Imran Khan says that his romantic movie is not really that romantic... but unlike his character, a thorough cynic, he’s not really a cynic either
Your character in I Hate Love Storys... er... hates love stories, and throws cheesy Hindi film love dialogues at the heroine. The cheesiest lines you’ve ever heard in Hindi love stories?
Honestly, I’m not really a connoisseur of the romantic genre, so I don’t remember them well. I have a vague sense of the romantic movies made and I can name titles, but I actually haven’t seen all of them, and those that I have seen, I haven’t watched with such rapt attention that I...
Alright then, your favourite romantic movies?
I remember liking QSQT, I loved Maine Pyaar Kiya, DDLJ...
Of the three actors in these films, which one has made for the best romantic hero?
Shah Rukh has made a career of being a romantic hero - right from the early 90s till today. That’s always been his forte.
What sort of romantic hero are you playing in IHLS?
I play a character called J. His name is Jay, but he prefers J. He’s quite a cynic, and apart from not believing in love, he doesn’t believe in filmi love movies. In his life, it comes into play because he’s an AD (assistant director), he’s working in the industry, but his tastes in movies run very differently. Unfortunately, he’s working for a director who’s one of the grand romantic directors of Bollywood – Samir Soni plays this guy. Sonam plays Simran, the art director. A die-hard romantic, Simran believes in filmi clichés and also loves this guy and his films. So we clash on two levels – one is ideology, about love and romance and etc, and the second is creatively – she loves his sensibilities and I hate them. Ultimately, both of us find a middle ground.
Are you a romantic or a cynic?
I’m somewhere in between. I’m not a particularly romantic person, but I believe in love. But I don’t believe in grand romantic gestures.
And romances are not your kind of movies either?
See I like the film, because I relate to a lot of what J says. A lot of what he says I don’t agree with, also, but a lot of his lines I do. The thing is that Punit (Malhotra, the director) himself is not a mushy guy. Not at all. The treatment that he’s given it is very indicative of the kind of guy he is. He’s making a romantic film, but while making it, he’s also making fun of it. Punit has a very wicked, deadpan sense of humour, where he likes to crack jokes to people’s faces and they don’t even realise that he’s joking, which he’s incorporated into my character, so that’s something I really like.
How did you like working with Sonam?
I had wanted to work with her right since I saw Saawariya. I’d honestly liked her in the film, and I just had a sense that we’d work well together - I can’t really base it on anything, I just had an idea that we’d be really good together. And offers had come here and there, but either she hadn’t liked them or I hadn’t, and it hadn’t really fallen into place before this. This was something that I think we both agreed on - when Punit met her, she liked it right away, and I did too. Interestingly enough, it does kind of mirror our interaction in real life, we tend to squabble and have this verbal banter going on, and that’s what happens in the film as well. She’s not quite as romantic and bitchy as the girl in the film, and I’m not quite as much of a cynic, but we still have similar conversations.
Is she a very confident actress?
Yeah yeah, she’s very chill, very comfortable in her skin and with her character, so there’s never any sense of stress or struggle when working with her.
And personally, how did you two gel?
We gel well. I didn’t know her before we signed the film, I’d only met her couple of times, so I’ve really gotten to know her in the context of the film, and since then I think I’ve gotten to know her quite well.
She’s known to be this major style icon, isn’t she?
That she is, man! She’s very big on the style and the fashion and the designerwear, and I don’t know the first thing about these things.
Did you get ribbed for it?
Not really, it was the other way round. Punit and I would rag her about it, because we dress the same way - jeans and tee and jeans and tee and that’s about it. She’s always in these deadly numbers, so we would rag her about it.
You’re also working with Deepika Padukone in Break Ke Baad, and she’s supposed to be this very reserved, sorted, diplomatic person...
I wouldn’t really agree with that image. You need to base your opinion on your interaction with people. It’s been a tremendous joy working with Deepika. What I like about her is that she’s all about the work. When she wakes up in the morning, she comes to the sets with one goal in mind - to do her job the best she possibly can. There are no side dramas and nakhras and issues. All she wants is to do her work damned well, and these are the kind of people I respect.
So you’re saying you’ve worked with people who have dramas and nakhras?
Fortunately, I haven’t worked with people like that. Call it my good fortune or my being able to choose my projects, but I’ve been fortunate this far.
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