In the late 2000s, the two leading actors who were often pitted against each other (although they were also expected to rise in their own ways) were Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan. Ranbir had once prophesied about how its contemporary and larger competition at the time, ImranHe would eventually leave the industry at the peak of his career, and that’s exactly what happened. In 2015, Imran quit acting and took a long sabbatical. After years of speculation, Imran recently admitted that there was friction between the two actors, which he believes was largely created by the industry and the media.
Scope of any relationship was always limited with Ranbir: Imran
Both are kids from Bandra, Imran admitted that he knows Ranbir on a personal level and they are only months apart in age. However, even though their circles overlapped, she shared that she met Ranbir only occasionally when he was a young actor. “The thing is, there’s a certain amount of personal interactions that happen and a lot more external narrative construction that you’re not really involved in or having a hand in,” he told News 18.
Imran admitted that the media narrative that was built around them (pitting them against each other) affected their relationship. The actors often clashed with each other on Karan Johar’s show, which probably increased the distance between them. “You hear something, you read something. Because of the way it played out even within the media narratives, maybe it hindered the ability to develop any kind of truthful relationship,” he said. He added: “Therefore, the scope of any relationship was always limited.”
Although the two actors never collaborated on any film, they did many events together, most notably the annual film awards where the two were chosen as hosts after Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan. “I guess it’s a strange, not-so-considered facet of the business that male actors tend to know each other less. You work with actresses,” she said.
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‘I haven’t seen Animal’
Imran also commented on Ranbir’s growth as an actor and admitted that while he watched all of Ranbir’s films when he himself was an active lead star, he stopped keeping up after he left the industry. This includes Ranbir’s most recent blockbuster, Animal. “I haven’t seen Animal… It’s hard to talk about its growth in recent years.”
However, this did not stop Imran from praising Ranbir as he called him a “tremendously strong actor” and “a thinking cinematic person”. “He has a strong instinct and thinks deeply about the craft of acting and the language of cinema. And that is reflected in his work,” he said.
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Imran Khan debuted with Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na in 2008, while Ranbir Kapoor debuted a year earlier in 2007 with Saawariya. While the latter failed at the box office, Imran’s first film became a huge hit. In the following years, Imran starred in projects such as Luck, Kidnap, Delhi Belly and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, before bidding farewell to the industry in 2015 after Katti Batti. He returned this year with a cameo in Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos.
Ranbir, on the other hand, became one of the most sought-after actors in the industry, with films like Barfi!, Tamasha, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and several others. His last release, Animal, was a huge box office success. He is currently awaiting the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love and War and Nitesh Tiwari’s magnum opus Ramayana.