Imran Khan (; born 13 January 1983) is an American actor and director of Indian origin, known for his work in Hindi-language films. He has received several accolades, including a Filmfare Award, and is known for his work across a range of film genres.
The nephew of actor Aamir Khan and director-producer Mansoor Khan, and the grandson of director-producer Nasir Hussain, Khan appeared as a child artist in the films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992). He subsequently pursued filmmaking and method acting at the New York Film Academy. He made his adult acting debut in 2008 with the romantic comedy Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, which was a critical and commercial success. His performance in the film won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. After the failure of his next two films, Khan was initially written off by the media, calling him a "one-film wonder". He then starred in a number of commercially successful romantic comedies such as I Hate Luv Storys (2010), Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011) and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012), and the action comedy thriller Delhi Belly (2011). This was followed by a series of box-office flops and a hiatus.
Apart from acting in films, Khan is a social activist and has written columns for the Hindustan Times. He is a supporter of PETA, having appeared in events organised for the group. He has since directed the documentary short film Mission Mars: Keep Walking India (2018).
Early life and background Imran Khan was born on 13 January 1983 in Madison, Wisconsin, United States to Anil Pal, a software engineer, and Nuzhat Khan, a psychologist. Imran's grandfather was a Bengali from Kolkata who married a British woman. Imran's father is an Anglo-Indian of Bengali Hindu descent who studied with Mansoor Khan at IIT Bombay and now works as a senior manager at Yahoo in California. Imran's mother is a Muslim of Pashtun and Arab descent from a film family, daughter of the director-producer Nasir Hussain, sister of director-producer Mansoor Khan and cousin of actor Aamir Khan. Imran Khan is an American citizen by birth.
Khan's parents divorced when he was still a toddler, after which his mother moved to Mumbai. In an interview, Khan called his step-father, Raj Zutshi, as the father figure during his growing years. He was enrolled at Bombay Scottish School. According to Khan, he developed a stammer, his grades fell and his academic career went into a "strong decline" due to his inability to cope with his new environment and radically changed family situation; he became nervous and developed facial tics. Meanwhile, his mother married again and found it convenient to send him to a boarding school, choosing Blue Mountain School in distant Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. After a period of depression in Coonoor, Khan adjusted and grew into the environment; he later described his experience there as "phenomenal," although his grades remained poor. When the principal of that school left to start his own school, Khan and several other students followed him to a Gurukul in the jungles of Ooty. The new school had no electricity, the students were required to wash their clothes in a creek and they even grew some of the food they ate. Khan later admitted that frequently changing schools made him independent but also a loner.
Khan then moved to Sunnyvale, California, where he lived with his father and attended Fremont High School. Upon graduation, he aspired to become a film director, and went to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in filmmaking at the Los Angeles branch of the New York Film Academy. Studying direction, writing and cinematography, Khan was inspired by writer Roald Dahl. After receiving his degree, he ventured into market research and advertising. He eventually returned to Mumbai and trained at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute.
Khan appeared in the films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) as a child artist, both times playing the role of a young Aamir Khan.
Acting career 2008–10: Debut and breakthrough While training at the acting institute, Khan began networking and met writer-director Abbas Tyrewala, who offered him the lead role in Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008). After producer Jhamu Sugandh experienced financial difficulties they offered the script to Aamir Khan, who agreed to finance the film. The romantic comedy received positive reviews and was a commercial success, earning worldwide. Khan's portrayal of Jai Singh Rathore (Rats)—a boy who does not believe in violence—was praised by critics. Khalid Mohammed mentioned that "the enterprise belongs to debutant Imran Khan who comes up with an intelligent and restrained performance." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN called him "the best young actor" of the time, describing his performance as "unconventional and vulnerable" and stating that it created "a lasting impression." Khan won the Best Male Debut at the 54th Filmfare Awards, sharing the award with Farhan Akhtar.
Following Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Khan starred in Sanjay Gadhvi's thriller Kidnap, produced by Ashtavinayak head honcho Dhilin Mehta. He was cast as Kabir Devendra Sharma, a kidnapper who abducts a girl to settle an old score with her father, played by Minissha Lamba and Sanjay Dutt, respectively. The actor was initially hesitant to play the part (calling it "tricky and tough") because he couldn't relate to the character; according to him, he would not have been able to do it without Gadhvi's support and backing. In preparation for his role, Khan listened to metal and rock music for a year to become aggressive. While the film was a critical failure, his performance was generally well received by critics. Gaurav Malani, in a review for The Economic Times, wrote: "Imran Khan is effective as the intelligent abductor who's always two steps ahead of his opponent. However, the natural actor could go easy on his lip movements that appear synthetic at times." Kidnap was also a commercial failure.
Khan next featured alongside an ensemble cast including Dutt, Shruti Haasan, Mithun Chakraborty and Danny Denzongpa in Soham Shah's 2009 action thriller Luck, again produced by Mehta, playing Ram Mehra—an average middle-class man in dire need of money and ready to do anything for it. In an interview he said that the stunts (and the "unusual" concept of human betting) inspired him to sign the film. He burnt his eyelashes while shooting the climax scene. Loosely inspired by the 2001 Italian film Intacto and parts of the 2005 Georgian film 13 Tzameti, it was a commercial failure and generated negative reviews from critics, as did Khan's performance. Rediff.com's Raja Sen stated that the performance lacked the charm of his earlier ones.
After the failure of Kidnap and Luck, Khan received fewer film offers, until Karan Johar approached him for the lead role in I Hate Luv Storys (2010). Written and directed by debutante Punit Malhotra, the romantic comedy saw him portray Jay "J" Dhingra, a young casanova who does not believe in the concept of love and romance. Khan's performance was generally well received. Komal Nahta wrote, "Imran Khan is endearing and does well for a good part of the film. But he does need to improve in emotional scenes. [He] is free and lovable in the light scenes. I Hate Luv Storys was a domestic and international box-office success, earning . Khan expressed his gratitude that Johar gave him the opportunity. His next appearance was in Danish Aslam's coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama Break Ke Baad. An underwhelming success, the film (and his performance) received mixed reviews; while Namrata Joshi of Outlook labelled his performance "earnest", Anupama Chopra said that "Imran is saddled with a bland, supporting role".
2011–12: Commercial success
In 2011, Khan earned positive reviews for his role in Abhinay Deo's English language action comedy Delhi Belly. He was cast as Tashi, a journalist caught up in a hunt for diamonds—smuggled for a crime boss in Delhi—he and his roommates (Kunaal Roy Kapur and Vir Das) have mistakenly taken. The film opened to critical acclaim and was a commercial success, with a domestic revenue of over . A review in Mid-Day described his performance as "refreshingly good" and Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India called it his best work to date. Khan said "It is the kind of film that I have always wanted to do, and it is very different to what has been done before in Hindi cinema." Later that year, Khan acted in Ali Abbas Zafar's romantic comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, and was a box-office success, with domestic earnings of over . Khan played Kush Agnihotri, a man who falls in love with his brother's fiancee, played by Ali Zafar and Katrina Kaif, respectively. His performance was praised by critics; Sify'''s Sonia Chopra referred to him as "instantly likeable".
For his next feature film, Khan starred as Rahul Kapoor, an uptight architect, in Shakun Batra's directorial debut Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012) with Kareena Kapoor. The romantic comedy-drama, set in Las Vegas, is the story of two strangers who get married one night after they get drunk. Khan described his character as "a guy who lives his life according to his parents' wishes." Critical reaction to the film and his performance was positive, with Rajeev Masand writing that "Imran Khan slips comfortably into his role". Karan Anshuman of Mumbai Mirror opined, "Imran Khan is superbly cast and he doesn't let down. His body language slackens in progression as the script demands and he is absolutely spot on with his comic timing." Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu was a modest commercial success, earning a total of in India and abroad.
2013–2015: Setbacks
In 2013, Khan appeared in three films, the first being Vishal Bhardwaj's Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, a political satire set in the rustic surroundings of a village in Haryana. Co-starring with Pankaj Kapur, Anushka Sharma and Shabana Azmi, Khan played Hukum Singh Matru, an educated community activist and Kapur's right-hand man. To prepare for the role, he lived in Delhi for three months and learned to speak Haryanvi from theatre group Act One. The film (and his performance) generated mixed reviews from critics, and its eventual box-office profit was poor. Reuters Shilpa Jamkhandikar wrote, "Imran Khan goes red in the face trying to muster up a Haryanvi accent and act tough. You can actually see the effort in his acting and that's why it jars all the more." Subhash K Jha described it as a good effort, at best. Khan also sang for the film's soundtrack in "Chaar Dina Ki".
Khan's next film role was alongside Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha in Milan Luthria's period romantic-drama Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara! (a sequel to 2010's Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai). Critical reaction to the film and Khan's portrayal of a gangster was mixed. While Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express found him unconvincing, NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee wrote, "He provides evidence that he can handle a wider range of roles than he is usually allowed to play." Also that year, he starred opposite Kareena Kapoor in Punit Malhotra's romantic comedy Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, a critical and commercial failure. He also appeared in a satirical comedy YouTube video "Imran Khan Answers Questions About Being Gay & Sec 377" for AIB, to extend his support for the LGBTQ community.
In 2015, Khan acted in Nikhil Advani's romantic drama Katti Batti, opposite Kangana Ranaut. The film opened to mixed reviews and was another box-office failure for him; it has been his last release featuring him in a lead role to date. He later made his directorial debut with the documentary short film Mission Mars: Keep Walking India (2018).
Other works