Imran Khan on not doing Chennai Express: "Was dropped out of ‘Delhi 6’, wasn't 'in sync’ with Rohit Shetty for it"

The actor shared that back in 2006-2007, he had auditioned for “Delhi 6”, before his debut in “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa”.

Actor Imran Khan, who recently returned to acting after a 10-year sabbatical, said early in his career, top filmmakers like Rohit Shetty and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra had approached him for films like “Chennai Express” and “Delhi 6”, but things didn’t align as he had hoped.

The actor, who returned to movies with a cameo in ”Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos”, said director Vikramaditya Motwane too had approached him for “Bhavesh Joshi”, but the role eventually went to Harshvardhan Kapoor, son of Anil Kapoor.

The actor shared that back in 2006-2007, he had auditioned for “Delhi 6”, before his debut in “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa”. Despite his enthusiasm, he said the makers preferred a more established actor over him.

“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.

The 43-year-old actor made his acting debut in 2008 with “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa” and went on to feature in romantic-comedy movies like “I Hate Luv Storys”, “Break Ke Baad”, “Mere Brother Ki Dulhan”, “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu”, and action-comedy “Delhi Belly”, among others.

Mehra’s “Delhi 6”, which featured Abhishek Bachchan in the lead, revolved around an American boy of Indian origin, who comes to India for his maiden visit to escort his ailing grandmother but gets embroiled in communal tensions. The 2009 film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office failure.

Imran recalled that when he first heard the story of “Delhi 6”, he was quite excited and resonated with certain aspects of the lead character.

“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,” he said.

“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.

Speaking of other missed opportunities, Imran said he was being attached to the 2018 film, “Bhavesh Joshi”.

Initially, he was on board for a year, but was replaced after the poor reception of his 2013 film “Gori Tere Pyaar Mein”, co-starring Kareena Kapoor Khan.

“…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 recalled that Shetty had approached him for his 2013 movie, “Chennai Express”, shortly after the release of “Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na”, but after the initial narration, the director felt he wasn’t the right fit for the role. The movie starred Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone.

“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.”

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“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.

The actor said one of the directors he is keen to collaborate with is Neeraj Ghaywan, whose work he admires.

“Neeraj Ghaywan’s film ‘Homebound’ was lovely. His earlier film with Vicky (Kaushal), ‘Masaan’ was good. I find heart and authenticity in his cinema. You’ve to arrive at a place of creative confluence where as an actor and director you are wanting to explore certain themes or emotions together. We know each other socially, we have some friends in common, maybe I should (reach out to him),” the actor said.