Imran Khan is gearing up for his short cameo in Vir Das's Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos. The film releases in theatres this Friday.
The Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na actor caught up with NDTV to speak about how he came to be part of the film. He also addressed tackling his depression and coming out of it, and how his daughter Imara and girlfriend Lekha Washington have been "crucial to his healing."
"Love Is A Two-Way Thing"
Answering on finding love for the second time in Lekha Washington, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2020, the actor called the feeling "empowering, uplifting, and a two-way thing."
Imran shares, "To be loved by someone truly gives you strength and heals you. To give love truthfully and selflessly to another also is empowering and healing. And I have found this, in between my daughter and my partner Lekha, to give and to receive love. It has been absolutely crucial to my healing and to my own growth and well-being."
Imran Khan has openly discussed his battle with depression and anxiety-a journey that he began years ago, but the challenges were only exacerbated by his divorce in 2019.
Speaking of how therapy has helped him and that he feels at peace now, Imran says, "The last few years in particular, every year has been better than the last. The last five-six years have been just better and better. And the last couple of years have kind of coincided with me feeling very settled within myself and feeling a desire to work."
Feeling Of Fatherhood
Imran Khan and his ex-wife Avantika Malik were blessed with a beautiful baby girl in 2014. They named her Imara.
Recalling the time when he "effectively stopped working" after she was born, Imran said that he simply wanted to spend more time with his daughter.
He says, "I believe being present seeps into children's subconsciousness, even at an age when they are eight months, one and a half years, all of this, all the way through. I believe it seeps into their subconscious, the sense that a parent was there, that physically one was there, and one did the thing."
He continues, "I put her to bed. I would feed her. Even now, I just got back from picking her up from school. So I do all of that stuff. Because it gives me great joy and a sense of purpose and value. And it seems, by and large, to me to be the best use of my time."
Furthermore, he elaborates on why it takes a lot for him to give up spending time with his daughter to maybe attend an event or shoot for something.
He adds, "It means that then I would miss a day with her. Basically, it takes a lot to get me to give up on that. Even this past year, while I was making Adhoore Hum, Adhoore Tum, it was about a three-month shoot. And, wherever I could, I would try to adjust my dates and my timings to not miss time with her."
On His Upcoming Cameo in Happy Patel
Imran Khan and Vir Das had worked together in the 2011 adult comedy Delhi Belly-a friendship that stayed, leading to a random text from the actor to the comedian for his film Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos.
Imran Khan recollects, "My part is a cameo that came from a place of FOMO (Fear of missing out). True story-Vir was developing the project. And as he was moving through the stages of development, various friends of mine were getting attached. It started, of course, with my uncle (Aamir Khan) getting attached as a producer. And I would hear little snippets here and there. And then Mithila, whom I got to know because we acted together in Katti Batti-we've remained friends over the years. And she was telling me a lot of fun stuff about the way the project was going."
He continues, "Then and there, I texted Vir. So this particular film is one that I joined just because all my friends were there and doing something that looked like fun."
Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos is releasing in theatres on January 16, 2026.
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