From the song Pappu Can’t Dance Sala to Chori Chichori Chede Chingam Chabakay from his first film Jaane Tu … Ya Jaane Na to the latest Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, chocolate boy Imran Khan is very happy with his journey in the Indian film industry.

“My five years have been great in the industry. Ups and downs are part of the profession. But generally this is best time for our Hindi film industry where youngsters are willing to experiment with stories, filming, acting, music, sound, marketing and just about everything else. These are very exciting times,” says the 30-year-old Imran Khan.

Of course, there have been a few bumps in the road as well. Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Doobara (OUTIMD) and Gori Tere Pyar Mein flopped pretty badly, but the young Khan takes it in his stride. “There are so many parameters involved in filmmaking and actors actually don’t have much say. We just follow the directors.” Luckily, Imran claims the flops haven’t badly impacted his career either. “Actually, the industry guys know about this [the film dynamics] and so the offers of films don’t freeze with a few flops. The work gets noticed,” he says.

His fan base hasn’t frozen either. At a time when he was waiting excitedly for his first child with wife Avantika in June, Imran’s boyish smile, impeccable manners and casually stylish way of dressing up has helped him to be ranked 40th on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list. And last year he was on the list of the 11 Best Dressed Men in Bollywood. With such a soaring popularity graph, Imran doesn’t let the failures get him down.

“No, I won’t say I’m not affected, but box office success isn’t the only criteria to measure the talent or the popularity of an actor. This year has been a time for box-office collections to reach the Rs100 crore and Rs200 crore marks. That is really great news and a tremendous boost to our industry.” Of course, he’s also careful to give a nod to the non-blockbusters: “This also doesn’t mean films which earn less aren’t good or less popular. In fact, quality and content-wise, small earners may be better films.”

A strong believer in the filmmaking maxim that ‘content is king’, Imran says he would love to select films with ‘different’ story lines. “I enjoyed doing Delhi Belly, Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola and of course OUATIMD. They offered me the scope to act differently from my usual rom-coms.” Having said that, he claims that he still “enjoys doing comedy films more than romantic flicks.”

Here, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan comes to mind, where he shared the limelight with Pakistani actor/singer Ali Zafar and Katrina Kaif. Besides the film’s hit soundtrack, its box office success raked in moolah and made him a bankable name as well as boosting Ali Zafar’s to the top ranks.

If we keep Bollywood history in mind, Imran will certainly get to try his luck at a wider range of roles. Coincidentally, even his maternal uncle Aamir Khan started his career as a ‘chocolate hero’ starring in quite a few rom-coms. It was only later in his career that Aamir started experimenting with unique stories and characters. That seems to be the unwritten rule in the Hindi film industry — don’t take too many risks in the beginning of your career. Stick to the time-tested story line of romance!

“Maybe yes, all us newcomers do begin our career with a romantic story line. This aspect hasn’t changed at all in this century old industry. But what has changed is the attitude of youngsters to the profession. I think we are more chilled out than our seniors. There are no burn outs and we try to test new horizons in our career,” says Imran.

His popularity can also be gauged by the fact that he is getting assignments to endorse several products including Bru coffee, Lux soap, soft drinks such as Maaza and Coca Cola, etc.

Talking about his experiences while shooting for endorsements, he comes across as someone who is very firm about what products he wants to endorse. No alcohol or tobacco products allowed, he says.

“Soft drinks are great fun. In fact, all product shoots are short and fun, and I enjoy doing them.”

He admits that though he has enjoyed working with all co-actors be it in films or in endorsements, he particularly adores working with Deepika Padukone. “She is fun and we have a great time on the sets.”

Much like Aamir, this Khan also has a social conscience. Apart from speaking out against violence against women, Imran has also filed public interest litigation against the Maharastra State government for raising the permission of drinking age from 21 to 25 years; he loves animals and fully endorses PETA (People for Ethical treatment for animals).

“I have six cats and two dogs at home. We want to save more stray animals and that is why I have recently bought a four-acre plot on the outskirts of Mumbai to take care of these unwanted animals,” says Imran.

Looking forward to his upcoming films — Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Milan Talkies with Priyanka Chopra, Farhad-Sajid’s Desi Hamlet with Parineeti Chopra, Vikramaditya Motwane’s upcoming super hero film and one with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film with Amrita Puri — Imran Khan with his degree in filmmaking admits that being an actor is not his end goal. “One day I will end up directing films. After all, I have trained for it!”