Imran Can

better than the original. And we had decided to have a Hindi dub merely two months before the release,” he recounts.

On a couch at the Mumbai

office of Aamir Khan Productions,the actor,who plays a journalist in the movie,sits with his feet up on the table. He rattles off figures to establish the film’s success. There is a smile playing on Khan’s lips — probably in response to the critics who were ready to write him off after most of his films failed to impress. “Delhi Belly was a huge risk this early in my career. I did it because I knew there is little chance

another such film will be made,” he says.

Known for his chocolate-boy portrayals,the 28-year-old is glad to have established his comic timing with this film. While the

dialogues came easy,“since they were mostly conversational”,his get-up,with one blackened swollen eye,did have the actor worried. “It required two

prosthetic pieces — one under the eye and one right above. I’d keep those on for 14 hours every day and on taking them off,my eye would water profusely,leaving my vision out-of-focus. By the end of the shoot,I was worried that it’s permanently damaged,” he says.

The success of Delhi Belly has brought him under the spotlight. It has also unwittingly established that the actor is bankable only when the films are backed by his uncle Aamir Khan. “There are very few producers who consistently make good films and Aamir is one of them. I Hate Luv Storys,under Karan Johar’s banner,did well too. Good producers ensure a

capable team is working together to make a quality product,” says the actor,who features in Johar’s next Short Term Shaadi,opposite Kareena Kapoor. “I don’t understand why am I asked so often about Aamir maamu since our

involvement in each other’s professional lives is limited to the two films I’ve done for AKP.”

Khan,however,has another reason to rejoice. The promo of his next release under Yash Raj Productions,Mere Brother Ki Dulhan,has been receiving a good

response on YouTube. With

Pakistani singer-actor Ali Zafar (of Tere Bin Laden fame) and Katrina Kaif in a bold,feisty avatar in the cast,it’s a typical Bollywood masala film. “It’s the most filmy film I’ve done where everything is pitched three notches higher,” he says,“I wasn’t aware of this,but this kind of film appeals to a whole new different side of me.”