Imran Khan on playing a gangster,the decline of villainy

>Imran Khan with his fair,scrubbed clean looks and casual chic is closer to a preppie than say,a rapper. Or for that matter,a gangster. But this year,in keeping with the young brigade’s overtures towards the hinterland audience,Khan’s choice of films are something of a departure from the urbane romcoms he has become the posterboy for.

Early this year he starred in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola,while later this week he has Milan Luthria’s Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobaara (OUATIMB)coming up. Strangely,he was almost reluctant to sign up for the film. “I went in not intending to do the film. But because a big director and producer was involved,I took the script along with me when I went shooting for Matru. I began reading it on a day off and found it very interesting in that I got from it what I haven’t got from several films I have done recently— an emotional story. Young directors often shy away from emotions; they are afraid to turn the volume to say,level 10. But OUATIMD,at a script level,moved me. I had enjoyed the first one so when I heard that they were making a sequel,I was wondering what they would do with it but on reading the script,I was convinced about the film. It’s the same team so they have treated the characters with great care,” recalls the actor. This film,says Khan was like living out his Bollywood fantasies — walking around like a dude with guns !

That the film,a sequel to Luthria’s earlier gangster outing is set 15 years from where the first film ended,besides having seasoned star Akshay Kumar for company,did not deter Khan. So Emraan Hashmi’s character has now matured into Akshay Kumar and Imran,who plays Aslam is the new addition. “It’s set in a certain world. Part 1 was more of a power struggle and politics,this one is completely fictitious and is more romantic.”

Kumar,confides Khan,being the martial arts expert that he is,was really resourceful with tips and suggestions on performing action scenes. In fact,his timely advice even averted that much dreaded injury while shooting one scene.

Recalls Imran,“When it comes to action,there is no equal. He can look at a stunt and tell you how to do it. Or what can go wrong. We were shooting in Pune and had to jump on these metallic beds and roll off and Akshay told us that the bed,under the impact of our jump,would break. It seemed unlikely since it was metal. So after some checks,we jumped and it broke! That’s how accurate he is!”

As for talks of starry insecurities,Khan dismisses it as pish tosh. “I have become a huge fan because Akshay is a very happy,uncomplicated person. He doesn’t carry his stardom like a baggage,and would invariably give me tips. Though he does not go by the book,he has an instinctive way for achieving a particular scene. Like in one scene I walk in while he is writing a letter and when he’s gesturing,the pen goes out of his hand. So we created a moment between us when doing that. He’s very good because he won’t let a small change or slip come in the way of capturing the essence,he gets down the gist and works it,” he says.

Khan being the team player that he is,is all praise for his other co-star Sonakshi Sinha too. This is the first time they have come together for a film and have evidently struck a good rapport. The two were the early arrivals at Ekta Kapoor’s Iftaar party and hung out together for a good part of the evening. “Sonakshi is very professional and hard working. She would be on the sets early. She has a quality that I find very attractive — the fact that despite receiving flak for her weight etc,she is very secure and confident ,more than any other actress I have worked with. And I have worked with drop-dead gorgeous women. She is not a porcelain doll that you will leave fingerprints on. She’s feisty and what she has is something that people can only learn from experience.”

Speaking of experience,Khan,one of the most successful stars of his generation has not done too badly on that front with a reasonably good strike rate with his movies. Within a short span,he has garnered a considerable following as a star. He once had an excited fan bite his hand in Dubai where he was walking the red carpet for an event! In yet another instance,someone picked his pocket in order to land a starry keepsake! These are important signposts when determining stardom and Khan is certainly doing well on that front.

“I have become better with taking my time over scenes. If you feel nervous,you screw up the scene so instead of rushing things in order to keep time I will listen to you and take a second longer. I have also started to feel more secure,” he says. True. For the young star is candid enough to admit that signing up with director Milan Luthria who does not rush his actors sacrificing the perfect shot in order to keep to the schedule,helped his cause.

Such candour despite the fact that the young star slot is suddenly teeming with names like Ayushmann Khurrana,Ranveer Singh or Arjun Kapoor,Varun Dhawan,Siddharth,Sushant Singh Rajput or Vidyut Jamwal is refreshing. “What we have today is a crop of new actors with their individuality. Go back 10 years and the only template you could follow was to be Hrithik Roshan. Now you have Ranvir,Arjun Kapoor undeniably in the leading men space and who are very different.You have a film like Raanjhanaa wherein the audience is willing to accept an unconventional hero,so the work scenario is spectacular. Even five years ago,a Delhi Belly would not have been possible but today it is.”

However,there are several senior actors that he has great admiration for — Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff being among them. They were also his reference points while prepping for his character in OUATIMD. So he borrowed generously from their movies in terms of dressing style. “I thought to myself,‘what would inspire a young guy like Aslam?’ And movie stars seemed to be the answer. So I watched films from the time that the film is set in and incorporated those net ganjis (vests) and the way Anil Kapoor tied a scarf around the neck or the way Jackie Shroff dressed into my character. So,there is a swagger to Aslam, but he is not very good with girls; he has a tough time with Sonakshi.”

Khan’s favourite villain though is Gabbar Singh and Ajay Devgn in Company,which according to him remains unsurpassed in terms or a controlled and superlative performance. His lament,in fact is that villains,even international ones, have lost their menacing panache,Quantum of Solace being an example. “In the good old days,they used to have laser guns that could destroy entire cities but now they are quite unimpressive” he sums up.

As for that uneasy question of films romanticising gangsters,or habits such as smoking drinking etc Khan begs to differ. “In a film,I would not portray homophobia,sexism,racism or xenophobia. Over here you are making a film about Dawood. You are not glorifying him,just using the idea of him as a springboard to tell a fictitious story.”

On his part he is striving for a balance between good and bad characters, choosing commercial projects and also a few eclectic films like Matru to gain exposure to different schools of cinema. According to Khan,he knew that Matru could be a dicey film but he signed up for it as he was keen to work with Vishal Bhardwaj. After his gangster saga,he has Punit Malhotra’s — who gave him the hit I Hate Luv Storys— film Gori Tere Pyaar Mein opposite Kareena Kapoor coming up. There are no plans for Delhi Belly 2 as of now,but there is a buzz about a superhero film in the anvil.

Action-packed indeed.

priyanka.sinha@expressindia.com