Ranbir enjoys life, wine, women…there’s nothing bad: Imran khan

Imran Khan’s unexpected ‘naughty boy’ image on-screen is making waves all over. In an interview, he talks about his lover boy roles, brand wars Ranbir Kapoor and popularity polls.

After Shahrukh and Salman, you’re the hot new lover boy…

I think I’m cast in romantic roles partly because of the way I look, and my age. There’s certain age where you fit into those roles, you have to grow up a bit before you can do more serious roles.

So you wouldn’t try out like Ranbir did in Rajneeti? In fact, people felt it was too early for him to play that role?

The first major experiment that I’ve done is Delhi Belly, which is not a romantic film. Apart from that, most of my work is in the classic commercial Bollywood style. I don’t think Ranbir made a wrong choice because Rocket Singh was his third film and he was excellent in it. The film didn’t do well commercially but got a lot of critical acclaim. I see absolutely nothing wrong in pursuing such roles if it suits you.

Your brand combat with Ranbir made headlines…

We have our brand loyalties, and we endorse rival soft drinks, but that war had started even before we were born. He does more endorsements than me, so I don’t think we intrude in each other’s space. Even in terms of films, we have our own space, and there’s a certain level of respect we have for each other. I know he’s never said anything wrong about me, and whenever there’s a doubt we talk man-to-man.

Marriage has apparently not affected your popularity?

The top stars in our country are married and there’s never been any debate about their popularity. In fact, I believe it adds to your popularity because people see you as loyal. And I wouldn’t like to change my real life image, because that’s who I am. I’ve always been open about who I am, whether it’s my relationship with Avantika or my friendships. I think people see me as a nice, romantic and dependable guy. They don’t see me as a casanova; hence, I get offered a certain kind of roles and brands.

You think Ranbir’s single-ready-to-mingle status gets him into media trouble?

That’s true, but the fact is that Ranbir is a young star and he’s in a position where he can enjoy life. He’s not attached to any one person, and if he enjoys life, wine, women…there’s nothing bad about it. Ranbir’s not doing anything illegal, but if media wants to write about it, you can’t stop them. Its unfair to say what he’s doing is wrong.

Lately, Salman said that after the Khans, Ranbir and you are the next superstars…

“It’s scary because today the three big Khans are still ruling Bollywood, and younger stars like us are trying to catch up with them. Sometime soon, the industry will turn to us and we have to take it forward. It’s a big responsibility.”

However Aamir still rates Ranbir as a better actor…

“He had a headstart, yaar. He started one year before me…”