I will never be number one!
Pammi Somal
For every Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Shah Rukh Khan has to answer for one Trimurti. And yet, there is no dent in his popularity or stardom.
Is that what star power is all about? CB speaks to the first man to bring about a star revolution!
For the son of a middle-class family to start on TV, find his way in films and then become the hottest Khan is indeed a major transformation. And yet, Shah Rukh remains the same St Columbus boy who at times cannot believe what life has given him. Sitting in his plush living room with his favourite dog on his lap, Shah Rukh revealed some of his innermost feelings…
"The other day, Subhash Ghai, Anil and I were sitting in Subhashji's air-conditioned van. There was a film on the player, a symphony playing, drinks and we were discussing crores of rupees. This was greatness at its best. I can't really explain the feelings I had. Anil glanced at me, smiled and asked, 'Did you ever think you would do this one day'? No, never! Maybe I'm too emotional, but I had tears in my eyes. Five years ago in Delhi, Ghai was just a name. The fact that I am on friendly terms with him today amazes me. All I can say is, God has been so good to me that I pray the good things never end."
Does he fear they would?
"Isn't that the truth of humanity? Of human life? God gives you good things and you are attracted to them. Then you start living with the constant fear that it will not last forever. These are the moments you cherish. Once I had read Amitabh Bachchan's interviews and was delighted that his favourite cologne was Azzaro, which was mine too. Five years later I visit Mr Bachchan and have tea with him... God! What a moment! What a feeling! Who wouldn't cherish that?"
The actor is great to his fans today and makes a lot of effort to make them feel comfortable.
"I don't feel like a star and I'm sure I don't behave like one either. Sometimes I feel like I'm completely wrong. There are people who behave like stars, but I just can't. Maybe it's God's gift that, despite everything, success hasn't gone to my head. Maybe I'm the chosen one."
They say he is the only one in the race for number one or superstardom.
"The media is so quick to put you on a pedestal and can just as quickly bring you down. I am not competing with anyone. I know that the kind of films I do, very few people can do and vice versa. I will never be number one. I don't believe in numbers. If popularity is the criteria, then even Charles Sobhraj is very popular. Popularity changes with every hit or flop. People wrote off Govinda but I think he is extremely popular.
The criteria for superstardom according to me would be 10 years, 40 films and 25 trophies. I have only had five years, 15 films and five trophies. I need another 20 trophies!
My standard for a superstar is very high. So I am not even a big star. But of course I deserve the fame, adulation and good things, be it material or familial happiness. There is a power up there that makes good things come true for me.”
As he smoked cigarette after cigarette, Gauri asked him if he was nervous. Is that possible, given his aura of fame?
"It's possible, remember, I am only human," Shah Rukh admitted. "Why do we attach so much importance to fame? Can't stars be normal? Why do we have to look polished and look in the mirror twenty times to comb our hair? I want to dress casually the way I always did, with my hair always dishevelled and tousled. I will change the concept of celebrity. Just as people say, 'Moochen ho to Nathuram jaisi', they will say, 'Stardom ho to Shah Rukh jaisa'! I hate the psychology of, he is a star! What star, bhai? I am a joker, a bhand, an entertainer who is worth only Rs 20 lakh.
While Amitabh was the star with the best taste in dressing and Dilip Kumar had the intellect, Shah Rukh Khan will be remembered as the coolest and most casual star.”
On the streets, or when he walks into a party or an event, he must feel some kind of star power.
"What power? I get up at seven, get dressed, play, dance for money, please people, haggle for dates. If I buy anything, it ends up in the headlines, and if I sell anything, they say I'm broke, a pauper. I get frustrated so I shout at my staff. It's all very sad, you know. People misinterpret the fact that fans are shouting and clapping for you. It's not the power, it's the mere entertainment you offer. You are an object so that they can get something for their money. I have the power that a cabaret dancer or a comedian has. So I don't take myself too seriously.
Mahesh Bhatt once told me that we are a means to an end. But the day we believe we are the end is our own end. There were 80 million before me and there will be 80 million after me, there is no guarantee. I work hard, I owe it to my producers and the day I finish my dubbing, this film will become alien to me. That sounds callous but it is true. But nobody can say that Shah Rukh does not work hard."
But when a big film like Trimurti fails, doesn't it hurt?
"It depresses you, of course. When you work hard, you feel very drained. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop pushing myself. Trimurti was a big film and there were so many problems, even during the making. I really feel sorry for all of us as we worked hard. But it's not something I'll take to my grave or cry over."
People who have seen the film say that Shah Rukh exaggerated while Anil has done a great job.
"Yes, Anil has done a great job in Trimurti but it is sad that no one is going to the theatres. I have not seen the whole film either. I think I will go and watch it.
It is not right to talk about what went wrong or why it did so. If someone asked me what went right in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, I would not be able to say. A film that entertains for two and a half hours is a good film and the one that does not is not a good film. In that context, Trimurti is not a good film."
Shah Rukh even argued with producer-director Pravin Nischol to postpone the release of English Babu Desi Mem, which was scheduled to release on the same day.
"I didn't speak to Pravin, we asked all the distributors of India and I am one of them. They all suggested that we don't release it with a big film, it would be harakiri. We tried before with Oh Darling Yeh Hai India and Guddu and both were flops. Even Beqabu, Himmat and Rajkumar were postponed by the same distributor, Bharatbhai."
Someone heard Shah Rukh telling Mukul Anand that English Babu Desi Mem was a crap film.
"I could never say something like that to another director. I would only say something so personal to my wife. Bring that person to me and I will smack him for lying. English Babu Desi Mem is a sweet and beautiful film. Sonali has done a great job, it is essentially her film."
Which director was able to make the best use of his talent?
"Whoever told me to do what I do. I try to improvise on the sets but it has to suit the director. Rakesh Roshan allows me to improvise; he is that kind of director. Aziz Mirza allows me totally. Aditya Chopra has a parameter within which he allows you to improvise. I give all the credit for all my performances to my directors. After Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, I thought I would need another four years to develop as an actor but Adi made me develop much faster. There was Adi, Karan, Kajol and me, all young people. It was like film students making Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. As an actor, I really learnt a lot from Adi."
When it comes to our heroines, he seems to think that they are overrated.
"Magazines use titles like Superstar or Madness for Raveena, Mamta or recently even Urmila. I am not trying to belittle anyone but why do people overrate these actresses? I hear that Sushmita Sen has been signed for 75 lakhs. Tell me, does she deserve it? Is she an actress? Has she done anything before? Did anyone offer Naseeruddin Shah or Om Puri 75 lakhs? They are fine actors. Gauri goes gaga over Shilpa Shetty because they are together. But what has Shilpa done or Mamta? The rule of the game to make a splash is to earn a certain respect in terms of the money and the projects they get. The name is consistency.
I think Hema Malini was the last of the stars. She is so beautiful. When you talk about splashes and hitters, why not compare yourself with Nargis, Madhubala, and Hema Malini? Or Sridevi, Amitabh Bachchan or Dilip Kumar? Why do you compare them only with themselves? Even today, when a girl is teased on the street, the street Romeo says, 'Kya samajhti hai apne aapko? Hema Malini or Sridevi?' These are the two names. They are madness."
And what about Kajol, who has delivered three hits in a row with Khan?
"She amazes me. When I first met her on the sets of Baazigar, I thought she was mad! She had come screaming and screeching, highly unkempt. She was nothing like what heroines are supposed to be. I thought someone had made a mistake. In fact, Aamir had come to my house to ask about Kajol because they were doing the casting for Baazi and he knew I was doing a film with her. I saw this girl on the sets and left a message on Aamir's answering machine, 'Don't do it!' The same evening we saw the screen samples and this girl was wonderful on screen. I called Aamir and left another message, 'Just get her'. I keep telling her that she is original but now she has reached the peak of naturalism. She will have to learn the acting technique. Naseer had once told me that."
Shah Rukh and Kajol make a lovely couple and had it been any other actor, it would have fuelled the gossip of an affair. But Shah Rukh has no such problem. Why?
"I belong to a more modern level of thinking where the woman is not just a sex object. I talk to them, chat with them and generally have a lot of fun. What else am I expected to do with my heroines? I don't feel the need for an affair."
Shah Rukh even refused to pose for photo sessions with his heroines. Is Gauri that possessive?
"Gauri is just as possessive as a wife should be. She loves me very much and doesn't want to lose me, be it to work, other women or death. Nor do I want to lose her to any of these factors. She doesn't get jealous of every girl because she knows I can't love anyone else as much as I love her. She also tells me that it would be my loss, not hers. I don't even want to say that we trust each other as it is a cliche."
Shah Rukh lost the woman he loved the most, his mother. As the years pass, does he remember her even more?
"I lost my father in 1981. I was young and spent more time with my mother. When you lose one parent, you tend to get closer to the other. I miss my father now, he was a great person. I'm happy that he and my mum are up there together. When she died, I took it very hard. But I think my mum sees me now, my films go to heaven, she sees me there too.
I think parents are taken for granted. I would misplace things and then cry out to mum as if she was responsible. Today, I miss being selfish... I miss all that love. I can't throw a tantrum as I am a father myself. I have to take care of my sister and my wife. I feel like a parent to them. I feel responsible. When I see them happy, I am happy too."
He has become a romantic hit whether he wants to accept it or not.
"I am not a very romantic person. I don't even know how the romance between Gauri and me happened when it was at its peak! But Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is the closest thing I would do. I like to do a little mischief, I am never serious."
Can he recall some of his romantic moments as Shah Rukh?
"If I could recall the romantic scenes of my life, it would be a performance. A real romance is never performed, there are no rehearsals. I don't remember what I did or what Gauri said, it was so effortless and spontaneous. Even when Gauri reminds me of some incident or what I said, it brings a smile to my lips. I remember that I used to call her GC, for Gauri Chibber. I have never felt as comfortable with any other girl as I did with Gauri. That's why I married her."
Is that why he doesn't feel the need to set his eyes on another woman?
"We even had to be very careful while walking together. Even when we went to a party, her brother would be there. So we would dance with other partners and still stay close to each other. Even if it meant just touching our sleeves! For me, my love affair with Gauri started after marriage. Only then did we start enjoying moving freely in public and doing whatever we wanted to do. That's why I don't feel the need to start an affair with any of my heroines at any point."
Does he have a desire to work with any particular actresses?
"Yes... Madhubala and Meena Kumari," he grinned. His sense of humour had returned and Shah Rukh was back to normal... his usual self!