By Abhishek Mande

The actor clears the air about Aamir's appearance at the Indiana Jones premiere

It has been over an hour since one is waiting for an interview with newcomer Imran Khan. There's a queue. A Bollywood news portal has already set up its camera and is waiting for the star to get off his phone. Imran Khan is strolling casually nearby. One gets the impression he's talking to a friend. But sooner than later one realises that it's another interview he is busy with.

Everybody wants Imran Khan

Three camera crews are waiting in the living room of Nasir Hussain's Mumbai residence. Two other print journalists have already made their way despite the heavy rains. With the clock ticking away somewhere in the background and the rain pattering away, the mood is something like a doctor's waiting room.

The restlessness is evident as the waiting journalists get off their seats at regular intervals. Yet no one's complaining. Everyone wants to meet Imran Khan. The lad who is already fielding questions about the impending 'clash' between him and Harman Baweja (Love Story 2050 releases on the same day as Jaane Tu...) is however holding fort quite well.

There's never a question for which he doesn't have an answer prepared. By the end of the interview, one has already begun to feel a sense of boredom creeping in. Yet Imran Khan keeps answering same questions repeatedly with the panache of a professional.

"About 200!" he says in a response to one's question about the number of times he has done this already.

This conversation of course happens much later in the interview. Barely is one introduced as a buzz18.com correspondent when Imran exclaims, "You guys suggested that Aamir was trying to sabotage the music launch of Love Story 2050!"

It takes some time to recover from the allegation after which he is subtly reminded that every other publication worth its salt had also reported about it.

"We were invited to the premiere of Indiana Jones because it was in PVR (Jaane Tu… is a PVR release). We didn't even know that there was a Love Story music launch on that day. Aamir was just one of the celebrities." he says.

One tries to tell him that it shouldn't be surprising if the media is scrutinising the otherwise reclusive star's every move. "Of course! Every appearance is for publicity," Imran points out, "But it doesn't mean that he is sabotaging another event."

Aamir's worthy student

All this happens much before the interview has started. There's some amount of discomfiture. But thankfully the nasty details are out of the way.

After a few attempts at irreverent questions, one gives up. ("What's the colour of my heroine's eyes? Er... no idea! Dark brown perhaps. Why do you ask?" he says.) Ok so there's no way to get this guy to be irreverent. Wrong move.

It doesn't take long to realise how much Imran resembles Aamir Khan. And it's not just the physical appearance. Imran Khan's entire body language seems to convey so much of his lineage it isn't surprising that he's started using Khan as his last name instead of Pal, his father's family name.

"It has never been overwhelming," Imran says referring to the Khan clan he belongs to.

Just like Aamir, Imran keeps his responses as politically correct as possible. "Every journalist has his different perspective. So it (giving 200 interviews) doesn't get repetitive," he insists.

Then, taking the conversation about the sabotage further he says, "No one has spoken to me about the sabotage, though everyone's asking about the clash."

What about it?

"That's the point. There isn't any," he repeats what he's obviously said umpteen number of times before, "Because there is enough business for both films and an English movie (Hancock).

We have already skipped the routine questions about the film and his role in it. The press release tells one that it's a romantic comedy about a bunch of college kids who are trying to figure out their lives and loves. And Imran plays the lead, a soft-spoken boy-next-door who is brought up by a freethinking individualistic mother.

In another interview, Imaran has mentioned how he shares a similar relationship with his mother too. He tells us about his childhood, which he spent in the forests of South India. "We lived in forests, literally! And studied under kerosene lamps. So even though I was born with a silver spoon I have lived a life, which has taught me not to take any of my comforts for granted," he says.

Why not me?

One cannot help but believe what he says. There's a certain amount of honesty that even the hardcore cynics cannot deny. Yes, he comes from an influential family that has backed him up. But what impresses is his acknowledgement of the fact. He says candidly, "An industrialist's son takes over the family business (so why not me?)."

A week from now even as another filmy family is readying to launch their son into Bollywood, this scion too is all set to take his first step. Having already shot his second film Kidnap, Imran is clearly in no mood to be bogged down. "Genelia is working with Harman. I am told he is a really nice guy," he says concluding, "I have no ill feeling about him. If both the films are good, they can both do well at the box office."