Triumphant!
Nobody is perfect. Jolted by this truism, last year's films painted their protagonists in that often avoided colour - grey. And most actors were not ready to embrace this new colour. No wonder there was a literal fuss about who had left a project and who had entered it.
Shah Rukh Khan broke the taboos and both the audience and the critics reacted spontaneously as soon as Baazigar was released. It was an intuitive yet well-modulated performance. Darr soon followed close behind Baazigar. And once again Shah Rukh was the hottest candidate in film town.
As expected, the hitman Khan featured prominently in the nominations. The awards day arrived and the actor went home with two trophies - the Critics Award for his performance as the hopelessly in love boy in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and the Best Actor Award for his inspiring portrayal of the diabolical Baazigar. For the first time in the history of the Filmfare Awards, two awards for acting went to the same actor. Here, the actor responds to a barrage of questions during a break from shooting one of his films, which is being shot in the relative tranquility of Madh Island:
Is winning important?
Of course it is. I am a sportsman, I love awards. I have kept every trophy and medal I have won; even the one I got for a balloon race when I was in kindergarten. Gauri is always storing away whatever junk I collect, but I don't have the heart to throw it away.
Ever since I saw the Filmfare trophies at Hemaji's (Hema Malini) house, I have wanted one. As soon as I moved into my new house, I bought a display case. Now I just have to fill it with the Filmfare statues. I have already got three; I plan to add at least one to the collection every year. And why not? I am one of the best actors on the scene today.
That was really an achievement in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. You could almost forget that you were acting.
That's why of all the characters I have played, I feel closest to Sunil from Kabhi Haan... I could identify with almost every shot, every emotion. I thought of Gauri when I meet Anna, explain myself to her and then realise that she is in love with someone else. At one point, I almost started hating Deepak Tijori. The scene where I see him kissing Anna really shook me. I kept seeing Gauri's face instead of Anna's. I just turned around and ran away. It was a close-up but I was running away from the camera.
Would you have let Gauri go so easily?
But Sunil doesn't let Anna go so easily. When she asks him in the church, 'Anghooti mili?' a simple 'haan' would have made it a Rishi Kapoor-style sacrifice, it would have won him the sympathy of the audience. But I told Kundan Shah, forget the script; I wanted to do what I felt at that particular moment. And looking at the ring lying there, I thought, maybe... just maybe... if I said 'No!' and the ring was not found, I would have a chance with Anna. It was a last-ditch effort. There was a little devil inside me riding me... Sometimes Sunil reminds me of my dog Chewbacca. (Grins) I have copied some of his expressions.
But didn't the distributors insist on a more conventional ending?
Yes, they would have liked me to say to Anna, "It's okay, I never loved you" and smile bravely. Then my mother would have come and put her hand on my shoulder and nodded understandingly... It would have been another Saagar.
Sunil recovers immediately from his unrequited love. A smiling Juhi Chawla asks him for direction and you can almost feel the beginning of a new romance.
No, Sunil is not sliding into another romance. If you notice, Juhi goes in the opposite direction before pulling her back. We wanted to leave the impression that maybe this time it would work for him or maybe it would be a no again. I wanted Goga Kapoor to speak that. Courage does not mean the ability to face death; it means the ability to face life... Actually, we had worked on three different endings.
What were the other two endings like?
(Enthusiastic) A despondent Sunil is standing on the bridge after Anna's wedding festivities are over. A girl comes and stands next to him. He indifferently asks her what she is doing there and she tells him that his friend Yazdi has promised to meet her here at 6 pm. With a twinkle in his eye, he tells her, "No, Yazdi will not come at 6 pm, but at 7 pm. He asked me to treat you to ice cream."
For the third ending, I had developed an interesting quirk for Sunil. Whenever he is happy, he goes down on his knees and starts walking on all fours. He never stumbles. But towards the end, after dancing with the bride and assuring her that they will always be friends, he tries this walk again and for the first time in his life, he falls on his face. Eventually, we had to cut out this little quirk. Even the exaggerated Charlie Chaplin walk had to be cut; it was used only when Sunil is angry and hurt. The walk was a character in itself. I had based it on the way Saeed Mirza's son Zaheer walks. Kundan and I had also thought of a new look for Sunil. A little clumsy, glasses as thick as bottle glass, protruding teeth... something similar to Mehmood in Main Sunder Hoon. But that was not possible for commercial reasons.
Couldn't the film have been cut short? It went on and on till the last reel.
The film ends after this song, Albela. We had planned to call the film Albela and the song was written with that in mind but we couldn't get the approval for the title. The second half was just a summary. But I liked the concept of shooting stars. When Juhi excitedly points to a shooting star, he says to it, "Yahan to toote sitare girte rahte hain." Sunil is like a shooting star himself, his shine comes and goes.
People have said that I played a negative role in both Darr and Baazigar, but I think Kabhi Haan... was my first anti-hero film. Sunil is a failure; he fails his exams and even loses the girl. He lies, cheats and doesn't return home with a silver trophy. And yet he is lovable. I remember something Shekhar Kapur told me a long time ago, “There is nothing special about being special, it is special about being ordinary.”
How can you say Baazigar wasn't an antihero? He plans, tricks and kills three innocent people.
But you have to understand that this man has seen his father and little sister die right in front of his eyes, he has watched his mother suffer for years... He has been planning his revenge for 15 years. It is what he lives for.
But couldn't he have taken revenge just by taking over Dalip Tahil's business and home? Was it necessary to murder Shilpa Shetty?
I admit that he overreacted to the situation. But the fall was a cliffhanger. Nothing had happened up to that point, then suddenly with a violent nudge, the audience realises in shock that the guy with the glowing eyes is EVIL. There is no villainous doppelganger lurking somewhere in the background. The solution to the problem is typical of a Hindi film. The bad guy dies. However, there is no glorification of his death.
I don't look sadly at Kajol or ask Siddharth to take care of her. Instead, I report matter-of-factly to Raakheema, "Ma, I have killed those who hurt you." She is not pleased. But a wrong has been avenged.
Many people think that the success of Baazigar and Darr could start a disturbing new trend on and off screen.
Well, as far as films are concerned, I know that a lot of newcomers are being launched in negative roles. Like Salman's brother Arbaaz. I think to some extent I am responsible for that trend. Only a year before, an established actor like Aamir Khan was skeptical of being beaten by another star. I took the risk. I got beaten black and blue by an actor who is probably just a little bit bigger and certainly more established than me. My wife didn't like that. In Baazigar, I became a murderer.
Those two films could have ended my career; instead, they set a new trend. Nobody can say that I was the villain in any of those films. You wouldn't call Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs or Robert De Niro in Cape Fear a villain, would you? I think both characters were almost heroic.
In what way?
Haar kar jeetne wale ko Baazigar kehta hai… that was a hero's speech. Tu mere saamne was sung in a real stud farm. The Holi incident in Darr where I throw gulal at Juhi was almost Bachchanesque. And when I tell a maudlin story to the girl at the ticket counter at the airport and find out that Mr and Mrs Sunil Malhotra have flown to Goa… people in the audience giggled appreciatively. That was wonderfully over the top. I tried to be like Robert De Niro and everyone reacted with amusement. I have noticed that everyone loves a panga, if you can get away with it, all the better. I think Juhi was overreacting to my calls. No one else was frightened. No, not even the children. At present I am haunted by cries of Sh… Sh… Shah Rukh.
But is a psychopath really worth idolising?
Raakheema called me a few days before the Filmfare awards and told me that I didn't deserve an award. She was particularly upset about the nomination for Darr. She thinks I should be ostracised for killing Annu Kapoor (the former school friend who died of drugs) in the film. I tried to explain to her that I hadn't killed Annu. I had just used his death. To be honest, I think both Darr and Baazigar are 80 per cent less gruesome than some of the films being made today. If they are perceived as brutal, it is because of my performance. But a character cannot be arbitrarily more or less real than the story. If someone sees Terminator tomorrow, it doesn't mean they will go on a rampage. Or that people will go looking for their twins because of Aankhen. Please give the audience a little more credit for intelligence! Thanks to STAR and MTV, even children are no longer media illiterate.
Aren't you in danger of being fixed? In your next release Anjaam, you play a villain again.
Anjaam was the first negative role I signed for. The character is like the one Don Johnson played in Guilty As Sin. He is a business tycoon - rich, slick and cool.
He is not as obsessed with the woman as I was in Darr. He likes her, maybe even loves her and he would like to sleep with her. He proposes more casually. It is an intense role, Rahul (Rawail) wanted my character to come as a surprise but after Baazigar and Darr, I don't think it will be anything new. Anyway, I enjoyed working with Madhuri Dixit. She is a real professional, unlike many new heroines.
Shouldn't Rekha play the role that went to Madhuri? She has stated that she herself suggested the title - Anjaam.
Rekha would have been perfect for the role as the woman in the film is supposed to be older than me. I think the script was discussed with her but at one point even Juhi and Sridevi were considered. Juhi was cast in Rahul's next project opposite Ajay Devgan... Sridevi had some scheduling issues. Then one day Rahul told me that Madhuri was keen to do the film and one day she turned up on the sets. As for the title, as far as I know, the original title was Maznoon-Majnu ka junoon. My cheques still have that as the film name.
Coming back to Darr, it is said that the emotional climax was a last-minute encore because Yash Chopra wanted to cash in on the success of Baazigar.
Nonsense! If anyone is upset, it is me. Three of my best scenes were edited and I only came to know about it during the first test run. But I am too much of a professional to complain. The film was too long, drastic cuts were required. The only scenes that were to be cut were Anupam's, but at the beginning where he did not have much of a role. Some of my scenes were repetitive but important to the plot.
That was entirely the director's decision. Such things happen. I was ruthlessly objective while editing Baazigar. Some of my best scenes with Raakheema were cut. There was no question of cashing in on Baazigar. If it had not been for Sunny's back problem, Darr would have released before Baazigar.
Then why is Sunny upset? He apparently turned up at Yash Chopra's office before the release and gave him his opinion.
I have heard the rumours but I don't think Sunny would behave like that. In the eight months I have met him; I think he is a real gentleman. I think some people around him tried to stir up trouble. If Sunny had any complaints, we could have sorted things out during dubbing. I admit that some scenes were shot with duplicates because Sunny's back was not cooperating and I had injured my shoulder. We were aware of what was happening. In fact, when we were shooting on the boat during the climax, Sunny saved my life. I leaned against an iron railing and suddenly it gave way. It was a 15-foot fall, had I fallen down there, it would have been the end of Shah Rukh Khan. But Sunny grabbed me and pulled me up at the risk of his own life. If he was really upset, wouldn't he have wanted to finish off his rival for good? (Smiles)
Then why didn't he shoot the song Ishaq da rog bura or appear at the film premiere?
He was supposed to be there for the premieres but when we reached Bangalore, we got a message that he could not make it. They were shooting the fight scene of Ghatak, he could not go away. As for the song, I think it was not required. It was just the Yash Chopra touch - a boisterous folk number. It appeals to the northern audience. Incidentally, one of my favourite songs in Baazigar, Sanjh ke chand... had to be edited. We had already overshot the mark, we had a choice of Baazigar o Baazigar, Siddharth's song at the party or dropping this one. Since it was yet to be filmed, this one got the axe.
Is it true that Kaali kaali aankhen was going to be made into a film with Johnny Lever?
Yes, we had the idea of Johnnybhai doing the song in the get-up of an African dancer, but I was also part of the number. Kajol and I have fallen out, she is sad when I come to the club. There is this action, to cheer her up, I go backstage and grab one of the dancers' outfits. So my clothes were quite weird. When we went to shoot the song, we realised that even if I wore weird clothes and made faces, I could get away with it.
If you remember in the earlier scenes where I am flirting with Shilpa, I was exaggerating like a typical comedian and this would be just an extension of that. Also, the song was quite long with quite a lot of rap lines. In the end, we could only use two of the four antaras and I felt I could go on like this for a long time. It turned out quite well; my only sorrow is that i couldn't do the MC Hammer imitation that i had trained for the song. Maybe i will use it in one of my new projects, maybe in Kohinoor.
There were rumours that recently during the shooting of Karan Arjun in Alwar, Salman Khan and you saved Mamta Kulkarni from a mob attack.
Mamta had already left. Only a few of the dancers, Salman and I were left, with a crowd running into thousands. It was a remote village, it was a Sankranti holiday, the locals involved in the crowd scene were agitated to be so close to Salman and me. Before we knew what was happening, they started running towards us. There were policemen nearby, but they did not want to take action against the locals, so they remained at a safe distance.
The crowd surrounded us in a tight circle. Chinni Prakash's dancers... some of them were girls who could not have been more than 16 or 17... were frightened. They clung to Salman and me and shouted, "Bhaiya hamen bachao." I was actually a little scared by the sheer size of the crowd. I knew they meant no harm, but it was still a pretty scary experience. Eventually, we escaped unscathed.
Aren't you taking your bad boy image a little too literally? Did you have to throw your fists at Subhash Ghai's party because the waiter wouldn't give you a drink?
That's just not true. I didn't lose my temper over a drink, I was upset because the manager was being very stubborn, he just refused to serve dinner. You must know that I almost didn't go to the party but Subhashji is a great guy, he even gave me a day off from Trimurti so it would have been silly of me to stay away. I came straight from the studio, hungry and tired. As soon as the formalities were over, Gauri and I decided to leave. But Subhashji insisted that one of his men bring us some khana (food). As Gauri and I were walking towards the tables, a quirky looking guy stopped us saying that the buffet was not ready yet. Subhashji's husband laughed and said, "Arre he is our star, open the buffet." And the guy had the nerve to say, "Stars aasmaan mein hote hain Zameen pe nahin." I ignored the jibe and went for something cold to drink.
Gauri realised that things were getting out of control, she said, "Let's go!" I started towards the door but the man again ambushed me. He said, "Sir, don't talk to me like that." I would have hit him then but Gauri pulled me away. If I had hit him, he would have been unable to speak for two weeks. Despite what was reported in the press, it has been 15 years since I hit a guy. Since then I have been busy playing the hero.