On the 10 year anniversary of Delhi Belly's release, director Abhinay Deo opened up about reaction to Imran Khan's decision to quit acting. Abhinay said that he was sad and taken aback when he learned of Imran's decision but believes that he should explore his creativity 'in any form he can'.
In an interview, Abhinay Deo said, "I felt sad as I have high regard for that man. He is a great guy and there is anyway a shortage of good people in this world. He is one of the good guys and he should be there in this industry. He is a talented guy, whether in front of the camera or behind it."
"He is a trained filmmaker and a writer too. I feel he should get his creativity out in any form that he can. But I did feel bad that he did not want to act anymore," he told SpotboyE.
Imran's friend Akshay Oberoi had confirmed to Navbharat Times in November that Imran had, indeed, decided to quit acting. "See, Imran Khan has left acting at the moment. As far as I know, there is a better writer and director inside Imran, I do not know when he will direct his film himself, I am not going to put any pressure," he said.
He added that Imran might direct his own film soon and he has faith that the movie will be wonderful because of Imran's 'understanding of cinema and sensibility'.
Abhinay added that Imran refused some of the director's films since he was 'reinventing' himself.
“As a matter of fact, Imran refused a couple of my films because he said he was stopping acting and I was taken aback a bit by that, otherwise he would have been a part of one of my films four years back. But he didn’t want to go down that route at all as he was reinventing himself. I think every person has a process and I am sure we will see some spectacular work from him in the future."Abhinay Deo, to SpotboyE
Imran Khan, actor Aamir Khan's nephew, made his film debut with Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. He bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for the film. He then appeared in I Hate Luv Storys, Delhi Belly, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu. His last film was Kangana Ranaut starrer Katti Batti.