Bollywood's ace actor-producer Aamir Khan has stepped back to let his wife, Kiran Rao take centrestage to present the first look of her directorial debut "Dhobi Ghat".

Aamir, who has played a painter in the film, apart from producing it, has consciously decided to stay away from the launch of the first look of the film in Mumbai Nov 17.

"He wants everyone to know this is a Kiran Rao film. So when the glimpses of the film will be shown on November 17, Aamir would not be there, " said a source.

Kiran, who is Aamir's second wife, was earlier an assistant director in Ashutosh Gowariker's Oscar-nominated film "Lagaan". She even assisted Gowariker in "Swades: We, the People".

Now she is awaiting the release of "Dhobi Ghat", set for a Jan 21 release.

It would be for the first time in three years that Aamir will be absent for such an event for his film. He followed the trend of personally showing the first theatrical to the media himself with "Taare Zameen Par", "Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na", "Ghajini", "3 Idiots" and even "Peepli Live".

"Dhobhi Ghat" also features Prateik Babbar, and narrates the story of how people from different classes get drawn together in relationships.