Lap It Up- Imran-Deepika's new BKB interview!

IMRAN

Two hits (Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na and I Hate Luv Storys) and two misses (Kidnap and Luck)... What's it going to be the fifth time around?

I saw the completed film for the first time yesterday (Sunday), and I am happy with it. It's a film I am personally very glad to be part of. It started off as a great emotional ride for me because Danish (Aslam, director) became a very, very good friend while making the film. So did his wife Shruti (Seth). Deepika and I clicked very well, very early. Somewhere over the course of making the film, it became a very personal endeavour, the way it felt while we were making Jaane Tu.... Once again, I felt we were a bunch of people who were in the boat together.

But you had turned down Break Ke Baad initially…

The first time I read the script it was very different, dramatically different from what it is today. I had not liked it. This was some time in the middle of last year. I met Danish, he narrated the story, I went through the script and I didn't like it. So, I went on my way, signed I Hate Luv Storys and started shooting that. Two months into shooting, I had gone over to my friend Vir Das's place for a Christmas party, and Danish was there.

The two of us ended up chatting that night and the more we chatted, we found many common interests between us... books, music, movies. By the end of the night, I felt that I had really connected with this guy. The next morning, Danish sent me a message saying that he had been working on the script for a long time and he wanted me to read it again. So, I met him and read the script again. And this time I thought it was smart and just right.

There's a lot of curiosity about your pairing with Deepika. How was it working with her?

See, there is a tendency amongst people to write off Deepika as an actress and call her just a pretty face. I don't think that's really fair, because I have seen her go from strength to strength. Love Aaj Kal was a major breakthrough for her. And now I feel Break Ke Baad once again is a perfect platform for her. Her character on paper could have been a very unsympathetic one, because in this relationship, I am the one who is committed and she is the one who breaks it off and wants her space. So the character could have become one you did not feel for. But with the way she has played it, Deepika has made the character very likeable.

Wasn't it a concern for you that your character may be too benign compared to the girl's character?

Once again, at the script level there was the potential for my character, Abhay, to be the passive, whiney guy. I think what Danish and I were grappling with and have perhaps managed to pull off is to bring dignity to the character. Not make him a needy, clingy guy. To us, the driving point of his personality is unbridled romanticism. He is an old-fashioned romantic. He believes love is above everything else. If he loves this girl, nothing will come in his way and he will stay with her till the end. And that's the right thing to do.

Is Abhay like you then? Because Deepika in real life, and not Deepika in character, admires your commitment to one woman for the past eight years…

Well, maybe I'm not that heroic. There are lots of traits of his that are in me but there are many others that I would like to imbibe. I think there is a certain element in Abhay that appeals to the best in us. I think guys will watch him and say this is how they would like to be. I would like to love my wife, my girlfriend, my fiance like him. And I am extremely confident that women would be turning to their boyfriends and smacking them on their heads and telling them, why can't you be like this guy!

Does it bother you that you are comfortable as an actor only in the rom-com space?

You know, while Break Ke Baad appears to be a rom-com, it is actually more of a rom-dram (romantic drama). I Hate Luv Storys was more of a rom-com. It had a sitcom vibe to it. This one is a slightly more grown up, slightly more mature love story. And while there are light scenes here and there, it is more about the romance and the relationship. While watching the film yesterday I got a feeling that it was a grown up Jaane Tu.... My character Abhay is a grown up version of Jai.

Will you attempt an action film or a political film now, given your box-office status as a romantic star?

The majority of the offers that I get are in the romantic space. The way I look, the age I am... I think I fit comfortably in that bracket. For my part, I know I am interested in other stuff. I'll get bored out of my mind if I have to do the same thing over and over again. My next release is actually Delhi Belly. It's in English and is as far removed from rom-coms as it is possible to get. The audience will get a bit of a break.

Why is the film not being released? Is it true Aamir Khan the producer is not sure who the target audience for Delhi Belly is?

No, no, it's just that he got very busy with Peepli Live and then he got busy with Dhobi Ghat. He is very, very particular about releasing one film at a time. And nothing goes out without his final approval. At that time Peepli Live was his priority and he sat on that. Also, as soon as Abhinay Deo, the director, finished shooting Delhi Belly, he had to go work on his other film called Game. So Aamir figured that since Abhinay was not around, he'd do Peepli because Anusha was here and then Dhobi Ghat, because Kiran was here. And now, the work on Delhi Belly has finally started.

Deepika

Your last release Lafangey Parindey saw you play a blind girl with gusto. Disappointed that the film didn't do that well?

It is upsetting when a film doesn't do well... especially when you put in so much effort. I really wish that the film had done well. But there are no regrets from my end. I look at the brighter side and see what I have learnt from it. What experience I came away with.

Break Ke Baad looks very much like Love Aaj Kal, with the way the promos have been cut — slow-mo and split screens...

I guess people also feel that Break Ke Baad is similar to Love Aaj Kal because both are love stories and both have break-ups and both feature me. So there are bound to be comparisons. But having said that, this film talks about a break in a relationship. In Love Aaj Kal, both Saif's character Jai and my character Meera were okay with parting because both wanted to focus on their careers. It was about being practical. Whereas here it's Aaliya who wants space and compromises on her relationship because she prioritises her career.

That makes Aaliya different from Meera...

Yes, as characters they are very different. Meera, in fact, is very close to the person I am in real life. Aaliya is not like me at all. She is very driven by her career, she wants to become an actor, she wants to achieve a lot for herself, she wants to be independent. But this ambitious streak comes at the cost of her relationship.

And you do not possess any of the traits you just mentioned?

Definitely not the second part I told you (laughs), as in prioritising career over relationship. Definitely not. You know I am someone who can focus on my relationship as well as give 100 per cent to my work.

So you didn't neglect your relationship to prepare for becoming Aaliya?

See, the reason I chose to be part of a film like this was because Aaliya is so different from the kind of person I am. I thought it would be challenging. There is, of course, also the fact that Break Ke Baad as a film is very different from what I have done before.

After Karthik Calling Karthik, this is your second film with a first-time director. How was Danish Aslam to work with?

He came across as very, very confident. He was very confident about the craft of filmmaking and also confident about what he wanted. I think the reason why I was so comfortable doing this film was his confidence. If he had any first-timer nerves, it never came across to us. He handled every situation very well on the sets. Also, he was very sure about all our character sketches.

There's so much buzz about these new pairs now... you and Ranbir, Imran and Sonam, Ranbir and Sonam. What's your take on your pairing with Imran?

Going by the way people have reacted, I think everyone is liking the two of us on screen together. There has been a very positive reaction to the promos and the songs and even our chemistry. That again is something that we have not consciously worked on. It's either there or not there and in this case, it is there. I just hope that people now enjoy the film.

You are not concerned about comparisons?

I cannot comment on the other films, especially I Hate Luv Storys, because I haven't seen that film. I choose to do films that I believe in and not just because it will involve a new pair. Whether it's Love Aaj Kal or Break Ke Baad, these are films that I can identify with. As an audience member, I would like to watch these films.

What was it like working with Imran?

He is a very, very supportive co-star. He is not selfish at all, like what many actors tend to be. And today I can say that he is more of a friend than a co-star.

And you respect him because he's been committed to one relationship for the past eight years?

I mean, any woman would, na? If he's been so faithful and if he has handled his relationship so beautifully despite being in the film industry and being in the limelight... I have a lot of respect for people who manage to do that.