By Joginder Tuteja

I Hate Luv Storys has taken a fantastic opening at the box office, something which the entire team including Karan Johar, Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor were quite sure of once they wrapped up the film. Now that youth is patronising the film in a big way and spreading good word of mouth, Imran is expectedly pleased. More so because after the non-performance of Kidnap and Luck, it was Karan Johar who stood besides him.

"Karan offered I Hate Luv Storys not after the release of Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na but once Kidnap and Luck came and went. Now that states a lot", says Imran who took things in stride even as the going wasn't too good after the twin debacle, "Obviously he must have felt that I had something to offer. Besides that, I feel people within the industry are smart enough to know that one or two films flops don't mean anything in one's career."

But industry as well trade has its own way of perceiving things. While after Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Naa, he was marked as the next big thing, he was brought down with a thud after Kidnap and Luck.

"Well, all I can say is that those who feel that a couple of flops can impact an actor in a big way obviously don't have much understanding about the business", he says with a straight face, "I have had two films that have not done well but then this is nothing in one's career. Aaj meri picture hit hai, kal ek flop hogi aur uske baad phir ek hit hogi. I know that in my life there would be 100 hits and 200 flops."

However, one wonders though that over the year gone by, when he was billed as someone who couldn't quite repeat the magic of JTYJN, did he actually get impacted or stayed on to be cool because he had started working on newer films?

"Actually I had not signed anything new till the release of Luck", informs Imran, "IHLS was offered to me only around August/September last year. I don't really have much to say on what took it so long for me to sign a new film. I don't know and I have no explanations. However, the positive part was that I managed to spend enough time in the industry and saw my family more closely. I got a firm understanding that everyone has ups and downs."

Continuing in the same vein, he adds, "We have seen that any and every actor in the industry has had flops as well as hits. Of course you do feel bad when your film fails. You start introspecting on what is it that you have done wrong. All I could think of then was that audience has a certain expectation from me and I can't let them down."

"I want my audience to be happy. For me it is a very relevant thing that based on my name someone is buying a ticket. If they don't like a film then they have the right to say that I have cheated them", elaborates Imran, "However, this is not something that I would like. I have always felt very edgy about this. I know that I have to satisfy my audience and make them happy."

Well, looking at the kind of response that IHLS is currently fetching, Imran can be rest assured that audience is on his side this time around.