Imran Khan Recalls Producers Not Being Enthusiastic Casting Him In Kidnap As He Didn't Have 'Any Star Value'

Imran Khan recently revisited his 2008 film Kidnap where he shared the screen space with Sanjay Dutt for the same. The actor also revealed that the producers were not keen on casting him for the film as he didn’t have any star value as his debut film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na had not released.

Taking a trip down the memory lane, the actor recalled his shooting experience. Revealing that he had almost wrapped shooting for Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, when he got an audition to play the antagonist in Kidnap. Calling it a ‘huge’ opportunity, he wrote, “I was close to wrapping the shoot of Jaane Tu… when I was called in to audition for Kidnap. Director Sanjay Gadhvi was hot off the first two Dhoom movies, and I had a shot at playing antagonist to @duttsanjay so it was a huge opportunity! A number of young actors were up for the parts of Kabir and Sonia; I did screen tests with a couple of actresses before @minissha_lamba was locked, and she was tested opposite a few other actors.”

He further added, “Bear in mind that since Jaane Tu had not yet released, I was not considered to have any star value, so the producers were not very enthusiastic about casting me… I got the part thanks to dual support from the director, and writer Shibani Bathija, for which I am grateful to this day.”

He added that he never had the film’s complete script as he ‘was not important enough’. “Still, I was not important enough to be given a complete script; I was only allowed to read the scenes I was in, and was only given printouts of my scenes a day or two before they were scheduled to be shot. The Vikrant Raina storyline was a complete mystery to me until the release of the film! It was a very different working style than I had experienced, and I often felt intimidated by the scale of the production,” he shared.

On a closing note he shared, “It was 2007, and I was still using a Nokia, so I simply don’t have a lot of pictures from the shoot (@minissha_lamba any chance you’ve still got that picture you took? Post it if you find it!)… but thankfully I found one with Minissha! She was lovely to work with; intelligent, articulate, and self-assured. Here’s us in Mauritius, enjoying the Awesome Mausam!.”

Imran’s fans are eager with anticipation for the actor to announce his comeback film. Despite early commercial success, Imran faced setbacks when his films Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola and Katti Batti did not perform well. He did make a comeback as a director in 2018, helming the short film Mission Mars: Keep Walking India, but did not pursue a career in direction thereafter.