Prime Minister Imran Khan could have been a Bollywood film star but he refused the offer. In a video doing rounds on social media, the former cricketer appeared on NDTV’s India Questions once, hosted by Indian journalist and media personality Prannoy Lal Roy.
The show invites celebrities, sports personalities and industry leaders to be questioned by the audience and host on various topics ranging from sports to culture.
Journalist and media personality Prannoy Lal Roy asked him, “Why don’t you join Bollywood? Have you ever been asked?”
To this, Imran Khan replied “You won’t believe it, I was asked by one great Indian actor who we all used to look up to. Who in fact, even turned up in England to ask me to act in a film. But you know I was puzzled.”
Khan continued, “I won’t name him because it would be embarrassing.”
The audience was curious to know the name and Khan finally revealed it on their insistence. He shared that out of all the people, he was offered a film by legendary late Indian actor and director, Dev Anand.
“It was Dev Anand. But for me, it’s strange. Just because I’m playing cricket, how can I become an actor? It makes no sense to me. In fact, Ismael Merchant once asked me to act in a film. But again, I was always puzzled, how can I act? I couldn’t even act in a school play, forget about going into films.” The host chipped in that Imran Khan “looked good enough to act in a Bollywood film” to which the audience agreed. This incident was first mentioned in late actor and writer Dev Anand’s autobiography Romancing with Life.