Imran Khan’s no longer the chocolatey boy of Jaane Tu… He’s grown a beard that he’s not comfortable with (he keeps scratching it) and explains simply, “For Delhi Belly.”Aamir Khan’s nephew appears nervous.Which is strange, he wasn’t nervous when his first film was going to release.“This time I’m less sure of myself because I don’t know if I’ve been able to do a good enough job,” replies Imran.He also fears the audience’s reaction because he is playing a character with grey shades.A big risk, to which he says, “At the end of the day, if the audience don’t like it, then there’s no point me doing anything.”

But Imran wasn’t too pleased with his work in Jaane Tu… “All I can see are the flaws in Jaane Tu…, places where I messed up or didn’t deliver a line properly. I can’t enjoy the film at all. With Kidnap, I’ve done the best I could,” he says. So what, Maamu sambhaal lega, na? Imran counters, “The number of star kids who’ve been trashed, outnumber the number of star kids who’re successful. Some of the top people like Amitabh and Shah Rukh Khan are outsiders.” Is it true that every script he gets goes through Aamir first? Imran answers, “I’ve finished about 90 per cent of Luck and Maamu doesn’t even know what the story is.” Point taken. But, yes, Imran does value the senior Khan’s advice. “He has his own career to mind, and Maamu’s always believed that you have to make your own mistakes and learn from them and your successes should be your own.

If all my successes are due to him, then I won’t enjoy them.” From Maamu, Imran switched over to Sanjay Dutt, with whom he shares several frames in his next film. “Baba was damn chilled out! He was protective of me while we were shooting.” There was a scene when Imran had to jump from the 20th floor of a building onto a moving elevator. Imran says, “Baba spotted my stunt double on the ground. He asked the producer, ‘If the double’s here then who’s up there?’ When he learned it was me, he fired the production guys. Then he called up Maamu and told him to stop me from doing dangerous stuff. By that time, I had finished the scene!”