Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is a coming-of-age story: Imran

As one might expect from an Imran Khan-Kareena Kapoor movie, the promo for Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is slick and fast-paced, for what will most likely be a breezy, watchable film that should click with its target 28-and-under demo, and probably woo older ticket-buyers as well. This two-seated star vehicle has a respectable number of laughs from a formulaic scenario about attracted-opposites who bicker and romance their way towards a happily-ever-after ending. Drunken marriages are a common plot in movies set in Sin City and this screenplay by Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devitre pivots on the impulsive decision. “Kareena’s character while being flighty and seemingly not grounded is the more mature one. When we meet her she is jobless, has no money and as a result has been kicked out of her apartment. Her boyfriend has cheated on her and dumped her, yet she has this optimism. She has things figured out,” said Imran Khan, who has been on a jet-setting Dubai, New York, London film tour. “My character seems to be grown up, but he doesn’t even know who he is,” added Khan. In Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu straight-laced Vegas resident Rahul Kapoor (Khan) loses his job and heads out for the evening to drown his sorrows. He meets free-spirited hairstylist Riana Braganza (Kapoor) and has a night of debauchery. Come the morning after, the regretful newly marrieds are ready to file for an annulment, but over the next ten days build an unlikely friendship. [caption id=“attachment_199744” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Kareena Kapoor-Imran Khan starrer releases 10 February. UTV Motion Pictures”] [/caption] Khan talked to Uttara Choudhury in New York about how he embraces commercial Bollywood movies so that he can get box office clout to dabble in offbeat films. Khan stars next in director Vishal Bhardwaj’s rustic satire, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. Bhardwaj shot into the top ranks of serious Mumbai-based helmers with Omkara, a re-working of Othello, set amid gangsters in an Uttar Pradesh village, and his moody Macbeth adaptation, Maqbool. What drew you to the script of this romantic comedy? Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is actually not the rom-com that people are expecting. It is more of a coming-of-age story. It is about this guy who has lived his entire life following the plan his parents have cast in stone for him. They have made every life decision for him: from the major ones like school, college and work to the clothes he wears and his hairstyle. He is actually a guy who isn’t living his life but his parent’s expectations. One day he meets this girl who shows him what he has been missing out on. She opens his eyes, shows him who he can be if he wants. It is a nice coming-of-age story. Some critics have compared the move to the American film, What Happens in Vegas and the Mexican film, Recien Cazado. Funnily enough, when one of the early drafts of the screenplay was done it was around the time What Happens in Vegas was released. We saw the promo and we all kind of went “Oh, shit!” But we watched What Happens in Vegas and found it is about a couple that win a jackpot. In order to keep all the money and not share it with the other person, they pull a series of cons on each other. Our film has no money, no jackpot, no cons, nobody is forced to be together. It really is a straightforward coming-of-age story. You are certainly not a conformist. Did you adopt your mom’s surname to acknowledge the fact that she raised you as a single parent? And, does your non-conformity seep into some of your movie choices? It is certainly not something I consciously plot that I must trudge off the beaten path. I just go with what seems right to me at any given point. Things sometimes work out in a certain way. My parents were separated when I was very young and I lived with my mom in Mumbai, while dad lived on the West Coast. But the truth is that I have always had a great relationship with my dad. Really, the credit for that goes to mom and dad. In spite of the fact that they got divorced when I was two, they both worked very hard to ensure I would feel there wasn’t any animosity between them. [caption id=“attachment_199748” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Imran Khan. UTV Motion Pictures”] [/caption] I have a great relationship with my dad and he and mom are quite close. If we travel to the States we live with him, when he comes to India — which he does for every release of mine — he stays in our house with us. It has worked out for me really well. When it comes to the movies, I go with directors who catch my interest and with films that I would like to watch. Delhi Belly was so far away from anything I thought would be made in India. I read the script and it was too good to be true. I thought there is no way this will be made. Then while shooting it, I am like there is no way this will be released; the censors will never let it pass. The film released, and I am like, no way can this film be successful. I love it and my friends will love it, but nobody else is going to watch this film. It was a hit! Honestly, it was a series of surreal events. Would you like to do more of the kind of cinema championed by Abhay Deol who has steered away from traditional Bollywood fare? Abhay and I have very strongly differing opinions on this. Abhay is actually a very close friend of mine and it is a hot topic of discussion whenever we meet. Abhay is militantly anti-mainstream. He is like, “No, man you’ve got to fight the system.” I have always been about balance. When I do a film like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan which is a classic, mass commercial entertainer it gives me the kind of currency to make a film like Delhi Belly. When I do a film like Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu which is again in the more classic, commercial space, it gives me the leeway to do what I am doing next. My next film is with Vishal Bhardwaj in Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. So for me balance is important. When I do a film for a smaller audience, I then do one to keep everyone happy. It gives me box office clout, that’s currency that I can use to back slightly offbeat films. Do you feel you are held to a higher standard because of being Aamir Khan’s nephew? Of course, people are always going to measure me through him. They are always going to hold me up to that standard and find me wanting. The truth is you can’t sit and worry about this stuff. There are people who will like me for what I am and who I am, and those who just won’t. I focus on improving my work instead of fretting about things. The Imran Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer releases on 10 February 2012. Watch the film’s official trailer below.