Imran Khan Relieved After His Spy Thriller Comeback Is Shelved: 'I Don't Want To Play A Character That...'

Imran Khan has been away from the big screen for almost a decade, yet his dedicated fan base eagerly anticipates his return. While there were discussions about Imran’s possible comeback in an Abbas Tyrewala spy thriller, he recently clarified in an interview that the project is unlikely to move forward. Despite his initial excitement, Imran expressed relief that the project didn’t come to fruition, citing discomfort with the current trend of glorifying and sexualizing violence in cinema.

During his conversation with Film Companion, Imran shared insights into why his comeback project was put on hold. He mentioned, “We started talking about it in July of last year. Abbas Tyrewala called me up out of the blue. I was in San Francisco for a holiday and he told me that he has written this amazing thing. It was a cool story, and he asked me to do it together. The project was in early development at Hotstar. This was before the acquisition. The latter part of last year Hotstar got amalgamated with Jio and somewhere within all of this that project felt wayside.”

Expressing his views on the current state of cinema, Imran Khan stated, “All things said and done…that thing fell into limbo and it doesn’t look like it will be resurrected. I am glad that that thing ended up not coming together because I don’t want to play a character who solves problems with a gun.”

He further added, “I have sense where cinema is going globally. There is a glamorisation, fetishization and sexualisation of violence that makes me uncomfortable. I have grown watching action cinema. My heroes were Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Indiana Jones. But there is a way to portray violence and this is not a morality thing. Violence and action are a language within cinema but when we communicate it and portray it in films, there is a way to do it where you feel the weight of it.”

Imran Khan referred to a scene from the movie Joker, featuring Joaquin Phoenix, describing it as ‘brutal and horrifying’, noting how it profoundly affected him. He remarked, “We have started making films where heroes will just go in and go boom and boom. They make it cool and sexy and that makes me uncomfortable.”

Last year, Imran mentioned that he is reading scripts. Instant Bollywood quoted Imran Khan saying, “I don’t have a clear answer, but I am reading scripts and having creative conversation with filmmakers. So, hopefully, next year.”

Recently, news came in that Imran Khan and Imran Khan and his rumored girlfriend Lekha Washington have rented an apartment together from filmmaker Karan Johar.