Imran Khan finally opens up about his rift with Ranbir Kapoor: 'We never really knew each other….'

Bollywood's hopes were riding high on two young talents, Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan, who burst onto the scene in the late 2000s. While Ranbir's debut film Sawaariya didn't quite set the box office ablaze, he went on to achieve superstahood. Imran, on the other hand, got off to a flying start with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, but his career trajectory took a dramatic turn when he opted out of the industry in 2015. As the industry's golden boys, they attracted their fair share of attention, including whispers of a possible rift between them.

Imran addresses rift between him and Ranbir

In an interview with News18, Imran addressed the rumors of a rift between him and Ranbir. "We're literally just a few months apart in age. We never really knew each other at a personal level. We only got to meet when we both were young actors, who had newly got into the business. The thing is, there's a certain amount of personal interactions that happen and much more of external narrative building that you aren't really involved in or have a hand in."

Imran admitted that these narratives did affect their relationship. "You hear something, you read something. Because of the way that played out even within the media narratives, it perhaps hindered the ability of developing any kind of a truthful relationship. The fact is that Ranbir and I would really get to interact socially, within an industry context. So, the scope of any relationship was always limited," the actor remarks.

Imran reflects on the dynamics between actors in the industry

"Having said that, our friend circle certainly overlapped. We both were Bandra kids, so we knew a lot of common people," he adds. However, Imran thinks there was another reason for it. "I guess it's a weird and not so much considered facet of the business that male actors tend to meet each other less. You work with actresses. You meet six-seven different actresses and you spend six-eight months making films with them. So, you get to know them a little bit," he explains.

Imran reflected on the dynamics between actors, noting the infrequent collaborations within the industry. He stated, "It's less common for actors to do films together. As a factor of that, you tend to have less of an opportunity to get to know actors within the same age bracket." When asked about Ranbir's evolution, Imran admitted his recent detachment from Indian cinema, saying, "In the last couple of years, I've fairly been disconnected from Indian cinema. I haven't watched Animal... It's hard to talk about his growth in the last few years. But while I was actively working, I watched all of his films."

Imran praises Ranbir

Despite this distance, Imran expressed high regard for Ranbir. "I've always considered him to be a tremendously strong actor. My understanding of him basis the conversations that we had is that he's a thinking cinema person. He has a strong instinct and thinks deeply about the craft of acting and the language of cinema. And that reflects in his work," said the actor.