Can Imran Khan actually act?
On the basis of his latest, seems like there is hope after all
Raja Sen
It's been a while since we critics said something nice about Imran Khan, but, to be fair, the young man has made it a decidedly difficult task. Ever since his sparkling debut Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - where he played an affable but understated college graduate and let the spunky girl take the lead - he's fallen over roles that demand more than meekness. Until now, when he's gone back to what he can do.
First, by golly, he tried. There was the phenomenally miscast Kidnap, where he kept demanding "Revenge" as if it was the latest Playstation game, and then came horrid actioner Luck, where he hammed embarrassingly hard, desperate to show he can play a man too.
Then came the insipid I Hate Luv Storys, a romcom where he, as the cocky know-it-all, looked incredibly out of place trying to shoulder the film, and Break Ke Baad, where he can be excused for sleepwalking through the role if only to keep up with his heroine.
Then suddenly, things started clicking into place. First came Delhi Belly, a film where all he had to do was keep a straight, somewhat-bemused face while the world around him collapsed into slapstick chaos. Check. Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, where he sat back and let the girl lead him through the film. Check. (Okay, half-check.) And last week, in the refreshingly-treated Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, he plays a stuck-up square gradually and helplessly drawn to a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and again, Check.
He's actually impressive in EMAET, both credible and likeable, with some moments of actual charm. And based on that and JTYJN, the two films where he's genuinely good, it's clear that in his comfort zone - playing the soft, smiling, submissive hero armed with a smile and what used to, in his uncle's day, be called 'chocolate boy' looks - he can actually perform. (This, if you've watched even three minutes of Luck, comes as a revelation.)
If, then, he is so visibly at ease being the led man as opposed to the leading man, why must he even try to step out of his cute, ribbon-wrapped box? Why can't he just do what he's good at, instead of trying vainly to master 'mature' roles in catastrophically immature films? Why do all our heroes these days have to be all-rounders anyway? Sanjeev Kumar never walked dark streets weilding a chainmail arm, Amol Palekar never peeled his shirt off while breaking into a disco jig, and Farooque Shaikh spent very little time on a Harley.
I'm not comparing young Khan to those marvellous actors, but they knew what they could do, while our current cinema very unfairly decrees that every actor be good at everything. Which is a horrid idea, as evidenced by Abhishek Bachchan walking with a swagger, or Shahid Kapoor trying to carry off a moustache.
So if there is a kind of role Imran Khan can do, make him. There are so few actors who can manage anything right, least of all from Khan's generation. He shouldn't be shoved into things outside his zone just to make him another everyman all-rounder who can't field or bowl or handle the slog overs. Let him do what he's good at till he's ready to try other things.
Speaking of which, the currently bearded Khan has just started shooting for Vishal Bhardwaj's Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, and that is happy news indeed. One hopes he gets to shine as the master director ideally gives the meatier, more showy acting bits to his heroine Anushka Sharma. Failing which Vishal should do the one thing that always seems to work with Imran: cast the exceptional Ratna Pathak Shah as his mother. Because that mom knows best.
CID
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