A ticking Time Bomb – inside Shah Rukh´s Head!
They say the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason. Apparently Shah Rukh found no such reason. He has played roles that other top stars have shied away from, but they have ultimately given this man the kind of fame that others have craved. Whole nations are going crazy over this once simple boy from Delhi. But what is the man really without the five inches of make-up, the pose and the name Shah Rukh Khan? He is a puzzle that we have tried hard to put together!
Shah Rukh has been scouring the beach. He has bought a stately bungalow on the coast, he has acquired a shell (or should we say armour) to hide in when the going gets tough, he has even found handfuls of stardust on the beach. He has made himself a royal cape out of bits and pieces… The emperor has new clothes.
Isn't it strange that we spend hours in darkened movie theaters or lose ourselves in glossy magazines, absorbing everything our favorite stars do. At the end of all those hours, all we walk away with are distracting images that don't represent even a quarter of what they really are. Take Shah Rukh Khan, for example. There are many who see him as arrogant and pretentious, a star through and through. It takes two meetings with him to find out that this is just a facade. A facade that he tries very hard to maintain, especially when he is around girls.
He is clearly nervous around this particular species. People close to him say that the only girl he really knew growing up was Gauri. They were childhood friends who grew up and married each other.
Long ago, when Shah Rukh went to Mumbai in search of his destiny, he spoke of his all-consuming love for Gauri. She had apparently told him that she would not stay with him anymore. That they would go their separate ways as he was getting into a profession that was not to Gauri's liking.
Shah Rukh had spoken intensely of his love for her in a moment of pain. He gave many interviews after that, but none could compare to that very first interview. For young girls, Shah Rukh had seemed like the perfect boyfriend. That first impression of Shah Rukh still stands. Now he is the perfect husband!
It's heartening to see that he remains as deeply in love with Gauri as he was all those years ago. Friends say that when they're together, it seems like they've only known each other for a week. There's this constant flow of love and affection between them. Not that they're a cheesy couple, not at all.
One of the little we know about Gauri is that she is the one person who will definitely keep Shah Rukh grounded. Shah Rukh himself admits that it is Gauri's ability to leave him alone and give him his space that makes being with her so enjoyable. There are very few relationships that can be called blessed, Shah Rukh and Gauri's is one of them.
For anyone who knows Shah Rukh even vaguely, it is obvious that the first priority in Shah Rukh's life, which comes before anything else, is his family. Gauri, his sister Shahnaaz and now his baby Aryan. He would kill for them. And while Shah Rukh's friends are important to him, they all know that at a certain point, nothing else matters except those three people in his house.
They are merely incidental to his world view. His family is truly his world, where he can be whoever he wants to be. Friends he has made over the years have been more of a passage than an obligation. Outside of his family, there is no one he feels he owes anything to.
But for a few people, he has allowed himself to care for them, yes, he values them a lot. Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Juhi or Kajol, he cares for them, just he cares for them in a different way. He goes out of his way to be there when they need him. When Juhi lost her mother, it was Shah Rukh who was by her side that day and even brought a smile to her lips when she was crying. He made her laugh by telling her that his father and mother would probably have met by now and might be busy discussing their careers. These are the special people he will take care of, more than anyone else in his life.
For his friends, Shah Rukh is probably the best person they can turn to for advice. When they need moral support, emotional support or are worried about something, Shah Rukh goes out of his way to calm their doubts. He has a very reassuring habit of convincing a person that they have really done the right thing, even when it is terribly wrong. His advice, friends say, is never unproductive, given only because he feels it is expected of him.
Gauri had once said that if they ever became parents, Shah Rukh would be a very obsessive father. She was right. By all appearances, Shah Rukh eats, sleeps and drinks Aryan. People close to Shah Rukh say that he will love the child to death. That he will be a very poor taskmaster. When Shah Rukh brought the baby home from the hospital, he is said to have told a close friend, "This is the first time I have gone to the hospital and brought someone back home." It is a touching aspect of Shah Rukh that very few people know about. Shah Rukh is a man whose emotions run very deep. It is just that they are cloaked in a lot of arrogance and attitude.
The death of his parents was something that Shah Rukh could never accept. To a large extent, he blamed God for depriving him of his parents' love. With the birth of Aryan, God has been delivered. In some ways, Aryan reminds him of his parents. That is what makes him so special. Friends say that Aryan somehow arrived as a replacement for the father he missed and the mother he lost.
Somewhere he feels that he has been compensated. He believes that God took away his mother and father but compensated him with Aryan, a beautiful woman and marriage. It has sunk in and strengthened his faith in God. Shah Rukh, who is so rich in love for his family, has found in Aryan another source of love to give his love.
Mahesh Bhatt says there are two Shah Rukhs in him. While there is a serious, sensitive and mature side to the guy, there is also his childish nature to consider. Friends insist that Shah Rukh is more excited about Aryan's toys than Aryan himself. He is waiting for Aryan to grow up so that he can play with all these fascinating things.
Shah Rukh is like a child himself when he receives gifts. He is always eager to tear open the wrapping and take a quick look at what is inside. It is this multi-dimensional quality that makes him such a captivating, offbeat personality. Shah Rukh is what people would call a new generation boy. His mindset is completely modern, yet his roots are firmly planted in the traditional.
If you notice, there is a lot of Shah Rukh in every role that he has played. The obsessive lover in Darr, the ambitious young man in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, the yuppie theatre director in Dil To Pagal Hai... There is something about Shah Rukh that jumps right out of the screen and punches you in the gut. And this while he has none of that charisma that we would ideally call star appeal. Yet his fans, his directors, producers and costars swear by him.
Which is why the smallest frame that rests on him is 50 to 60 crores. Ask his directors the reason for this charisma and they explain that he is made of a different stuff altogether. There is a madness, a devotion in every shot, every scene he shoots for. Directors swear that they have never seen a human being, let alone an actor, whose hunger for life overrides everything else like that. The work he puts in transcends all human limits. He proves time and again that there are no limits to what he is involved in.
A few days ago, while shooting for a film in Hyderabad, he broke his toes, but that didn't stop him from dancing and jumping around for a shot that required him to actively dance. Shah Rukh is not one of those actors who will say to a director, "Look, do the shot in such a way that I don't have to move." No, he will go ahead and do what is asked of him without complaining.
People who know him explain this intensity, this drive, as a desire to be perfect in everything he does. Shah Rukh has always been a achiever. He was at the top of his game throughout school and college, he was in every sports team in his school. He led the drama and public speaking groups. In short, Shah Rukh was the kind of boy who was a natural leader.
It is his success story that makes Shah Rukh the dedicated actor he is today. He has to be better than the best. He has to be good and successful at what he does. Even when he plays a board game with friends, he considers it a war. He will play to win or not play at all. And that is why Shah Rukh's failures are somewhere a big loss for him. But is he practical enough to understand that life is not just about winning, it is also about learning to lose.
Perhaps it is his personal losses that have made Shah Rukh a more humble, more mature person today. The Shah Rukh of yesterday, who would have decided everything with his fists, is likely to react very differently today. Much of his anger has been used up as a driving force. That is perhaps the only change in him.
Shah Rukh's lingering vice is his compulsive smoking (maybe he'll even give it up now that Aryan is here). His favorite drink is still Barcadi, Pepsi his favorite cola. He still wears Tommy Hilfiger clothes and loves playing video games. Shah Rukh is still shy and uncomfortable at social gatherings, but at a small party you'll find him in the thick of it. Shah Rukh will happily watch a Terminator 2 but scoff at arty films. Hollywood masala works very well, not the Fellinis and Scorsese.
At the moment, Shah Rukh is voraciously reading the Chicken Soup For The Soul series (yes, he really likes the schmaltz), but normally he just likes reading autobiographies. And although Shah Rukh claims he hates romantic films (he loved Titanic), friends say he actually enjoys doing them because he knows he's doing his best and it's where he gets to utilize all his acting talent.
But Shah Rukh has always been a paragon of contradictions. The guy who drives a Mercedes is generally seen as the boy next door. He is as synonymous with Bollywood as Amitabh. But Shah Rukh… well, he seems so much more real. None of that mystique and aura surrounds him. In fact, there can be no more striking actor than Shah Rukh.
How do you put the pieces of a puzzle together like Shah Rukh? Well, you don't, you just try.