Imran Khan lived in gurukul without electricity: ‘We lit kerosene lamps, chopped firewood…’

Former Bollywood actor Imran Khan, who was last seen in the movie Katti Batti, has opened up about why he decided to quit the film industry, and if he ever regretted the decision to do so.

In an interview with Film Companion, when Anupama Chopra asked him whether he regretted taking a break from the industry, Imran talked at length about how his “unusual” upbringing made him see life as bigger than being an actor.

“Before I became an actor, I had already lived many lives, I didn’t grow up in Bombay. Or in any one place. I’ve bounced around a lot of cities, countries, and different schools. My schooling was unusual. I’ve been to a number of very unorthodox non-traditional schools. I spent some of my formative years, aged 11 to 15, in a gurukul literally without electricity. We lit kerosine lamps every night that’s how we had light. We farmed, we grew our own food; we got water from a stream; we chopped firewood. As such, I have always had the sense that life is kind of bigger. I cannot be a unidimensional person, that I am a Bollywood actor and the sum total of my personality and my life are bound up in the fact that I’ve acted in 12 films,” Imran explained in the interview.

Dr Rohan Kumar, consultant psychiatrist, Regency Hospital, in a previous interaction with indianexpress.com explained that mental health breaks offer a reprieve from the demands and stressors of work, allowing individuals to recharge both physically and mentally. This time off can prevent burnout, enhance resilience, and contribute to long-term job satisfaction, he added. Addressing mental health concerns promptly can also prevent the development of more severe conditions, as has been true in Imran’s case.

Imran revealed that towards the period of his exit from the industry, he had reached a place where his version of himself didn’t match with reality. The former actor said that this disconnect is what finally led him to address his mental health as a priority, which is when he decided to quit the industry. “Around 2016-2017, I started to make that my priority, where I thought, I could put my work down for now. It is not my job to be an actor. I can be an actor if I want, I cannot be an actor if I don’t want these things. That was optional, fixing myself is not optional,” he told Anupama Chopra.

 

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If someone were to have a health scare, like a heart attack at a young age, Imran said, they would drop everything and think, “I’m gonna change my lifestyle, I’m going to exercise, diet. I’m going to drink kale juice and do whatever it takes to be better. This should be the same for mental health.”

In this process, Imran also gave up his palatial bungalow in Bandra’s Pali Hill, instead opting for a life of minimalism by moving to an empty apartment five years ago, around the time he divorced his first wife, Avantika Malik.

He said, “I started by moving into what was basically an empty space. I started bringing things into the space based on my requirements. I had a television because I like to watch movies, and I had a sofa. And then, bit by bit, I started to bring in things only based on what I actually need.” The actor continued, “I didn’t have any live-in staff; I had a person who came in every alternate day to do the heavy cleaning. But I bought myself one of those Dyson vacuum cleaners, and said, ‘I will clean myself.’ If I have only three plates, one per meal—breakfast, lunch, dinner—there’s only three plates to wash. So how big can the mess get?”

“Many of us live in denial and struggle to understand that clutter affects our efficiency levels, eventually leading to subconscious anxiety of constantly being unable to choose and hence procrastinate,” Jenisha Shah, psychologist and outreach associate at Mpower- the Centre, Mumbai, therapeutic movement facilitator, has previously told indianexpress.com in an interaction.

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