Enough is enough
Roshmila Mukherjee
He is in love… again. He cannot stop gushing about his new playmate, ensconced in his cosy Bandra apartment. If wife Gauri, however, remains equanimous, it is because her rival is a computer.
Shah Rukh Khan smiles blissfully, "He has a colour printer, fax and laserdisc… so I can just send my director a passport-sized shot and pocket the subscription fee. With that shot, he can cast me in a Sholay or Mother India and I don't have to do a single shot… abracadabra."
As if on cue, a veritable magician walks in. The Baazigar wants him to make a guest appearance at one of his concerts abroad. The Jaadugar also wants the star to make a guest appearance on his TV series. The magician promises that he will not chant a mantra and transform SR Khan into the Mr. India of the nineties. Gilli, gilli goo… jokes the Jaadugar and disappears.
Exit magician, enter Gulshan Grover. The 'Bad' man was shooting in the neighbourhood and thought he could drop in for a chat. A few minutes later, another co-star barges in, shoving pen and paper under Shah Rukh's nose. "My kids want your autograph!" the visitor explains, getting the extravagant scribble.
Other impatient visitors wait for Shah Rukh's darshan. They have been kept away by Kabir, his man-for-everything. Robin Bhatt and Abbas-Mustan jostle their way to the front. Baazigar has completed its 25th week, the silver jubilee means a celebration. Shah Rukh promises them champagne that night at Mukesh Mills, where he has to shoot for Ketan Mehta's Oh Darling Yeh Hai India. "Oh dear, that means my sir won't sleep tonight either," sighs Kabir.
Pinning Shah Rukh down seems impossible. But over the course of a breathless six hours, you manage to fire off your questions intermittently:
Are you enjoying your superstar status?
Sure. Success is exhilarating… and scary. I haven't started suffering from insomnia yet. Sleepless nights are not too far away, though. I am not influenced by admiration, but I am only human. Interesting roles, top banners, big money, rave reviews, coveted awards, super hits, happy family life… I have had all of that in the last six months. And it made me a little complacent. I had even started putting on weight (pats his belly)… Then Gauri burst the bubble. "Shah Rukh don't be so complacent," she told me. "It's happening too fast. Work towards a goal or you're finished."
She is right. When you are supremely satisfied, you die. Don't look shocked… seriously, I have always believed that. So when my mother died, I kept whispering in her ear, "Ma, if you die, I will stop acting, I will start drinking, I will not take care of my sister Shehnaz..." (he smiles reassuringly) I didn't really plan to turn into Mr Hyde overnight; I just hoped that maybe once - just once - she would take me seriously and then she wouldn't look so happy. She wouldn't die...
That lecture from Gauri brought me back down to earth in a flash. I understood that I had to escape from this.
So is it true that you are planning to take a long break after you finish your pending work?
(lights cigarette) I don't think a month is that long, especially when I know that I will probably have a fortnight in the end. But at least it will be a break.
Too much has happened too fast, too soon. Offers are pouring in. Suddenly everyone wants something from me. I am constantly surrounded by hundreds of producers, wannabe directors, writers and fans... you know what I mean. I just don't seem to find time for my friends.
Shashilal Nair has an interesting idea for a plot but I haven't been able to sit down with him to discuss and develop it as I can't get away from all these strangers. (shrugs helplessly) I'm starting to feel like a puppet - I'm being pulled in different directions. I'm confused; I don't know where I'm going. Please... I need a breather. I don't want to play to be under pressure. It's my only outlet for pressure. That's why I need to escape - to relax, to think, to make my future plans.
What do you have in mind?
I know I have peaked as an actor. Maybe I can improve a few things but otherwise the only way I can get better is to focus on one project at a time. Right now my mind is overloaded with ten different thoughts. A fortnight's
work is left for Oh Darling Yeh Hai India, Trimurti and Karan Arjun should be wrapped up by September. In ten days Guddu should be over and English Babu Desi Mem is 60 per cent complete. All my films should be done before September-October. They have to be, October-November is when I want to allocate dates for a new film. Maybe Yashji or Subhashji will be next if things go well. I will give them 45 days straight, for a start to finish schedule. The next man in the queue could be Aziz Mirza (Ek Kutte Ki Maut), Robin Bhatt (Aawaz) or Venus Film (Badshah). One of these films should keep me busy from January to March. Every three months I will have a film ready for release. Sounds good, hmm?
Yes. But is it feasible?
Why not? Perhaps Aziz Mirza will take some time to arrange a shooting schedule because he has other stars too, like Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. But if I am working with a new girl or villain, there should be no problem. The hero's schedule matters the most.
If I give the producer six months' notice, I don't see why such a system cannot run smoothly: everyone will win. The producer can complete a film in three months and save raised funds. The director can make more films in a year. And the best part will be that I won't have to jump from script to script, constantly changing roles and sets. I will get paid more without having to increase my rate.
But surely the producers must be offering you the moon... Rs 40 lakhs, Rs 50 lakhs, Rs. 80 lakhs...
Wait a minute! I am not aiming to become the highest paid actor in the country. I already believe I am overpaid. I know I could easily double my rate but that would not be cost-effective for the producer. For extra money, I can always do commercials or shows. For films, I will stick to my rate and give the three-month shooting schedule a chance.
Do you really think a Ramesh Sippy or Ketan Mehta can stick to a shooting schedule?
(grins) Yes, Ketan had promised me that he would complete Oh Darling Yeh Hai India in 33 nights. It has been 64 nights and I am still shooting. Thank God I can get by on just one or two hours of sleep. Thanks to Mr Mehta, I have been working day and night. My wife hates it, I hate it, but on the other hand you can't say no to a friend, right? On the third day of shoot, I threw a tantrum. We were staging a song which was supposed to be wrapped up in three days and we were not even halfway through. I threatened to quit... I couldn't. The song was wrapped up in a week.
Ramesh Sippy's Pyaarana was also supposed to be a rush film. But we are months behind schedule and for the first time I am doing double shifts. However, it is not entirely Rameshji's fault; he had to contend with two national disasters - the riots and the bombings. Also, you cannot tie down creative people like Mukul Anand, Rameshji, Ketan or Kundan Shah in a time frame. They will die for making films and take you with them (Chuckles).
You have played the sweet boy next door who gives up, the diabolical murderer, the small-town simpleton, the obsessed lover and the ambitious gentleman... There is not much for you to do now, is there?
Maybe that is why producers are now coming to me with a potpourri of masala. I am getting roles where I have to sing and dance, laugh and cry, kill and die. I have not signed any new film in the last 16 months. Darr was the last film I signed, in February last year.
Aren't you a little too selective?
I have always been selective. Ten releases in three years means I have done three and a half films in a year. That is unusual! Usually a top actor has at least six releases a year. I made the decision to be selective before I entered the industry and have not regretted it. In fact, in another five years - which I think is the maximum duration as a superstar - it will probably be one film a year, unless I leave the industry altogether. Unless I get four roles that I just can't turn down, in which case I will play all four.
Kamal Haasan is having fun, so why shouldn't I have him? I know I can get away with a lot of things today. That could have made me complacent, but I have just become more demanding of myself. I try to give the audience a little more than what they expect. If there are six ways to play a scene, I will find a seventh.
Getting a Filmfare Award was a humbling experience. The audience out there gave me trophies that I will cherish as much as the first bronze medal I won in school. I owe the audience. A part of my earnings will go to charity and a part of me will go to them. I plan to come back from my break with a new package - a new improved Shah Rukh Khan. And I can do that only if I choose my roles carefully, like I always have.
How did you then land on Anjaam, which one industry bigwig described as Baazidarr, a cheesy mix of Baazigar and Darr?
I take full responsibility for that. I shot all the films simultaneously and I guess some expressions overlapped, though I made a conscious effort to avoid similarities. I had some scenes deleted; developed distinctive mannerisms for each character - the facial twitch in Baazigar, the stutter in Darr and the shoulder shrug in Anjaam. If people still think Anjaam is a Baazidarr, it just shows that I am an incompetent actor.
Was it a mistake to play three similar roles at the same time?
It was. I would have been quite happy just doing Anjaam. Aamir Khan was Yashji's first choice for Darr and I still feel that he should have done Darr - for himself, for the industry. And Salman should have accepted Baazigar. Then all three films would have been very different. I would have had healthy competition and would not have been solely responsible for setting a disturbing new trend (smiles).
Anjaam was certainly disturbing. Did you really enjoy making that film?
The Exorcist scared me... Anjaam too. Baazigar and Darr didn't. Does that answer your question? I make films for children and I wouldn't want them to see Anjaam. It's a little too morbid. Despite being the villain, I actually didn't turn out to be too bad. While others beat pregnant women and gnaw on flesh, I hit Madhuri Dixit only four times.
One of your colleagues says that only a retarded character can be forgiven for what you did in Baazigar and Anjaam?
But I don't think I have been forgiven. OK, I sang a Kaali kaali aankhen in Baazigar, but I died in the end after 18 roles. I didn't dance off with the girl into the sunset. In Darr and Anjaam too, I finally pay for my sins. However, don't complain: in Abbas-Mustan's version of A Kiss Before Dying, I overplayed the situation, in Darr I was mad and in Anjaam I was just pompous. I had to learn a lesson. So I think I will forgive my colleague too. I would have been violent if he had said that the person playing these roles was retarded.
Today, it seems that every actor wants to play a negative role.
I wouldn't call my roles in Baazigar, Darr or Anjaam negative, the characters were more human, less heroic. I saw all the Hollywood films where the hero has shades of grey - Pacific Heights, The Enemy in My Bed, Silence of the Lambs, Cape Fear, Awakenings... (laughs loudly) Fingers crossed that hopefully nobody thinks of making Hindi versions of these.
Wrong! Arbaaz Khan has been cast as an anti-hero in a remake of The Enemy in My Bed.
Any actor can play negative roles. The point is - can they be as good as me? I think I really fit the role with my arched eyebrows. You will have to take a trip to the beautician first (loud laughter). My face is not as clean-cut as Salman's or as cute as Aamir's. I am just an ordinary guy who looks OK, which makes it easy for me to slip into any role. I can never be pigeonholed. My age also works in my favor. I can work with a newbie or an older actress without looking miscast. Also, the intensity that such roles demand is in my blood.
But the trilogy was enough. I think I am the most 'beaten' actor in the industry. All the heroes have beaten me badly, even the heroine has beaten me to pieces. Bas bahut ho gaya, I set the trend, let others follow.
What roles would you like to play now?
I want to play James Bond... do films like Beverly Hills Cop. No, nothing like Jalwa, my version will be very different, just wait and see. Rain Man should also be interesting. Intense, emotional with a lot of scope for good acting. I also want to do a film that revolves around a boxer. Wham, bam... great action. I long to do a Jean-Claude van Damme kind of film, action through and through. The highlight of the film should be the fights. You know what? Even though I have played the negative roles, I have not held a gun yet.
There's Karan Arjun, in which you play a master marksman.
Yes, but I still need shooting practice. Apart from that, I really enjoy working with Rakesh Roshan. This time, I'm a typical Hindi film hero, no excuses. I sing, dance, smile, cry and jump off roofs... it's fun.
What about Guddu? Supposedly you learn skydiving for the climax.
Guddu is very much a Rajesh Khanna type of film. I play a man dying of cancer. Sobs, sobs and more sobs. Thankfully there is a thrilling last-minute climax... and I would have loved to do the paragliding scenes but Gauri wouldn't let me. As soon as she reads this, she will totally forbid me from going anywhere near an aircraft. I know I could have.
In Deewana, I had to do that dangerous car chase. Everyone was paralyzed but I was convinced that no one would get hurt. Of course, my luck will run out every now and then. In Darr, I injured my shoulder and in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, I almost lost an eye during a simple bike shoot.
Your risky move of distributing Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa in Bombay has paid off. Will you distribute more films now?
I had decided that if KHKN made a profit, I would take over distribution of ODYHI and maybe even English Babu Desi Mem. This way I can ensure that my films are not overpriced and that the producer will get a share of the surplus. These films are particularly dear to me and the profit would stay in the family in a way.
Your face dominated the posters of Maya because you were the most marketable star in the cast. Will you resort to such distribution gimmicks for Oh Darling… too?
It depends on how well I do then. There are about 60 characters in the film but the story revolves around Javed Jaffri, the quintessential Hindi film hero, though I am the one called Hero and Deepa Sahi is Miss India. They have important roles, as do I. So I see nothing wrong with my face dominating the posters. When I distribute a film, I have to think like a businessman. Oh Darling… is a very colourful film, visually powerful. With lots of songs and dances. An Indian West Side Story. If it can help sell the film, why not?