The poster boy of romantic cinema, Imran Khan in his upcoming film I Hate Luv Storys plays a true-to-life character that is completely unromantic. The young actor talks candidly about relationships past and present, the insecurities and what he thinks (or doesn’t think) about romance.

Though he hasn't spent any money on himself Imran says that he did gift his fiancée Avantika Malik a red Volkswagen Beetle "I am a very smart guy. I know how to take care of a woman, and if you take care of your woman everything else will be fine! So it's money well spent," he laughs.

So what’s his personal take on matters related to heart “I’m honestly the least romantic person you can find, really. By conventional definitions, and by my fiancée’s definition, that is. But if she’s lasted out this long, clearly she sees something in me! It’s not that I don’t like romance...I just don’t think it’s feasible. When you are wooing someone, you put on your game face – bathe regularly, cut your nails, take her to fancy places, buy her flowers...all of the drama. It’s a mating dance...but rather short-lived. As time goes on, how you feel about each other as people, how you treat each other as people, will determine whether your relationship will last.”

Does he get insecure about getting engaged in the beginning of his career? “I think the wisdom is false that in this industry it is an advantage to be thought of as single. If you are in a committed relationship and honest about it, people respect you that much more. Emotionally, they like you more, it makes them think, ‘This is a good guy, an honest guy.’ There are enough people out there who think all Bollywood relationships are a sham. And some of them are.”

But there are times when it gets difficult to handle the rumours of affairs hitting the headlines every two three months “The rumours that tabloids pick on for sensationalism can so easily sully a clean relationship. I don’t want to be in a position where I give Avantika any cause for discomfort. The fact that I have acknowledged her as my girlfriend from the beginning, gives her that kind of security. I live my life by a very strict code of conduct; commitment means a lot to me. So, hypothetically, if I was to be tired of my relationship, I would not cheat, I would say, ‘End this, and then go find another girl.’

The candyfloss idea of romance shown in films, can it last in real life “I believe if you do the right things, you don’t need grand gestures of romance. Men use these smokescreens to cover up their relationship inadequacies. I can’t neglect my girlfriend all day and turn up with a bunch of roses but that doesn’t make it okay. Instead, if I call her twice during the day, we stay connected. The candyfloss idea of romance is just that – paint and gloss. Paint is all very well, it is not going to keep the rain out – it’s the unglamorous bricks and mortar that will. The good guys don’t need showbiz.”

What sort of stories does he like? “As an audience, I like to watch thrillers and action films. But as an actor, there is more to do in a romantic film. There is more acting. In a thriller, you don’t have a lot of dialogue; it’s all physical stuff. You’re the good guy, there's the bad guy and essentially it’s that. Someone is sent to kill you and you kill him before he kills you.”

Will you feel short-changed in I Hate Luv Storys because apparently the director is in love with the heroine? “I Hate Luv Storys is a romantic film – about a boy and a girl. If you cut me out, who is Sonam going to romance? In any romantic comedy, the two characters lean on each other. You take one away and it is going to fall flat.”

There are inevitable comparisons between Ranbir Kapoor and you. Do you feel insecure at times? “No. We are very different. His style, the way he works, the way I work, and it’s entirely different.”

Why did you have such a low profile engagement? “It was my intention to have a rocking party and to make a thorough fool of myself but I didn’t want those pictures published, hence the low profile. Otherwise, I would have had a very posh affair but then I really would not have been able to cut loose. The second you have cameras there, either you will behave yourself or you will make an ass of yourself and those pictures will come out. I wanted to make an ass of myself but I didn't want those pictures out. So dude, it’s my party, I want to have more fun than anyone else.”

Finally what are your wedding plans? “I don’t want a religious ceremony. Avantika (Malik) is Punjabi and we don’t want to get into things like conversion. We’ll have a court marriage. It’s not going to be this year. It will hopefully be next year when I can allot a couple of months, be there and plan it well. I’ll have a proper wedding. It’s a big deal.”