I’m my own Mothers Son! – Check out the very Ajeeb dastaan of SRK
Khalid Mohamed
I woke up one morning and scanned the headlines. The national newspapers had trumpeted a story that had all the ingredients of a real Hindi film. A summons had been issued to Shah Rukh Khan to appear before a court in Ahmedpur taluka of Latur district following a woman's complaint that he was her long-lost son.
Malanbai, from a village in Ahmedpur, claimed that Shah Rukh Khan's real name was Alasab and that he was born on June 12, 1965. She added that she had brought her "son" to Mumbai, where she found work as a labourer on a construction site. In the petition, Malanbai further stated that she had lost him and all her attempts to trace him had proved futile.
Now she wanted him back.
When this story, weirder than any fiction, happened, his protagonist was in the United States shooting for Subhash Ghai's Pardes. There, I sat down with SRK to hear his reaction to the Ajeeb dastaan (unusual story) and a lot more.
Are you aware that the story of you being a long lost son has been all over the newspapers back home? Your comments, please!
Yes, I have heard that there have been reports of a woman saying that I am her son who has been lost somewhere. But I did not know that this kind of news makes the front pages. (ironic) I do not know much about this incident. I must have been too young to figure out what was going on... No seriously, I am my own mother's son and no one else's.
But what took this woman so long to claim me? I feel sorry for her... there must have been some desperate reason to go so far. Perhaps she is not quite there and this is just a figment of her imagination. I do not know why a poor village woman would imagine that I am her son... it must not have been for publicity as I am sure she does not even know what that is. From what I have gathered, she is not educated.
What I wanted to say is that about a year ago, a couple had started loitering outside my house in Bandra-Khardanda. They had even gone to Dilip Kumar and told him that I was their son. They showed him a photograph of a child and said that was me... (Laughs) but the child was very ugly. This couple, who were in their 60s, were from Jaipur.
Sorry, but I cannot adopt parents. Actually, all this is quite strange. With other stars, women claim that they have had steamy affairs with them. But in my case, women call me Beta (son). I have to find out why I evoke maternal instincts.
How do you plan to deal with the demands made by the woman in question?
I want to meet her. Believe me, I feel sorry for her. I know I am not her son.
I know many women want to mother me... they don't want to marry me. I want to convince this woman that I am not her son so she can have some peace of mind.
Things couldn't be more bizarre. Just like when I started to act against the woman from Jaipur who was loitering outside my house, she became very, very abusive. She said that God was going to punish me.
When did this incident take place? And what else did she say?
It happened six to eight months ago. As for what else she said, I don't want to repeat her exact words. Let's say she cursed me at length... she said that I would die, that I would never be happy because I didn't respect my real parents. I'm really softening her words... what she said sounded horrible, very horrible.
Tell me how I should react? There have been all kinds of rumours. At one point, it was said that I was born in Dilip Kumar's family... that I was his nephew.
Do you have your birth certificate?
Yes... and it clearly names my parents and states that I was born on November 2, 1965, at Talwar Nursing Home on Pusa Road in Delhi. It was a really difficult birth as there was a problem with the umbilical cord. I literally kicked, screamed and wailed my way into this world.
Could Malanbai's demands be remotely possible?
Yes, sure, anything is possible. I could say that I have blue eyes and yours are purple. No really, how could her claims be possible? My real parents both loved me. My sister looks a lot like me. I spoke to Gauri on the phone about it... she told me not to get upset, that the whole thing was a joke.
Have any bizarre demands been made against you before?
After Darr, several girls have said that they are the Kiran I was looking for. They probably identified with the character played by Juhi Chawla and my character's obsession with her... in the film.
Then there is this girl who often just turns up on my sets and stares... and stares... and stares without saying a word. And there is a housewife who is convinced that I am having an affair with her. She says that nothing, not even her husband, can come between us. She brings her daughter to the sets and tells me, "Don't worry about her... she doesn't know anything about us." Help!
What do you think about invoking the law in such cases?
I never needed a lawyer in my life until the Delhi oil case came up... you know, related to my family's oil business. Then the Christian society protested against a scene in a church in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Also, the Rajasthan Lawyers' Association protested against a scene in Ram Jaane... in which I am shouting at lawyers... even though I am not the writer, director or producer of the film.
Yes, there are such cases... and at times I feel like I am working day and night just to pay my lawyers' bills. They say they will do everything... to keep calm... and then the bills come. Seriously, what should I do?
Have you ever faced a Fatal Affair situation?
Yes. A woman kept calling me to tell me exactly when I was at home and when I was at the studios. She said that she could see me wherever I was and that she would do some unspeakable things to me. She would change her voice every time... she would use different voices. She would scare me... luckily one day her calls suddenly stopped... that must have been the answer to my prayers. When
I tried to ignore her, she also said that God would punish me, that I would regret the day I was born, which is not a very nice thing to wish on anyone. There have been a lot of phone harassment, nasty calls, weird calls and they work! Even Gauri was not spared, she said very mean things to her. But she handled it easily.
Are you surprised by such calls?
In some cases, yes, because they have been particularly malicious. But not all calls are malicious. Genuine fans call to advise me on what film I should do and how to act. If I behave a little impatiently with them, they immediately ask, "Arre Shah Rukh, tu proudy ho gaya hai kya?"
Ultimately, the joy of staying connected with your fans outweighs the occasional hassle. I want to be accessible; I want to hear everyone's opinion about me. I love the fact that I am recognised, it is really that fact that keeps me alive... keeps me going.
There is no other way - once you enter this industry, you have to accept the fact that with it comes the loss of your privacy. I shudder to think of the day when no one recognises me.
It's not that I'm not a show-off, it's just that I'm racing against time. I don't have the leisure to worry about everything and everyone who approaches me. If I tell someone that I will speak to him or her in five minutes after I finish whatever I am doing... they look like I have slapped them.
Look, they know me through my films. They know me as Arjun, Raj or Vijay and not as Shah Rukh Khan. Some even come up to me and say, "Hey, you don't look as good as we thought."
Or if they see me idle, they think I am whiny, I can almost hear them saying, "We thought he was a happy guy... full of energy... why this behaviour now?"
They don't seem to understand that an actor could be down, that he is not in the mood to be happy.
This is often confused with arrogance. And like my colleagues, I can't do anything about it. I can't go up to everyone and say, "Actually, I am a damn nice guy, so please like me." Perhaps because I can't please everyone, I must have lost seven fans out of a million. Luckily, I still have 9,99,993 fans on my page.
There is also a rumour back home in Mumbai that the Shah Rukh-Kajol duo is history. That there is unlikely to be any more collaboration between the two of you in a film.
Yes? That is news to me. All I know is that I never suggested my co-actresses to the filmmakers. Nor did I reject them. So Pooja Bhatt was supposed to be in Trimurti… then she wasn't. I don't know what went wrong and that's that.
I have always liked Kajol, she is special. We have delivered commercial success together. I know that we were supposed to be paired together in Abbas-Mustaan's Badshah and that she asked for the complete script. She has every right to do it, I am glad that she is meticulous about the projects she takes on. I don't know the latest on Badshah. It is a film with two heroines… one of them is a kind of comic vamp… so Kajol has every right to enquire about her role before accepting it.
According to a magazine, Ajay Devgan has revealed that he told Kajol not to act with you anymore.
Nonsense! Personally, I don't think he could have made such a statement. So, if you don't mind, I will not respond to this question.
Hmmm... well I have been meaning to ask you this for a long time. You are a real star fan yourself. When you talk about acting, you talk more about other actors than what goes on in yours while acting. Why? Is this some kind of subterfuge?
I am a grown-up star fan. I idolised Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan. At Chikki's wedding, I introduced myself to Kamal and said, "Look, can I touch you to see if you are real?" Then, when Filmfare organised the joint interview with Amitabh Bachchan, it was great to pose for the photographs with my arm around him.
At the same time, I was aware that I couldn't get more casual with them. I can joke around a little with them, but I can't be so chummy with the actors I admired.
If I were to generalise, I would say that today's stars just don't inspire the same kind of awe. The charisma and aura are weaker. Now we seem to be evolving into a nine-to-nine job, just like a common person. The audience is aware of this too - their attitude is... look buddy, I bought a ticket to see you perform, so go on, entertain me... or I will go somewhere else.
Today, you will not find actors or actresses crumbling under fame. They have their abilities under control. I know I will never snap. I am just treated like any other guy, that is why you will find fans saying, "Ae... Shah Rukh idhar aa, apun ke saath ek photo khichha." Maybe
we are a little more open, a little more diplomatic. We are reaching more people through the media. Once there was only Doordarshan, now there are so many channels... like once there were just a few magazines and now there are 200.
Okay, so today's stars are different. My question is, why can't you analyse your own acting skills instead of talking about your idols?
That's because I think they are the role models, the benchmark. Who am I? Just a kid who got lucky. Instead of talking about myself, I'd rather compare myself and stand out. I'd rather think of the days when stars were stars... when they would put on three-piece suits to go to a restaurant for dinner. Something mundane like eating a meal became a production.
And when they had affairs, there was something romantic and beautiful about the relationships. Today, however, it's the era of one-night stands.
The stars of the past days didn't do endorsements either. I do endorsements because there's more money to be made in them than in films. Today, cash is what counts.
Then there are these beautiful stories about Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra and Rajesh Khanna, real kings wherever they went, whether to Mehboob Studio or on location in Kashmir. For me, these are the real romantic moments in film.
You won't hear romantic stories about me because I'm like my father, I'm no frills. I just don't have that larger than life personality. I can try to put on a macho demeanor to fit the bill, but at home I'm a lamb. I just don't have that glowing aura.
We, the actors today, are yuppie entrepreneurs, not stars. We are very aware of the competition between each other and the importance of having a business acumen so that 20 years from now we don't have to worry about where our next meal will come from. Even absolute raw newbies ask me, "Sir, when do you think we will be able to buy our first Mercedes Benz?" I don't blame them... but my first priority is still to own a dream home. So I too strive for material comfort.
Just a thought. How much were you paid for your first films?
Four lakhs for Deewana... and Rs 25,000 for Raju Ban... I was supposed to get Rs 1 lakh more if Deewana completed 100 days. But I was not paid that. The producer said to me, "You didn't like the film... so why should we pay you?"
You spoke of romantic moments in films. Can you tell me about any such moments that you have experienced yourself?
Aaah! But the level of romance is so different today. When you think of the days of Dilip Kumar, you see images in shimmering black and white. For me, a defining romantic moment is talking into a tape recorder along with Mr Bachchan.
Other romantic moments were... to be honest, seeing myself working with Sridevi and Juhi Chawla. I had seen Qayamat Se... when I was just out of college. Once she was on screen with Aamir Khan, then she was on screen with me. What more could I ask for?
Other meaningful moments for me were the sessions with Subhash Ghai to discuss what I should do in his film. In Delhi, I had spent a day loitering in the corridor of the Holiday Inn because he was there with Ram Lakhan's crew. I saw him with Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff. Now I see myself with him!
Whenever I tousle my hair, I think of the way Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor did it on screen. Maybe, somewhere, some guy will tousle his hair the way I do.
Yes, I am a confident actor. I know I am better than X, Y and Z. But I am not bigger than myself. I am not a big star... just bigger than I can handle.
This can be scary and I hope I never end up in a situation where I expect everyone to love me, my wife and my dog. I would rather be the kid who once heard that Mr. Bachchan used Azarro and promptly ran out and bought a bottle even though I couldn't afford it.
Please! I repeat, I want to know what goes on in your heart and mind when the camera is on.
Nothing goes on inside me. When I can't do something properly, I try to hide my flaws. I think I'm very conscious of the camera... I don't know how to smile or use all the right expressions. All I know is that when I'm acting, I block out the rest of the world, I believe I'm someone else. I never feel shy, strange or guilty when assuming other identities.
Frankly, I consider myself less than a normal person, which is why I have no problem fitting into the most abnormal role.
When I'm not acting, however, I'm not so confident. Just like today I'm paralyzed at the airport check-in. When I say my name, I've been asked, "Now, do you spell Khan with a K or a C?" and I don't know what to say except stammer, what about the name? Really, I'm quite similar to my father.
What was he like?
My father (Meer Taj Mohammed) was a lawyer by profession, he had a furniture business. He designed the Diplomat whisky bottle, he was a cool guy. My sister and I were very close to him.
Once, when I asked him if I could cycle beyond a certain point from my house, he slapped me and asked me what I was afraid of. He had left home when he was 16; he knew the importance of making decisions for himself.
Once, when a South Indian lady from our neighbourhood complained that I was raising her daughter, he said, "Madam, but would I have done the same in his place." He invited her for lunch... she was appalled at his audacity!
He was even offered the role that Ajit ended up playing in Mughal-e-Azam. But father fell in love with Madhubala... and wasn't sure if he could handle it. So he didn't do the film.
Sounds like a real guy.
He was. I have nothing against him.
How come you don't arouse men's paternal instincts?
You'll have to do another interview for that. Because it's another story... another one for the front pages.