‘I was devastated’: Why Imran Khan was rejected for Delhi 6; replaced by Harshvardhan Kapoor in Bhavesh Joshi after box office flop

Imran, in a recent interview to HT, also ruled out he will ever be part of Bollywood’s PR machinery. “I have worked at a time when I had a PR and a manager. Having had a taste of it and knowing what it brings to your world, I now don’t want those things. I don’t want a manager who will go out there and look for work for me. The manager’s pay percentage depends on keeping me steadily employed, because of which he may push me to do things I don’t want to. I don’t want them to find work for me; I want to find my work.”

However, the actor accepted that when he was starting his career, there were moments he was left devastated when things didn’t align for him. The films he mentioned were Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Delhi 6 and Vikramaditya Motwane’s Bhavesh Joshi. The three films eventually starred Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Harshvardhan Kapoor, respectively.

Imran had auditioned for Delhi 6, before his debut in Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa. “At various points, there have been various films that have just not come together. With Mehra, it was ‘Delhi 6’. At that point, I had not made any films, I tested for the (lead role) film. But at the time, they didn’t want to put the money on a new person, on an untested, unproven person,” Imran told PTI in an interview.

At this point in his life, Imran Khan prefers working alongside friends and like-minded individuals, like with Vir Das in Happy Patel.

Delhi 6 was the story of an American boy of Indian origin who gets involved in communal tension when he comes to Delhi’s Chandni Chowk with his grandmother. While the 2009 film was not a box office success, it continues to get acclaim for its incisive commentary on a subject that has become more relevant with time.

Imran said there were real-life parallels with the lead character in Delhi 6. “I was born in the States, and I grew up kind of a child of two worlds. So, I related to those things. So, my instinct beforehand, and even after was, ‘That would have been a cool film to have been a part of’, I would like to have been in that film. The film has aged quite well. Even back then, I was very excited to have been a part of it; I did want the part very much. I was quite devastated that I did not get the part. But I guess looking at the scale of the film and the budget, they wanted a known person. This was before ‘Jaane Tu…’, released,” he added.

‘Harshvardhan Kapoor replaced me in Bhavesh Joshi after my film flopped’

After Imran Khan faced flops, he was dropped from Bhavesh Joshi Superhero. It happened after his 2013 film Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, co-starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, failed. “In the aftermath of ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’, I got dropped from the film. So, that was also out of my hands, out of my control. The film turned out well. It’s one of those films that is unique and original, somebody has tried to push the boundaries of what we normally get to do and I appreciate that,” he said.

Imran Khan in a still from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

Imran Khan was replaced by Shah Rukh Khan in Chennai Express

While Rohit Shetty had approached Imran with Chennai Express, it eventually didn’t work out.  “We had a couple of conversations about it. But between us, we figured that we were not in sync creatively. His narration was hilarious, and the film has turned out to be hilarious. But I don’t believe that I would’ve been correct for it. I saw what he was going for, I thought it was funny.

“I don’t think I was right for it, which is the conversation that we had, and I said, ‘Listen, I don’t see us syncing’. Shah Rukh Khan was a better choice, I don’t think I could top Shah Rukh,” Imran said.

Imran acted in films such as Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa, I Hate Luv Storys, Break Ke Baad, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, and Delhi Belly, among others.