From ‘Tabdeeli Ayi Hai’ to ‘Absolutely Not’: Five of Imran Khan’s most iconic statements on his 70th birthday

We’ve seen people rave about former premier Imran Khan’s politics, perhaps even his style, his cricket career but on his 70th birthday, we’re taking a look at some of the iconic statements he has made.

Whether you support him or not, you have to admit that many of the things Imran has said have turned into rather iconic and memorable sayings.

Ghabrana Nahi Hai

Imran may internationally be known as the former PM of Pakistan and before that as the cricket captain who lead the Pakistan team to World Cup victory in 1992, but locally he is the man who coined the “ghabrana nahi hai [don’t panic]” phrase that led to many a meme and even a movie!

Diamond se mehengi cheez

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but they certainly aren’t Imran’s. Once when asked whether Bahria Town founder Malik Riaz had gifted his wife a diamond necklace, Imran said diamonds are cheap and that they should be talking about something expensive. This is definitely something we can’t get out of our heads.

Absolutely not

Now this is an iconic phrase. Even Imran has cackled at his “absolutely not” moment that has engraved itself in the hearts of his supporters. It has resulted in merch, Twitter trends and much more but most of all, it’s a phrase that’s on everyone’s lips.

Khatarnak hota ja raha hoon

Could we have made a list of iconic sayings without adding this one? It has all the sass and swagger we associate with Imran.

Tabdeeli aa gayi hai

We’re ending this list with the saying everyone can attribute to Imran Khan — “Tabdeeli aa nahi rahi, tabdeeli aa gayi hai [change is not on the way, change is already here]”.