While there is a common misconception that Imran Khan quit Bollywood because of Katti Batti, the actor believes it was another time when he felt disconnected from the industry. It was not about the movies that he did but because of the business aspect of cinema. Imran has left a mark today but back when he was working in movies, his films were almost constantly declared a Box Office flop. This is what affected the actor and it is what he mainly regrets considering.

Focus on Box Office affected his mindset

While talking to Film Companion, Imran spoke about an eco-system (PR, marketing) around an actor and how they look at things from the monetary perspective. “That ultimately starts to become the only matrix by which we judge anything. Existing into that environment, I started to buy into it more and more,” the actor explained. He then went on to say that it is not why he was interested in films, even though he grew up enamoured with cinema. The actor thought back then that if there isn’t a certain amount of money he makes at the Box Office, there’s no further value to it (being an actor). “It is not a healthy way to approach cinema and ultimately it took the joy of cinema out of me,” Imran Khan shared.

Was Katti Batti the reason for him quitting?

The actor did mention that Katti Batti failure played a part in him stepping back from acting but in the moment, he was not looking at it that way. “I never said, on this day, I’m done,” he said, talking about how a month became three months, then turning into a year and eventually two years, when he decided he wanted to step down from acting. “I won’t do this because my heart’s not in it,” Imran thought to himself.

Realizes now that Box Office doesn’t determine a film

Nonetheless, Imran has been re-looking at the movies he has worked in and how people reach out to him years later. The former actor cited the example of how a fan reached out to him to talk about Break Ke Baad, which released 15 years back. That is when Imran was reminded about why he took up films in the first place. “You don’t measure it by weekend Box Office but emotional resonance over time,” he said.

The actor further shared how negative feedback on Twitter affected his performance in the movie he was working in. That was the very reason he got out of the platform within a year.

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