By SHARIN WADER

Khan, Aamir Khan’s bhanja and the new entrant in Bollywood’s ‘Khan’daan, has created a stir in the industry even before the release of his first film Jaane Tu... Ya Jane Na.

Every Aamir fan wants to see if the nephew will deliver like his Mamujaan. “People have set high standards, but I’m not thinking about it cos’ if I do, I’ll get paralysed,” admits the light-eyed, 25-year-old debutant.

Imran’s not accustomed to seeing himself on screen. “When I see my promos or read about myself, it seems like I’m seeing someone else. My girlfriend Avantika keeps clippings of my articles but gets upset if anyone writes negative stuff about me. I have to keep telling her, ‘Chill baby, it’s ok,’” laughs the boy.

Imran, who plays a collegian in Jaane Tu... Ya Jane Na, has changed around six schools. “I was in Bombay Scottish till the fourth standard. I used to get beaten up by my teachers for no reason at all. That instilled fear in me and I started stammering. Later I went to a boarding school in Ooty. I did my high school in the States and film school in LA. But I trained to be a director, not an actor,” says Imran.

There were reports that he was so nervous when his promos were to hit television, that Uncle Aamir called him to Hyderabad where he was shooting for Ghajini to help him destress. “Oh no, that’s not the reason why I was in Hyderabad. I was supposed to do my photo shoot and I’m not very good with still photography. I didn’t want to look foolish so AK (that’s Mamu Aamir) called photographer Avinash Gowarikar and me to Hyderabad and that’s where my pictures were shot,” clarifies Imran. But does he feel stress? “The best part is I’m not stressed at all. AK was telling me that during his QSQT days, he too wasn’t stressed,” adds Imran about the similarity between the mamu and bhanja.

Besides enjoying every aspect of filmmaking, Imran also claims to be a ‘psycho reader’. “At a time, I will have around 20-30 books piled up by my bed. I don’t like partying as I’m a very reserved person, but I like to go to friends’ homes and chill with them. My friends are mostly assistant directors and actors like Minisha Lamba and Kunal Kapoor, and there’s Shruti Hasan who is more like my sister. I’m doing Soham’s Luck with her,” says Imran who also has Sanjay Ghadvi’s Kidnap lined up.
So where does that leave direction? “It has taken a back seat, and besides I feel I’m too immature to direct a film now,” says the young Khan.