'Delhi Belly' was Imran's after four screen tests

Contrary to his chocolate boy image, Imran Khan is treading a different path with his uncle's production venture "Delhi Belly", an adult film with a liberal dose of comedy. Interestingly, he landed the role, initially offered to Ranbir Kapoor, after a couple of screen tests

When Ranbir opted out, the hunt for another actor started, which finally ended with the 28-year-old Imran passing muster.

"Initially almost every young actor in the industry was approached for the role and so was Ranbir. But it didn't work out with anyone. The process of getting on board was very long. Everyone gave a screen test. I myself gave about four screen tests and then I got it," Imran told IANS in an interview.

Imran hit the bull's eye when he was launched by his uncle Aamir Khan in 2008 with puppy love story "Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na" and after that he featured in candyfloss films "I Hate Luv Storys" and "Break Ke Baad". He tried to show his serious and macho side in "Kidnap" and "Luck" but not with much success at the box office.

Aamir has so far made clean family entertainers; so "Delhi Belly" is a daring step and Imran was keen to do it because the "moment I read the script, I knew I had to be a part of it".

"It was a kind of script that comes along maybe once in your lifetime. It was a film that honestly I thought no one would make in India. So I was quite surprised with the fact that someone has managed to put it together so well," he added.

Adman-turned-director Abhinay Deo decided to translate Akshat Verma's story for grown-ups on to celluloid about three friends who coincidentally land up in a trouble. The other two friends are played by Vir Das and Kunal Roy Kapoor.

In fact, Aamir warned his fans at the unveiling of the film's first look that it was not meant for children.

Supporting his uncle's stance, Imran said: "You cannot mislead the audience. You cannot play with them. We certainly did not want a situation where people were coming for the film with their kids and they would be shocked and feel cheated by us.

"We wanted to be honest. If you lie to the audience, they will always remember it and hold it against you."

If Aamir felt the content is for adults, Imran thought the language used in the adult comedy is not suitable for children.

"It's largely because of the language. The film otherwise is an action caper and so there is some amount of violence but that is nothing really more than what we see in most films. It's largely because of the language that we want the kids to stay away from the film," said the actor.

Although "Delhi Belly" is releasing with Amitabh Bachchan's "Bbuddha...Hoga Terra Baap" July 1, the actor is unperturbed by the competition from the megastar.

"My belief has always been that if a film is good, it's good and if a film is bad then even if the weekend is clear, it still won't work. So it depends on the film. Amitji naturally has a huge fan following and the promos of his film are looking very good but in no way does that mean that our film will not do well," Imran asserted.