On November 2, Shah Rukh Khan turned a young 60. My first of multiple Shah Rukh Khan interviews was in his make-up van in 1998 where he had promised me a ‘quick’ rapid-fire in 10 minutes and we spoke for 30 as a rapport was made! The next one was in his office and began after midnight with SRK speaking so fast that even my then recorder could not catch up with his speed and I had to also write pointers!
After this, our meetings have been in multiple venues in different hotels, at his bungalow Mannat, and one in Panchgani, the hill-resort about 200 kilometers from Mumbai. We even met after 3 a.m. (!!!) when he was shooting his home production, Dilwale, at Hyderabad! The occasions included new releases, music launches, his birthday, his TV show and miscellaneous occasions.
Here are some ultra-quotable gems from the man, who has just won his National Best Actor award, the King Khan who has stayed the course in cinema alone for over 33 years, apart from doing TV. Actor, producer, singer and owner of Red Chillies VFX, the man is nothing less than a legend.
On the 1970s as reproduced in Om Shanti Om
“We are not spoofing that era but paying a proper and respectful tribute to it –so we have spent some effort in recreating the era. Yeah, the ‘70s does hold a special appeal to me – since I was born in 1965, I have obviously grown up on the cinema of the ’70s and ’80s that my parents too adored. Not many are aware that the controversial term ‘Bollywood’ was first coined in that decade of glory.
So we have recreated the bell-bottoms, the side-locks, the dog-collars and of course the music. In the first half we even got a legend like Pyarelal-ji to contribute some authentic ‘70s music for the song Dhoom tana. I personally am very close to the music and cinema of that era.” But I had to explain my title at the Dubai music launch as they were wondering whether it has a religious or spiritual connotation.
On his protégé, Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om
“I am a huge fan of her father Prakash Padukone and so I cannot afford to fail her! By the way, Deepika’s taller than I am and that’s her biggest plus point!”
On the crazy fandom, see outside his bungalow
“I will miss the crowds outside my house if they are not there tomorrow! On my first trip to Mumbai, I could not afford even a decent place to stay. And I vowed, ‘One day I will own this city.’ But today, Mumbai owns me!’
On his sense of humor
“Obviously I did not acquire my father’s huge and handsome Pathan frame and complexion, but at least I inherited this gift! My wife Gauri cautions me not to inflict my comic sense onto the audience after calamities like Baadshah, Duplicate and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, but I got that act right too – with Chalte Chalte,Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om.”
On his philosophy for Life, as depicted in Zero
“We spend most our life wishing we could be happier, we think things would be perfect if this would be there or that person was different or if we can do something we cannot. In today’s times, we even have so many people telling us their opinions. But in all this, life passes us by and we waste time. So we are saying here that you don’t waste time. Zero as a number is both nothing and yet complete by itself.”
On his films as ventures
“When you have been in the profession as long as I have, specifics become less important. Today, the business part is completely dependent on the story, and day by day, I am becoming less and less of an expert on films. Today, I just love doing films for the happiness in the art, not with an end in mind.”
As a star, his take on fans
“I think that a fan’s love is pure because it is unconditional, and so he or she will even defend you if you do something bad or wrong. After all, fan is a derivative of the word ‘fanatic.’ A parent, spouse or friend can be conditional, and if unconditional can be looked upon as obsessive. But a fan will never judge you. As a matter of fact, I like to think that most of my fans are females and they are always sweet, not dangerous! Yes, I heard of men who sliced their chest when I did Darr, which I had never done! That can be disturbing, because the only limit I can place on fans is to request them not to harm themselves, because they may do it to make me happy, but I will be sad and disturbed instead.”
On his special female fan
“I remember I was due for my spinal surgery in London when I received a call from a lady in Mauritius or South Africa, who begged me not to go in for it as she had a dream that I bled to death on the table! When I reached the hospital, I had to read and sign a 56-page document that I had to sign absolving the hospital from 90 possible things that could go wrong during the surgery. And I kept thinking of what she said! Was it her obsession or care? I really do not know!”
On the challenging roles in his long career
“ I cannot think of any of film as a challenge. That would be wrong, for it is my job. I take acting very seriously but it would be boring to talk seriously about acting! In fact, it is easy to play real characters like in this film, or Swades or Chak De! India. Everything from the locations, your co-actors, your lines and the atmosphere helps you. The real issue comes in the commercial films, for which I have to convince myself that what I am playing is logical. These hero-type roles are the real challenge, if you call it that.”
On looking younger than his age
“ I think that by God’s grace I have a plus point—I have a younger frame, so I look like a boy. My son and I in T-shirts look similar. My face too is boyish. I am frugal with my food and drink, don’t have a habit of sweets and even do a bit of exercise, so in my completely disorganized way there is this strange sense of organization.”
On his long journey
“I am from theater and television and came in wrongly assuming that popular cinema and all we do in it is not creative! I remember Hema Malini scolding me for giving her the wrong impression that I was a serious actor. “You did not tell me that you can dance!” she said when she saw my Chamatkar and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman before our Dil Aashna Hai released. I told her, ‘You never asked me!’”
On his mega-stardom
“For someone who became a star and suddenly realized it one day, I seriously think that perhaps I do not deserve all my stardom. It’s a tough cross to bear. I am, I think, a conscientious person, so I keep feeling, ‘Have I done enough work to deserve this?’ Perhaps I do not have such a body of work? There are huge hoardings of mine everywhere, I am called “Baadshah Khan” and King Khan” and I am invited to meet heads of nations. I am a kind of ambassador of India. So now, I have finally decided that I do not deserve all this now, I should work in such a way that perhaps at the end of my career, I should feel I deserved all this! That’s very important for me! My son too feels the same way, that he should deserve the good things he gets, and not get them just because he is my son.”
On his approach to his profession
“Yes, I love the good life, so I make money from television, ads, by doing shows and by dancing at functions. But I put whatever I have made from films back into movies.”
On the women in his life
“Behind every successful man there’s a woman? Of course! In my case there are several beautiful women – all my heroines! As for Gauri, I am proud that she has kept my home free of ‘filmi’ influences on us as a family! There have been more women in my life than men – my mother, my sister, my wife, daughter, Farah Khan and others.”
On taking up direction
“As long as I am getting work as an actor, I do not want to turn director.”
On any new film’s release
“I can’t feel anything right now. A film on release is like your daughter getting married. Beti parayi hone jaa rahi hai! You are happy it’s happening, but you are sad that you are letting her go.”
