Bollywood chocolate boy Imran Khan and the ravishing Kareena Kapoor flew into London earlier this week to promote their upcoming rom-com Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, directed by Shakun Batra. Set in Las Vegas, the story of Imran’s Rahul and Kareena’s Riana in the film takes place in a time frame of about two weeks. They meet, they get drunk, they get married, they apply for an annulment and through all this and even though it is a short span of time, they both change and learn who they are and well you will find out the rest when the film hits the cinema!
Imran and Kareena, in a joint interview at a central London hotel, candidly spoke to our London reporter Sunny Malik about the film, their characters, their love for the British capital and who is ‘Pappu’?
Welcome to London.
Imran: Thank you very much.
Kareena: Thank you.
You both have been travelling around the world without much break. Is it always hectic like this?
Imran: Yes, pretty much. But this is the first time that everyone will be able to see it. I am not sure if you know, but I have been filming my travelogue of all my promotions.
Kareena is missing from quite a few of your vblogs.
Imran: Only from the New York ones.
Kareena: I was there in Dubai.
So where are the two ‘Pappus’ ? Shakun Batra is of course one of them, who was Pappu in the song ‘Pappu Can’t Dance’.
Both laugh.
The other one is Karan Johar, whose nickname is Pappu.
Kareena: Yes, a few people call him that.
Imran: I did not know this.
Kareena to Imran: I think you should tell him Pappu can dance saala (laughs).
Tell me about your characters in the film?
Imran: I play a guy called Rahul. He has lived his entire life based on what his parents want. He is following a pre-determined path. They decided which school he should go to, which college he should go to, everything has been laid out for him. He is actually not living his own life. One day he meets this girl Riana, who shows him what he has been missing out on and opens his eyes. She shows him what he could be.
Kareena: Riana is a fun, mad and crazy girl, pretty much the way I am, but I am not as mad and crazy (laughs). She is very positive, optimistic and like a sunshine kind of girl.
Imran told me in 2010 just before you started shooting that he pushed the director to have you in the film. So were there any fan moments when Imran Khan the actor was the fan ?
Imran: No, No, No.
Kareena: Imran why were there no fan moments? (laughs)
Imran: I was taking photos of you.
So when will we get to see those photos?
Imran: We are supposed to do an exhibition in Mumbai, apparently.
Kareena: So, the news is out Imran.
Imran: Nobody told me about this, nobody asked me. They just said Imran we are doing an exhibition.
You guy get drunk and get married in the film. I know that Imran loves the beer in London. So any plans to get ‘talli’ before heading back to Mumbai?
Imran: We don’t have such luck man.
Kareena: Oh God, we don’t have any time.
Imran: It’s crazy we just got here this morning,we will be stuck in this room all day and will be flying out next morning.
Other than your own, which character in the film do you like the most?
Kareena: I think, there are just two characters in the film.
Imran: The film primarily revolves around just two characters.
Kareena: Boman is fun.
Imran: Boman is damn good, his character is not.
Kareena: (laughs) It’s a fun character.
Imran: It is a fun character but the characters of both my parents are, that they are not very nice people. They are people who believe they are doing what is best for their son but it is not.
Is Riana’s character inspired by Ayesha, who is Imran’s friend and hairstylist as she has co-written the film with Shakun?
Imran: I think there is a fair amount of Ayesha in Kareena’s role.
Kareena: Yes, I think so.
Imran: I think there is also a fair amount of Shakun in Rahul. It happens you know, first time filmmakers put a lot of themselves into their characters.
Agneepath, also a Dharma Productions film just broke records at the box office. What do you expect from Ek Main aur Ekk Tu at the UK box office?
Kareena: See, its a different kind of film. We don’t expect it to break box office records but we are definitely expecting it to be a successful and appreciated film. I hope everyone says that the performances were great.
Imran: Ek Main aur Ekk Tu is the kind of film everyone will speak well of, number wise I never know how to predict these things and to tell you the truth I don’t see it as an Agneepath record breaking film.
You guys come to London pretty often for promotions and for vacations. What do you like about the city?
Imran: You know, it reminds me of Mumbai actually (laughs).
Kareena: I wish we had more time then I would have definitely shown him around.
Imran: It has that feeling that it never turns off. Mumbai, New York and London its all like that. You always feel that it’ always buzzing. I could not deal with a place where everything is closed by 7 o’clock and they say ‘Sorry sir, that’s it’ or ‘Oh, today is Thursday. Today you cannot shop’ (laughs).
Kareena: But I love London, it’s like a second home.
Ek Main aur Ekk Tu, a UTV Motion Pictures release will be out in UK cinemas on 10th February 2012.
Stay tuned we have more from their visit to London very soon plus a special interview with Imran coming up this weekend!
Photo Credit: Atif Malik Studios (Hayat Khan)
