Dressed in a crisp light blue shirt paired with beige trousers, Imran Khan rises from his lunch to warmly greet visitors at his workplace. This simple, courteous gesture sets the tone for a conversation that delves deep into an eleven-year absence from the silver screen—a period he describes not just as a sabbatical but as a crucial time of personal healing and reflection.
A Journey of Healing and Bold Decisions
Over the past few years, Imran Khan has made several significant life choices, including stepping away from film projects due to a lack of compelling roles and navigating the end of a marriage. When asked about his current state of mind, he responds with a genuine smile, stating, "Getting better each day." This optimistic outlook frames an hour-long discussion that explores the motivations behind his career pause and his evolving perspective on mental well-being.
Re-evaluating Work and Purpose
The conversation begins with Imran explaining his decision to stop working. While acknowledging his mental health journey, he frames it as a creative choice. "To really truthfully address this, one has to look back at the reason that I stopped doing work in the first place," he says. He reflects on conventional motivations in the film industry: financial enrichment, social status, and brand building. "While they are valid metrics in a lot of ways, I think the weightage on those metrics started to swing too far away," he observes, suggesting a disconnect from the core joy of filmmaking.
Imran emphasizes the essence of cinema as a collaborative, imaginative endeavor. "The truth of cinema, movie making, is that what drives a bunch of people to come together and say, 'Guys, let's all put on costumes and we'll make believe.' You're doing it because it's fun." This realization prompted a profound re-evaluation around 2015, coinciding with the birth of his daughter and just before filming 'Katti Batti'. "I started to take a bit of time to step back around that time because I was, on the one hand, feeling like I wanted to spend time with my daughter and started to think why I'm doing the work that I'm doing," he shares.
Privilege and Personal Values
Imran acknowledges his privileged position, which made his decision easier. "Speaking purely for myself, from sitting in a place of very comfortable privilege. From a very young age, I was fortunate enough that I was making good money in movies. I was financially very secure, very comfortable—I still am, so I was not in a position where a paycheck was crucial or relevant," he explains. This financial stability allowed him to prioritize other aspects of life over employment driven by necessity.
He also expresses a disinterest in the trappings of stardom. "I also, by that point, had had enough of a taste of it to understand that stardom did not excite me. Whatever that ephemeral thing is, the excitement of celebrity or fame, is not interesting or intoxicating for me." This sentiment is rooted in his upbringing within a family of cinema stalwarts, including his grandfather Nasir Hussain and uncles Mansoor Khan and Aamir Khan.
Family Legacy and Authentic Craft
Imran credits his family for instilling a love for the craft itself. "I grew up surrounded by people who practiced the craft but practiced the craft for love and placed value on that. They respected the craft and practiced it with integrity," he recalls. The lessons imparted to him emphasized dedication and authenticity. "What was taught to me was that you put everything that you have into it, and you do it truthfully and you do it with authenticity. And the success—either stardom, fame, money, whatever external markers of success may be—they are never promised or guaranteed."
He concludes with a heartfelt reflection on the blessing of pursuing one's passion. "If someone is paying you to do this thing which you love, it's a blessing," he expresses, highlighting a philosophy that values intrinsic joy over external validation.
