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‘I wanted
to be a filmmaker’
Imran Khan, the
new icon of GenX, is back with his second film Kidnap in
which he plays the bad guy. Sreya Basu
catches up with the new Khan on the block
You are ‘the
angry bad young man’ in Kidnap?
After the success of Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na, Imran Khan has
become the highest-paid newcomer in Bollywood |
I am not going to
say ‘I am so lucky to have such diverse roles’ sort of
thing. Bollywood is maturing`85now we have refreshing storyline
as well as experiment-loving producers who are ready to risk new
subjects with newcomers.
But can you deny
that being Aamir Khan’s nephew has made things easy for you?
Let me make a
confession. I found my debut project myself. Abbas Tyrewala, the
director of Jaane Tu`85 saw me in a party and we jelled
well. He narrated me the script of his new film that Jhamu
Sughand was supposed to produce. I said I am interested in doing
the film and was selected at the screen test. But for some
reason Sughand declined to produce the film. Aamir Khan was
looking for a good film to invest his money. He liked the script
and produced the film. But, of course, I will always remain
grateful to him for my break.
Did you always
want to be a part of Bollywood?
Imran Khan’s character in Sanjay Gandvi’s Kidnap has shades of grey |
Yes, I wanted to
make my career in Bollywood, but not as an actor. I wanted to be
a filmmaker. I am trained in script-writing and film direction
from New York Film Academy. Actually when I came back to Mumbai,
I was meeting people who will be interested to give me a scope
to work here. My family even said Aamir was wasting his money in
the film because Imran can’t act.
Tell us something
about your character in your second film Kidnap.
My character in
the film is not as grey as it looks`85after all I am the hero.
But on the contrary, I had to stretch myself a lot to get into
this character unlike Jaane Tu`85that was a comfort zone.
There is a rumour
that after Jaane Tu`85 your signing amount has hiked to
Rs 7 crore that makes you the highest-paid newcomer in Bollywood.
Is it true?
I don’t know
about the ‘highest-paid newcomer’ tag because I don’t have
time for market survey. If someone is making a good small budget
film, I will definitely ask for a small amount.
There’s another
talk of the town that you were not the producer’s choice for Kidnap`85true?
Yes and the full
credit goes to director Sanjay Gadhvi. There was an entire list
of actors suggested for the role by the producers at
Ashtavinayak Films. But I was Gandvi’s choice and after a few
meetings with the producers I became their choice too.
— TWF
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