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He’s excited about the star system being
disrupted too, and the flood of experimental
content taking over our screens. “We’re getting
to a much better place. It’s far more real – that
whole concept of actors being gods? The distance
isn’t that much now. Look at Tiger, Varun,
Ranbir – they’re chill. No one’s walking around
like a star,” he enthuses, briefly mimicking the
brooding expression of the superstar generation
that preceded his. “But they’re still delivering hit
films.” He’s prone to binge-watching web series,
and apart from the usual international suspects,
he loves Delhi Crime and Made In Heaven in
particular (“I messaged everyone to congratulate
them”). “We’re dialling down the melodrama,”
he says. “I love when I see a real moment, and it
happens so often now.”
He sees himself at the cusp, having made his
debut at the turn of the millennium, a bridge
between the Khans and today’s young guns. He’s
taking his cues from Gen Z, and trying to break
out more often than he has in the past. “I’ve donesome very lonely characters, and now I want to have
fun. My YRF film with Tiger has been so enjoyable.
So I’m open to doing more of these two-hero films
and” – ensemblay, he says, temporarily forgetting
how to pronounce it, before correcting himself –
“ensembles, as well as incredible one-off characters
in smaller films. Right now, I’m looking for the
niches, as well as the big fun projects.”I
f any of those projects involve recasting
the traditional Hindi film hero, all the
better. That guy needs to grow up; Hindi
films need to stop pretending like the
only legitimate kind of love is romantic
love. “Every single Hindi film hero, until
2006, has had a victim syndrome, and
propagated this idea of obsessive love. I blame my
people for creating this mindset,” he says sheepishly.
I agree whole-heartedly, the reviews of Kabir Singh
fresh in my mind. “The Hindi film hero is a baby!” he
says emphatically. “The only reason he thinks he’s
strong is because he knows he has an audience. So
he’ll have his guitar in his hand, half a smile on his
face, a teardrop in his eye and he’ll sing to himself
because he knows he’s being watched. And anyone
who’s grown up making that guy his idol, is done for
in life.”
We’re talking about Bollywood’s stereotypical
depiction of love in the context of his relationship
with his ex-wife, Sussanne Khan, with whom he
appears to share a genuine bond. “In The Prophet,
Kahlil Gibran talks about love being a temple that’s
held up by two columns. If the columns become
one, the temple will topple. The further apart
they are, and the stronger they are, the bigger the
temple of love. So you have to respect each other’s
individuality. It’s vital to be self-sufficient in your
emotional needs. So anything that comes from the
other person is welcome, but you don’t demand it.”
Days before our meeting, Khan had put out
an Instagram post referring to Sunaina Roshan
as a “loving, warm, caring person, who is in an
unfortunate situation”, and appealed to people
to “respect a family’s tough period”. Roshan
continues: “It’s a beautiful relationship. With our
kids, with us as friends, it’s all about wisdom. One
thing is for sure: Love can’t turn into hate. If it’s
hate, it wasn’t love. The flipside of love... Is also
love. Once you understand that, you’ll keep finding
ways back into love.”“love can’t
turn into
hate. If
it’s hate, it
wasn’t love.
The flipside
of love...
is also love”