Imran Khan is one of the newcomers that already has a buzz surrounding him and a fan following even before his movie has released. His debut film is Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and it is set to hit theaters on July 4th. So is he nervous or stressed? “The best part is I’m not stressed at all. AK (Aamir Khan) was telling me that during his QSQT days, he too wasn’t stressed.”
This all seems unreal to him and he says: “When I see my promos or read about myself, it seems like I’m seeing someone else. My girlfriend Avantika keeps clippings of my articles but gets upset if anyone writes negative stuff about me. I have to keep telling her, ‘Chill baby, it’s ok.’”
Avantika has seen Jaane Tu several times, so what does she think of his performance? “I’ll just quote her. She said, ‘I can’t be objective about you. I’m being honest – I’m just like, ‘Oh, it’s you, it’s you!’” he answers.
Being in this film is the culmination of a life long dream “As a child I used to be fascinated by the huge posters of film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna etc and used to dream about a time when my face would also be a part of such posters.” And Imran plans to be on those posters for many years to come.
Originally Imran went to film school in LA to be a director but then with one screen test for Abbas Tyrewala, his career in the film industry took a different path. Now he says directing will have to wait, “It has taken a back seat, and besides I feel I’m too immature to direct a film now.”
What does the young actor do when he is not in front of the camera? He is a voracious reader: “At a time, I will have around 20-30 books piled up by my bed.” He also hangs out with his friends, “I don’t like partying as I’m a very reserved person, but I like to go to friends’ homes and chill with them. My friends are mostly assistant directors and actors like Minisha Lamba and Kunal Kapoor, and there’s Shruti Hasan who is more like my sister. I’m doing Soham’s Luck with her.”
Getting back to Jaane Tu, it being his debut film and he being the nephew of Aamir Khan Imran says, “People have set high standards, but I’m not thinking about it cos’ if I do, I’ll get paralysed.”
Be sure to go and see Imran, along with Genelia D’Souza in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na went it comes to a theater near you on July 4th!
