I am completely shameless: Imraan Khan
Anupama Chopra
Sunday, September 21, 2008 (Mumbai)
In an exclusive interview to NDTV's Anupama Chopra, Imraan Khan gets candid about Kidnap, the follow-up act, and being a Hindi-filmy hero.
Anupama:- Imraan, one of the trickiest things of showbiz is the follow up act...and the best of men from Kumar Gaurav to Hrithik Roshan have faltered after making blockbuster debut. Why did you choose to follow up a frothy love story like Jaane tu... with a hardcore action thriller like Kidnap.
Imraan : - Its a very boring answer... I like the script!
Anupama:- That's it? There is no more thought? There is no more thought about ...let's be different...nothing?
Imraan : -I realized its different and I like the idea of doing something like that. I like the challenge of it. I like the fact that so early on my career I am getting a chance to do something like this....he is a very angsty guy, lot of darkness, anger, hatred...and he is a very tenacious guy come what may, he gets hurt, falls down..whatever it is, he keeps going keeps going...the guy was almost a machine.
Anupama:- You always said that you didn't ever plan on becoming an actor..because you didn't think you could be a Hindi film hero...but this guys looks like the nastier version of Hindi film hero...is that a correct assessment?
Imraan : - It's right actually!! That was part of what I found so difficult in this film. The fact that I needed to do certain things in a very classically Hindi film leading man kind of way. Gadhvi has grown up watching the 70's films with Mr.Bachchan, and I think that has coloured his idea of how a leading man should be...he is very classically a man's man. He is hard and he knows what he wants, he is the typical alpha male. That's how Gadhvi likes to portray his heroes and that was so out there for me because I am so not that guy so I had to try and find that ....literally, I was trying to play Clint Eastwood..it was weird and tough for me!
Anupama:- But was it fun as much as Rats?
Imraan : - It wasn't fun in the same way. That was always a blast on the sets, this is not...everyday was torturous, but it was lot more fun in the professional sense.
Anupama:- Torturous? How?
Imraan : - Torturous in that I couldn't get a grasp of this character, I couldn't find a common ground with him, I couldn't relate to him, so everyday I was struggling to hold on to it. I was fighting to just stay afloat. I think for the first 10-12 days I was faking my way through it. I don't think I really got a hold of it initially. When I did get a hold on him then I had to fight everyday just to hold on it... don't drop the ball...hold hold!!
Anupama:- Paul Newman's advice to actors was study your craft, know yourself well and know what is special about you! So what do you think is special about you?
Imraan : - I am completely shameless. I am brash, I don't like to follow the norm, like, if you meet someone they offer a film, people say, "Sir, of course I will do your film, sir...and you don't care what the film is. No, I demand a script of whoever i meet and if I don't like it, I don't say I have date problems, I say I don't like the script and I feel it served me well so far because I feel so far, people have appreciated that honesty!
Anupama:- Of course you uncle and mentor Aamir Khan is Hindi cinema's legendary perfectionist; I don't know whether this story is true or not but it's a great story from the days of Ghulam. Apparently, he kept asking Mahesh Bhatt what is my character's motivation for this scene and what is my character's motivation for that scene...and finally Mahesh Bhatt turned around and said your motivation is lunch. So is this something that you have imbibed ...this kind of absolute meticulousness about the craft or do you think there is such a thing as trying too hard?
Imraan : -I don't think there is such a think as trying too hard because I never let anything go half measure, but I don't get into that either. I frequently get into places and I see actors who will ask a director, "See this doesn't seem like the kind of thing I would say, or I can't justify this, why would I pick this up..." etc. I never get that ...you pick it up because you are required to pick it up find a way to justify it.
Anupama:- What have you imbibed from the other two great filmmakers in your family? The late Nassir Hussain and Mansoor Khan?
Imraan : - Nana was always a story-teller once he retired, and I remember him always telling me bed time stories so that was his first love. Mansoor never rested after pack up, he would come home he would continue to work and I actually work that way myself!
Anupama:- Is it in keeping with the family tradition that somebody like him drop out of MIT and come and make all these great films and then just disappear? What explains that part of the family?
Imraan : - The tradition of insanity...there is a vein of eccentricity that runs through the Khans. All of us have this very strong eccentric side and it pops up in everywhere in strange ways. Mansoor ran off to the hills, I am liable to do the same in later years.
Anupama:- and Aamir?
Imraan : - Aamir and his eccentricity....it;s hard to put a finger on it but I think it's his thing for details. The smallest little thing ...whatever it is, he will find out a minute particle somewhere and say what about this.... what do you feel about this...this little screw on this watch should it have four size or six size what do you think?
Anupama:- Marlon Brando once said that too much success can ruin you surely as too much failure do you agree? Whats the downside of being an overnight sensation?
Imraan : - If everything is going your way all the time that's going to mess with your head...for me the weirdest thing was just coming to terms with it and coping with it.
Anupama:- What happened?
Imraan : - I wasn't here for a major time I was in Mumbai only for two weeks after the release of Jaane tu... and then I went off to South Africa. But for those two weeks, wherever I went, there was a mob following me, people everywhere waving and screaming. Suddenly, everyone wanted to touch you, click a picture...last week nobody cared, and suddenly this week everyone is staring at me, so you get a little ...why are people looking...suddenly people will turn up saying, "I have a great plan for your money sir, for your future, for your career, for your life..." And suddenly, the phone wouldn't stop ringing etc. I had a bit of freak out actually. I put the phone off and I just didn't put it on. I said, "Ok I am not using the phone, I am not going to talk to anyone, I am not going to pick up any calls...so ya, I actually freaked out!
Anupama:- Then how do you, given all of this, just stick around and focus on the work?
Imraan : - For me it's not that hard because I have an aversion to all of these things.
Anupama:- You are not seduced by money?
Imraan : - No! I can't tell you how much money I have turned down!
Anupama:- Please tell me!
Imraan : - I don't know, maybe 20 or 30 endorsements.
Anupama:- Why?
Imraan : - Because I really didn't want to do them. So much money just to go somewhere and hold something and then take money for it ....I don't know why...sleazy is the word...it feels like that ...it doesn't feel clean.
Anupama:- So you will never dance at a wedding?
Imraan : - I doubt it!
Anupama:- You said in an interview that you are a terrible boyfriend. What makes you a terrible boyfriend?
Imraan : - That's just a quote but when you see the context ....the context was this ...everyone always wants to know what is the most romantic thing that you have ever done. I have never done a single romantic thing in my life. I mean, you know, the flowers, the candles...I have never done it, so I am not very good in that sense. I am not really bad boyfriend, I mean, I have managed to last my relationship for the last six years, I must be doing something right!!
Anupama:- But you are not into the classic expressions of Romance?
Imraan : - Ya! I don't turn up with roses and champaign.
Anupama:- Thank you so much and good Luck
Imraan : - Thank you