The resilient actor is not much of a talker but in this candid tête-à-tête, he speaks about his easy success, his family, his support system, his life’s loves and the hordes of fans who just cant have enough of the brooding Imran Khan.
My life, My support:"My family has never let me down but there was a point in my life and career where I thought that I had let Aamir Khan down. It was during the time I was shooting Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. I wasn't able to give as much to it as I could've.
I was cribbing about it. He told me not to crib over issues like this. Aamir made me aware of the movie business and made me see the harsh realities of how the business inside and outside functions. I know it now because I am four films old."
Successful Beginnings:
"For me, success is having the freedom to do only what you really want to do. The second you sit back and don't want to do something, you've lost your freedom. Your only motivation to do something is that you want to do it.
My success will never change because I feel that I am very successful. I sign a film because I feel that I am really excited about doing this. That's all I do.
I have good house, great friends and two awesome cars - a white BMW 3 series and a brown Porsche SUV. I have plenty of money to live the kind of lifestyle that I want. I am not wanting and I can't see things getting much better than this, even though I know it can get worse."
The reason behind my existence:
"Somehow the presence of meeting your fans or audiences in public face to face gives your film that little push. So if I go to London or New York and a local photographer takes my picture, he feels better.
You are traveling the world and then doing phone interviews don't help. I like to meet journalists and fans in person. The audience feels that I am taking trouble to come to meet them.
They feel a little more of a connect that I am reaching out to them. If I have a hand shake with a fan, I am winning that persons heart permanently. If I am rude to my fan, I will lose him permanently and I'm sure about that."
Glitz and Glamour:
"Star power does not affect my life if I'm walking down the streets of Mumbai, forget London or the U.S. But yes, I can say this because I am three films old today.
In the next two years, if there comes a point that I can't step out of my house, I'll have to do it. Like how SRK, Salman and Hrithik do because there'll be a stampede if the people see them roaming the streets of any country. I will be able to do this once I become a star power."
Dosti Yaari:
"A lot of the guys I hang out with are new generation of actors, like Ranbir Kapoor and Abhay Deol. I am very friendly with these guys and we tend to like the same kind of movies, talk in the same way. Same applies with my directors, like Soham Shah and Abbas Tyrewala. We have a similar thought process.
The grammar, meaning how a film is shot, how it is portrayed, how you act the scene, etc. has changed drastically. The way Soham will shoot it as a director is less theatrical. I'll give you a great example of my grandfather's film which I was watching. It's a steady cam shot. The hero is walking across with an important letter in his hand.
It slips out and falls down and the hero continues to walk. Then the light focuses on the letter and the camera zooms in and holds it for a couple of seconds. Imagine doing this today. That was the grammar in the 50's and that's the way the director used to communicate with his audience.
You had to underline the fact; the letter was important and had to be noticed. Today a crying scene need not show an actor cry. Today, the director will take a close up of my face and show my eyes moist. That's it."
My favourite ride:
"BMW is my type of car. I tend to like sporty cars and small cars. It's a great fun car, it's small and it's like you are go- karting while you are driving. You are seated low and driving in a BMW series, except the seven series which is huge.
The Porsche SUV I have is more for practical reasons. It's more for taking it out while I am filming. I can pack my entire luggage in there, my crew, my assistant and my boy who takes care of all the petty stuff while shooting. I say it's an all-in-one car for more reasons than just one."
