Ranbir has his stardom, I have mine: Imran Khan 15 Mar 2011 | 521 Views | admin
The rivalry between young actors Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor could put the most longstanding wars in Bollywood to shame. If Imran was in the news for his recent international campaign with a cola brand, Ranbir was in the news for reportedly recommending the former for all the projects he had rejected. Not surprisingly, news soon broke out that a telecom brand preferred to sign Imran as their brand ambassador because of his reliability factor by marrying long-term girlfriend Avantika Malik, instead of Ranbir, who is usually talked about for his reported flings with Katrina Kaif and Nargis Fakhri.
Imran says, “Aamir and Shah Rukh (Khan) have been working for over 20 years and drama about them still continues to be written about. Although there’s never been any friction, we will never be able to lead our lives free of controversy. Ranbir has his stardom and I have mine. So why should there be any sense of rivalry?”
Imran chooses to remain unperturbed while reacting to reports that Ranbir has been recommending his name for films and brand endorsements, which he turns down. Pointing out that their endorsements are quite different, Imran says, “Ranbir’s been endorsing Pepsi since Saawariya, so the question of Coca-Cola approaching him doesn’t make any sense. He’s the ambassador for John Players, while I endorse Levi’s.”
He adds that if someone starts reacting and getting upset about rumours, there will be no end to it. “Then you spend a lot of time getting angry and might end up with ulcers or something.”
When asked about his call to Ranbir last year when Avantika Malik had reportedly made unkind remarks after seeing the former’s Raajneeti, Imran recalls, “I was in Mauritius when I heard about the report. I was rattled and called Ranbir to clarify that it was false news. He said that he didn’t buy such stories and appreciated the fact that I had called him.”
On being asked if Ranbir called him after the recent report of passing off all his rejected offers to Imran, the actor replies, “He didn’t. It wasn’t such a dramatic story. If he had really done it then it would be something worth getting upset about.”
However, a friend of the actor reveals, “Imran felt that if Ranbir had called to clarify things, then it would have meant a significant step in offering the hand of friendship.”
Summing up his equation with Ranbir, Imran says, “We’re friendly but I haven’t known him for long enough to be friends with him. He’s a tremendously easy and fun guy to hang out with. We never had any issues per se and things haven’t come to a point where either of us has felt awkward when we meet.”
"As actors, we all want our audience to like our work; so even if you ask me this question after five years I will say yes I want to work harder and harder to be loved by my audience."
~ Imran Khan
