Imran: new Khan on the block

Jul 3, 2008

Imran Khan exclaimed when we met up at the Beeb in London last Friday night for a chat and a drink. The nephew of A-lister Aamir Khan was here to promote his debut film, this week’s release Jaane Tu..Ya Jaane Na (Believe it or Not).

Did having a famous uncle help him to get his first break? “I had to audition and do three test shots,” the seriously good-looking charmer smiled. Did he always want to be an actor? “I was planning to be a director. I trained at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles and actually worked on a TV show there.”

The love story has music by Bollywood’s most famous composer AR Rahman and the current hit track, ‘Pappu can’t dance’. Can Imran dance? “Not very well,” Imran replied adding that he suspected the film’s director Abbas Tyrewala wrote that particular song with him in mind. “I play a normal guy unlike other Bollywood heroes; I make breakfast for my mom in the film.”

Fans will be disappointed to learn that the newest Khan on the bolly-block is not single. “I have been dating someone for the last six years,” Imran revealed over a pint in the bar after our radio interview was over. What’s his favourite Bollywood film? “It has to be Teesri Manzil, probably Bollywood’s first example of film noir.”