Imran Khan has a perspective on life and films as gooey as his chocolate boy image.
When I walked in to interview Imran Khan, the peace and tranquility of his pad in Pali Hill immediately struck me. It lacked all the hustle and bustle you normally find in a celebrity's home. And when Imran walked in, it made complete sense. The actor's home seemed to be an extension of its master's personality!
Imran Khan has brought with him a freshness to Bollywood that has been lacking for some time. He has an opinion on almost everything and refreshingly not afraid to voice it, he doesn't feel the need to hide his lover (in fact the world knew of his girlfriend Avantika even before his debut film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na released) and more than anything else what strikes you is that the young bloke is already mentally ready and equipped for the super stardom that is to come his way.
Currently looking forward to his next movie Luck, Khan interestingly told StarBoxOffice he doesn't believe in luck but at the same time thinks he could be called a "very lucky man."
Below is an excerpt from the interview:
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First tell us what have you been up to since we last saw you in Kidnap.
Well I finished shooting Luck! You know I actually began shooting for Luck even before Jaane Tu… released. Not many people know this. I shot Luck, then shot Jaane Tu… shot Kidnap and then came back to Luck. We stopped shooting Luck so I could promote Jaane Tu... And then after we finished promotion and about 2-3 weeks after Jaane Tu… released, I went to South Africa to resume shooting Luck.
So tell me this how do you go from one movie set to another and work on multiple characters at the same time?
See the ideal situation for me would be to do one film at a time and then have time once it wraps up to get out of that character, then have time to develop the new character and work with the directors and the writers and create that new character for the new film… rehearse it, get into it, get comfortable with it and then start filming the movie. Now that would be an ideal situation. I rarely have that luxury… I had that luxury with Jaane Tu… I had that luxury to a great extent for Delhi Belly. But for Luck I certainly didn't have it.
But then I decided to use that for my character in Luck. My character in Luck is someone who is a fairly regular kind of guy. But what's unusual about him are his circumstances. He finds himself caught up in this world of gambling and betting. And he is in this place where nothing is in his control… everything is decided by luck…by chance. So whatever he tries it doesn't matter because ultimately his luck will decide his fate. So I used that for the character… I have this metaphor for this guy… he's a surfer and he's riding a wave and the wave is going, all he needs to do is stay on board.
You obviously are putting in a lot of effort and thinking behind each character. But when you are preparing for it, do you hand yourself over completely to the director?
No. It's a fairly collaborative approach because everyone on board is a very creative person. A writer is a creative person so is a director, lyricist, musician, a cinematographer, a set designer, a costume designer… it's all a very creative field! So as such you are not committed to the will of one person. A director will choose a particular camera man because he likes the way he has worked before… so he knows what shape he will give to the film. The set and costume designer will bring their own creative sensibilities. So all of these people are coming with each of their creative inputs and so the best way is to work with all of them.
I like to spend as much time with directors before hand. If I can spend time with the writer then that's even better because then the writer will give me insights about what he felt when he wrote that scene or character. So the writer will tell me things he thought but which he hasn't necessarily written on paper…so I use that somewhere. In my head I know something about the character that the audience doesn't know.
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But if filmmaking is about so many people why is it that the actor always faces all the brickbats when a film flops?
Yes that's true. But that's the way it is… what you gonna do about it? We are also paid the most!
Your next movie is called Luck – tell me how much luck do you need to make it in Bollywood?
I am a very rational person and I believe in reason, logic above all else so my brain tells me there is no such thing as luck. But if there is such a thing then I am a very lucky person! So I don't know… on the one hand I keep on saying 'there is no such thing, it can't be real' but if it were real then I believe I am a very lucky person!
I just know this that bad things tend not to happen to me. Things tend to work well for me, good things happen, things that I want, work out. Maybe its luck, maybe its hard work, maybe it's the power of positive thinking – who knows? Honestly I have no idea what it is – maybe it's nothing!
So then what about destiny?
Haa… but then I don't believe in destiny!!
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Why don't you believe in destiny?
It's just the way my brain is wired! I believe in what you can see, feel and touch. I believe in tangibility.
For many Bollywood is a means of transporting themselves in a world of make believe… how do you give that to your fans convincingly if you only believe in the tangible?
See that's what I believe in my personal life. I don't really dance in my personal life either. Our primary function here is to entertain. We are story tellers. We come here to tell stories, to engage people, to make them cry, laugh, maybe both, to thrill them, shock them and maybe make them think as well in an ideal situation. So really that's what we are here for – to tell a story and for that you use any means necessary. You use music, special effects and do stunts…whatever it is. You do things that you don't believe in your personal lives. You play people that you are not in your personal life… that you may not even like to know in your life.
Your character in Luck – is he someone Imran would like to know in his real life?
He is a fairly unremarkable character. He's had some bad luck in life but he's not really a bad guy… but he's not particularly a good guy either. Personally I would not like to find myself in his shoes. Also I don't think I could be friends with him. He's got too many issues. He carries too much baggage. He is too pre-occupied with things he shouldn't be. He is the kind of guy who is looking for a shortcut or a quick way out to make a quick buck. So there are too many things about him…that I don't think I would like to know a person like that.
I remember when we spoke before Kidnap you told me that you had received a massive telling off from Sanjay (Dutt), Aamir and your mum for doing all those stunts. So how much have you been told off for Luck?
Not at all… and that's cause there was no one around to see it! I did even stupider stuff this time around. There are a fair number of action sequences in the movie. We did a 1000-1500 feet drop into a gauge. Then we did a sequence that was underwater with sharks handcuffed inside a cage – we shot at sea for about 10 days for that. The climax scene was on top of a train so it starts off with me hanging out of a plane which I actually did. So it was a flying plane and I was hanging out of it as it went over and then I jumped off it and on to the train. The train then catches fire and there are land mines and it's moving. And while its moving and on fire, I run through that and fight a bunch of stuntmen on top of it.
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What pushes you to do all this?!
Allan Amin!
C'mon!
See I am not a thrill seeking kind of person. When I signed on the script, I knew it was an action film. And one thing I feel is that audiences are at a point where you can't really fool them. We have wised up to stunt doubles and computer graphics and ultimately nothing gets the audience engaged than seeing the lead actor in the thick of things. You know it counts for a lot.
I grew up watching Jackie Chan films. I love him and you knew he did every single stunt himself. You could see it and you could often see him getting hurt. And it just meant so much more because it made him a real hero to us. So for me the idea of cheating a new generation of movie goers of that or for that matter giving the new generation of cinema goers that what meant a lot to me. You know I want them to go see it and know that it's real. That there are no computer graphics, there's no green screen, there's no stunt double. It's all real and it's all there. The fire, the explosions and he is in the middle of it.
Your debut film Jaane Tu… did really well while Kidnap didn't. How did you deal with that? Did you start second guessing yourself?
Certainly there are times when you second guess yourself. But that will happen regardless of whether your film is a hit or a flop. If you have a film that is successful then also… you know before that you had nothing to lose. But when you reach a certain point… even if you know all my three films had been a success and I had never had a failure, I would still be second guessing because I think somewhere that fear comes inherently of what if I lose it all. And as I say that it did come in and it kind of took hold of me for a while. But I had to take a step back and say 'I have to take my decision on the exact same things that I did before Jaane Tu' because they were honest decisions and they served me well. And if I change the basis on what I am choosing things then I am not being honest and I think there is a greater chance of failure in that case.
If I start thinking that I should work only with big directors because that will assure me success then no, it won't. The only thing that will ensure my success is good work and hard work.
While it's fantastic that you are trying different roles in your movies, don't think it can back fire as people may not know what mold to fit you in?
Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. I really don't know. I don't think in those terms, I haven't and maybe I am wrong. Maybe I should be doing solo boy-girl films set abroad consolidating my fan base. Perhaps… I don't know. If I am proved wrong in the next couple of years, maybe I will fall back on that. (laughs)
The fact is that I have never thought on those terms. I just follow what seems interesting. I look at the scripts that are offered to me and I read and say what seems interesting, what makes it a cool film, what makes it a fun film to watch. And whatever that maybe in whatever sort, I do it. There is no strategy to do it
Imran Khan: Thinking woman's poster boy? : Imran Khan |
And that doesn't frustrate you?
It does but there isn't a damn thing you can do about it so you ignore it!
Is being a celebrity a tough life?
There are pros and cons. There are actually a lot of cons but there are a lot of pros too. The money is great. Actually really great… and if someone is going to write crap about me then it kind of balances itself out no?
And you don't feel the need to pick up the phone and tell the person off for writing that crap?
Yeah. You always wanna do that. But the thing is that as you get a little more mature and understanding of how things work here you realize that someone has said something about you today and by day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But if I pick up the phone today and clarify about what has been written then it will carried again in tomorrow's paper that Imran clarifies and by the way in yesterday's paper we had said this.. this.. this. And then someone else will retaliate and you are simply just dragging it out longer.
You are amongst the very few in the industry who has always been open about being in a relationship. Did you never think it might affect your popularity – something that most actors believe?
I didn't really. You know people are very savvy, they are very smart. They can smell bull s*!t a mile off. The minute you tell people that I am just "good friends" with someone, people can smell it. Everyone knows you are lying so you look like a liar. And you look like someone who has got something to hide. I'd rather people not see me that way.
What am I getting by hiding it at the end of the day? People know that I have a girlfriend in any case and I am a liar to boot! I really see no upside there.
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But then give me an insider's perspective of why people in the industry continue to hide their relationships…
There is a school of thought that if you are in a relationship, it damages your star status. Certain people may subscribe to that theory. Honestly it's a very personal call that you make. So some people may believe that and so they may hide the fact. Some people may just want to keep their relationship out of the public eye and not have to live their relationship in public – that might be their reasoning.
For my part I think I have struck a decent balance where people know who I am and that I am in a relationship with someone but I don't make an announcement every time I buy her a gift or announce my plans for a vacation.
You are talking about a new generation of cinemagoers. But do you find a new generation of cinema also? I mean do you think cinema has progressed from what you saw when you were growing up to what it is when you joined the industry?
It's certainly more refined which again comes down to the sophistication of the audience. Our audiences are opening up. The borders are breaking down. The world culture is getting more homogenized. Everyone is listening to the same music, we are watching the same movies, we are wearing the same clothes. Today if I drop into London or LA people will be pretty much dressed the way I am and there's a fair chance that they will have the same songs that I have on my ipod. So as a result even our Hindi film audience is exposed to a certain level of style, fashion, of technical expertise, a certain style of storytelling.
You know you go back 30-40 years it was a simpler time. Audiences needed stuff to be underlined a little more. You know there would be a theme music for every time the bad guy enters. I remember seeing one of my grandfather's films and the hero is walking and he drops an important letter that he has to post. Now in today's times the camera would pan down and you would see the letter falling. But no, that was the time of static frames and as he walks the letter drops and he walks out of the frame. And then a spotlight comes on the letter to draw the audience's attention! So it's an empty frame with just that letter and that spotlight is on it. It's almost like someone has pulled the light on to underline that he has dropped the letter. Can you imagine seeing that in a film today?!
But then having said that don't you think today's cinema is all about packaging and style? That sometimes you as an actor ad your acting skills are being robbed of attention because more focus is on the entire packaging, background and styling.
See there will always be a lot of films that are going to be made like that where now more than ever – particularly here and in Hollywood – we are facing style over content. It's a standard thing. But once again its one of those things that will almost always be there. People will make films like that and there will be people who will act in films like that. Really it's your call what you want to do – whether you want to be in one of those films, whether you want to be a part of that, how do you fit in…
So going ahead what is the kind of cinema that you want to do then?
I don't have a plan for a kind of cinema really. For me it's kind of a two prong thing. I want any film that I am a part of to fulfill two conditions – people should like it and I should enjoy doing it. As long as it can fulfill these two things, I am set.
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What if a film comes your way that has all the ingredients to make it a hit film amongst the masses but its not something you are comfortable doing – what then?
No, because then I feel I wouldn't do it honestly and then I know that the film would be doomed to failure. If ultimately you don't believe in what you are doing, it shows. Tomorrow I could do something that may not be very good but if I do it with complete conviction and I put my heart and soul into it then that carries and it means something.
Somewhere you can say that it has all the commercial ingredients in it then why didn't it work? Who knows why it didn't work…we had the semi naked girls dancing, we had the requisite 15 songs and we shot in Switzerland so what went wrong? That's because someone along the way did not believe in it.
You and Ranbir Kapoor are said to be really great friends and are believed to be chasing directors to sign the two of you on together. Is that true?
We don't approach directors. A lot of directors approach us. Yes we do want to work together. We hang out quite a fair bit. And we talk about it often and we've both got a lot of offers to do films together. So what we tend to do is meet and chat about it because both of us are very clear that we feel it would be a very exciting project for both of us and for the audiences but both of us also feel very strongly that the film the two of us do together has to be mind blowing. Both of us are really greedy and we want it all – we want to make a damn good film, we want it to make a 100 crore, we want it to open huge and we want people to talk about it twenty years from now! You know we want people to talk about it like they talk about Andaz Apna Apna and Sholay today. We want to make that film. So until that film comes along we are not going to do it.
So you are saying the two of you haven't signed on anything together yet?
No we haven't signed anything yet. But like I said we have very high standards!
Ok tell me the one piece of advice that you got to make it and survive in this industry and have held on to.
Aamir had told me something really good that I've always kind of held on to. He had told me that directors who are making films tend to have a lot of problems. Producers are not giving them enough time or enough money, the financiers want an item song, the stars are giving them date a hassle… just everything is almost always crumbling around them. The phrase he used was that 'directors are like lone warriors.' It's one man fighting the elements, fighting against all odds to make this one film that he sincerely believes in and he is trying everything. And if you are in a position to support him, you should do that because he will always have enough headaches and there will be enough things going wrong on a day to day basis. But if you can be one of the things that does not go wrong and be one of those people that just stands by him and fights for him then that's what you should strive to do.
Link http://www.starboxoffice.com/gallery/sbogallery.aspx?aid=782 | | | | | | | |
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