Aamir Khan recently recalled his nephew Imran and wondered aloud why a bright newcomer faded so fast. A slick first film, a flurry of hits, then almost nothing for close to ten years-a choice that still leaves fans scratching their heads.
Comfortable Hero, Uncomfortable Suit
According to Aamir, the root problem was simple but hard to explain: Imran never liked the suit that comes with being a star. Light on swagger and heavy on talk, the industry kept handing him those standard-issue hero roles, yet they felt fake even before he turned them down.
Craft over Cash, Always
Aamir put it this way: Imran feels the script long before the box-office number, and that instinct refuses to cut corners. Mainstream Bollywood, by contrast, tends to cookie-cut characters until the edges are sharp; that rough border never sat well with Imran.
People often say actor profiles can feel like horoscope predictions, yet something about the lines Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Delhi Belly keep surfacing. The still-relaxed grin fits, the stray sarcasm lands, and no one has to explain why the hero stunt reel suddenly looks cramped. Put the same face inside a stock script and, almost on cue, the comfort leaves the frame. Herogiri, it seems, keeps handing him a pair of shoes half a size too small.
That quarrel with polish versus pulse quietly nudged him toward the fringe and kept away the comfort-food pictures Bollywood feeds to weekend crowds. When the plot wheel starts repeating itself, even charm wears out; he learned that faster than most. More than once, insiders swore he could smell formula from half a studio lot away.
Stepping out of the spotlight
For him, it happened less with a thunderclap than with a steady dimming of the lights. As a child actor, Imran already knew the rhythm of Aamir plays in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Thirteen years later, the grown-up Imran opened the lead account with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, pocketed applause on off-beat stops like Delhi Belly and Break Ke Baad, then filed the set card after Katti Batti, saying the money chase had no place in his rearview mirror.
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A career pause that felt permanent is now flirting with the present tense.
Rumour columns hint that the man is sifting through pages again, this time looking for screenplay ink thick enough to survive multiple rewrites but thin enough that it won’t smudge the person writing it. Hollywood calls that passion project; film journals in Bombay call it a comeback. He calls it acting if the collar fits.
Aamir Khan once remarked that Imran fought less with doors and budgets than with the urge to change himself for mass applause.
Another way of seeing the same stretch of road is to say: not every performer measures success in blaring headlines; for a few, the quiet satisfaction of a hard-earned scene is plenty bright.
Writer : Pranjal Bapna