried. I just loved it. That’s the only reason I do films.