Aamir Khan’s brother, actor Faisal Khan, has said that he turned down the opportunity to appear on Bigg Boss because he doesn’t want to be ‘caged’, as he allegedly was at his brother’s house once.

Actor-filmmaker Faisal Khan has once again leveled accusations at his illustrious brother, actor Aamir Khan. The brothers’ relationship reportedly became strained after Faisal was allegedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and held at the family home against his will.

In a new interview with The Times of India, Faisal spoke about turning down an offer to appear in the upcoming season of the reality show Bigg Boss, and suggested that participating on the show would be akin to being ‘caged’. He said that he has already been caged once before in Aamir’s house, and would not want to sacrifice his freedom at any cost.

In 2008, Faisal had accused his brother of keeping him under house arrest and attempting to take custody of him. He had told Hindustan Times, “Frankly, I was never ill.. what has been said so far was speculative and spread by my elder brother Aamir Khan and other family members. In fact, I was kidnapped.. I was under house arrest, unwanted drugs were given to me. On the judgment day, judge saab announced that I’m not suffering from any illness.. and that I’m normal and capable of handling life on my own. I should be treated as a normal person.”

Faisal said that he is on cordial terms with his brother currently, and that he lives in the family home. “Of course, I am on talking terms with him. We meet and greet each other on occasions. But the thing is that he’s so busy in his life and I am struggling in my busy life,” he said. He didn’t, however, mince words as he criticised Aamir’s ‘opportunistic’ apology about controversial past remarks at the time of his film Laal Singh Chaddha’s release. Faisal said that Aamir was right to apologise, but that the apology should’ve come before, and not when he had a movie to promote.

About Laal Singh Chaddha itself, Faisal said that he has watched the film — a remake of the Hollywood hit Forrest Gump — but feels that it worked only in parts. He said that Aamir should’ve picked a better project with which to return to cinemas after a gap of four years. “It was not a ‘wow’ film,” he said.

Laal Singh Chaddha was targeted by boycott campaigns ahead of its release, and tanked with under Rs 60 crore at the domestic box office. Faisal’s most high-profile role came alongside his brother in the notorious flop Mela. He has remained under the radar since then. In 2008, Bandra metropolitan magistrate’s court said that Faisal, who had been ‘suffering from schizo-affected psychosis’ according to a hospital’s report, could live by himself, but would have to take ‘regular medication’.