One on One
Jitesh Pillai
Never on a Sunday. That's as true for the bosses in showbiz as it is for the tots.
But that's the problem with Shah Rukh Khan, every minute of the week. He just won't... relax. Still cutting through the air with his fiery one-liners, he's in a recording studio dubbing the dialogues of bechara (poor) Babloo from Duplicate. He's doing a double role for the first time, fully charged. No batteries needed.
That his daily schedule is busier than a cabinet minister's diary would be too obvious. There's no point in making a dent in that. In fact, quibblers like me would be well advised to strap quick wings to their battered sneakers while he trudges between studios with SRK. Run, man, run... or you'll miss all the fun.
And why not? After all, film people swear that Shah Rukh Khan has topped the star ratings. He is the genetically engineered star of the chic 90s - muchos gracias for that strangely casual demeanor and those more than deep dimples.
He has been crowned and awarded recently. In Delhi, he received the National Citizen's Award from President KR Narayanan. He strutted away with the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Dil To Pagal Hai and a host of other trophies.
Throughout March he jetted around Singapore, Switzerland and Australia, performing non-stop at concerts, mobbed by crowds. Exuberant fans showered him with gifts for his four-month-old son.
The new daddy can be a megastar and the guy next door with equal bliss. He can wear the same baggy trousers two days in a row and yet drive the flashiest Pajero and Mercedes in the course of a single day. The contradictions jump out at you.
All in all, the right moment to meet today's hot new Khan.
I promptly blurt out that he has been anointed the current No. 1 hero. The monarchs of the market have even rated him awwal (best) on a scale of 1 to 10. His closest rival is at, er, number 11. Has he turned his back on the squinting competition? In return, he asks with noticeable irony, "Do you think they are really catching up? Ha!"
I ask him to get serious. Does he think he is No. 1 or not? "Personally, I have a long way to go," he muses. "Going by the trade numbers, I will only be in a comfortable position if my next four releases are absolute super hits like Dil To Pagal Hai."
SRK observes that the trade sages can be merciless, "Actors who rate themselves highly should spend some time with the trade pundits. They are ruthless. If, God forbid, one or two of your films don't do well, they will destroy you.
At times I have been told that I only target the urban audience... that my films don't work in the hinterlands. All this is really quite confusing. So I try not to be put off by trade facts and figures. I will just keep on playing better."
Theek hai (fine). Now, could he please tell me something? Is he turned on by the money he makes? A pause, a cackling laugh and he says, "These days, only Mani Ratnam turns me on. The other kind of money comes and goes. It's no big deal."
Yes? Then how come he has done an ad for a brand associated with alcohol? "Hey! I have already sold my soul for Hindi films," purrs SRK. "So it's OK if I do advertising. I am not promoting alcoholic drinks at all; I am only promoting the soda of that brand. I need money for my house; I have to secure my son's future. I need money to become financially stable. If that means promoting everything from colas to condoms, that's fine with me." A mischievous grin and he explains, "On closer inspection, I don't want to promote condoms. I am just promoting what I practice."
The conversation meanders towards his current film projects. His brandy-coloured eyes light up as he muses, "I consider the special effects in Duplicate to be of international standard. For the first time, a double role will not look cheap... as it does when two scenes are spliced together. (Producer) Yash Johar has spent lakhs on a technically high-quality scene of just five minutes... and the visuals are as routine as those in Michael Keaton's Multiplicity."
I note that the film market has claimed that Mahesh Bhatt was an assistant director on Duplicate. According to the rumours, a lot of the footage was shot by Bhatt's assistants. Shah Rukh himself is said to have supervised most of the post-production and rewrote parts of the script and dialogues.
To this, the actor grumbles disapprovingly, "Not true at all... Bhatt saab is a very democratic director. He likes to let the young members of his crew handle things. At the end, he adds the finishing touches.
Duplicate is a teamwork product. We all made our suggestions, which were either accepted or rejected by Mahesh Bhatt. The rumour that I handled the post-production is as true or false as Juhi Chawla, Anu Malik or Javed Akhtar directing Duplicate. Got it?"
Got it. Shah Rukh also reminds me of the multiple problems that plagued Duplicate. Juhi Chawla's mother Mona passed away due to a freak accident just as the shoot was about to begin in Prague.
SRK recaps, "When Juhi's mother passed away, Yashji (Johar) immediately cancelled the entire schedule. I know of some producers/directors who continued shooting even when their artists were shaken by a personal tragedy.
We went through really tough times. For a while, Juhi was not sure if she wanted to continue with Duplicate... as she had lost her mother during the shoot. But time heals. Once she came to terms with her loss, she threw herself into the film as if her very life depended on it."
SRK gets angry and fires off a salvo, "Duplicate is not a film for the critics. It is a fun film for children. We even thought of a premiere for children only. If the bacha log (kid crowd) want to, they can bring their parents."
Misfortune seldom comes alone. SRK would agree, with all the high-profile projects he has done with directors of the calibre of Mani Ratnam and Mansoor Khan. "All my directors have one common goal," he observes. "And that goal is quality. Mani only competes with himself. He is so confident about what he wants.
In just 45 days, I have almost completed shooting and dubbing for Dil Se. I have only one song and some action scenes left. Mani considers me part of his creative team; he even lets me see the samples of Dil Se, a privilege he has never granted to any of his actors before. And you know what? I may sound arrogant, but I am simply brilliant in Mani's film. You can't shake that.
As for Josh, I never question Mansoor Khan's logic. He shoots, re-shoots if he is not happy with the results - hours are spent in discussions. And I love that. Because I know that if we are to make a great film, I have to trust the director's instincts and judgements."
SRK opens a can of Coke. The Coke fizzes out. "I think a great film is only possible when at the end of a day's shoot, the actor and director can look each other in the eye and say, 'Thank God we're making the same film' or 'We messed it up big time.'"
We hurry home from the recording studio. Our hero has to grab a quick bite to eat and check on his little bundle of joy, Aryan. Once in his little kingdom, SRK excuses himself to freshen up, I stroll to the terrace to take a breath of the salty sea air.
A freshly scrubbed Shah Rukh Khan and the lingering scent of aftershave snap me out of my thoughts. I continue my interrogation.
Have his experiences babysitting opened up a whole new world for him? "Absolutely," he replies. "Just watching Gauri feed, bathe and change Aryan was a lesson for me. Now I can understand what my mom must have gone through. When I see my wife and child together, I feel that they have created a perfect universe between them. I don't even want to let my breath come between them. Earlier, when Gauri got too close to anyone, I would get jealous. But when I see her with Aryan, I just feel love, love and then more love."
He adds, "I haven't fully understood parenting yet... but I can understand a mother's feelings for her son. And what makes all this even more beautiful and touching is that after all this care, my son will come to us in 25 years and say, 'But mom, dad, you just don't understand.'"
SRK makes me look at his beautiful baby, swaddled in a cradle that resembles a picnic basket. The delicate chick responds to its father's coos and pecks. Aryan returns the favor with a chuckle for Shah Rukh's chatter.
The idyll is disturbed by the fact that the actor has another shoot to go to. SRK never takes himself too seriously. Although he is aware of the power of his public image, there is no attempt to create an aura of mystery. Rather, he recognises the absurdity of belonging to a fantasy world. "Success is personal," he ejaculates. "Some actors may find jumping from the 21st floor exciting. Then in their next film they aspire to do a stunt of jumping from the 30th floor. Maybe that's their idea of success. It's not mine.
I'm constantly battling with myself. My immediate fear is - how do I get better than I was in Dil To Pagal Hai?"
As his Pajero makes its way through traffic, SRK tries to demystify the aura surrounding actors and actresses of the 90s. "Most actors are lazy and boring," he explains. "They live in a world of illusion. They get lakhs of rupees and all you hear them say is, 'Oh, it's so hot'. Or a spot boy says, 'Aaj madam ka mood theek nahin hain' (Today madam is in a bad mood). That is really the height of silliness. You don't get lakhs for your bad mood.
I don't want to sound arrogant but when it comes to work, I go to any lengths. I try to create a new wonderful mood on the sets even if I end up hurting myself emotionally. But then again, I'm a masochist. I don't think it's OK if I don't go home feeling like I've suffered."
Next up: I wonder if the actor who has aped the mannerisms of everyone from Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan to Rajesh Khanna and Jim Carrey has finally developed his own style. Curling his lips, he snaps, "I don't know if there will ever be a Shah Rukh Khan acting style. But maybe there will be a Shah Rukh Khan acting method. Which means I never try to steal a co-star's scene or appropriate their pithy dialogues. Even if Madhuri Dixit, God bless her, has said that about me.
Secondly, I don't judge. I don't mind a co-star's personal or sexual preferences, his or her approach.
And lastly, I am a very positive person. I honestly believe that I don't have a single negative bone in my body.
If an aspiring actor has all these qualities, then I will say, 'Hey, he did it Shah Rukh Khan's way.' In the meantime, I will continue to ape the actors I like. I just used the Mickey Rourke-style swaying walk in Josh. And there is a devilish expression of Jack Nicholson's that I want to use in Badshah." Khan's
Pajero screeches to a halt in front of the lifelike set of a port town in Goa. The scene of the day is an ultra-dramatic confrontation between SRK and Aishwarya Rai. Mansoor Khan, the perfectionist, gives the go-ahead for the shots after much deliberation and as many re-takes.
Later, a crowd of film mandarins including the likes of Ratan Jain, Rajiv Mehra, Raj Kanwar and K. Sashilaal Nair vie for Khan's attention. He gives each of them a once-over before returning to me. Two hours have passed.
Irritated, I accuse him of short-circuiting me. I also suggest that for all his bluster about making films only with those filmmakers he can identify with, he is quite a… oops… profiteer. Like it or not, he seems to go after the successful guys, be it Yash Chopra, Rakesh Roshan or Subhash Ghai.
Instead of grabbing me by the scruff of the neck, he explains with patronising patience, “In this entertainment industry, you have to have a sensitive soul, be a profiteer and an entrepreneur. I am all of these things and more.
I am often told that I make arrogant statements which I conveniently forget later. Yes, I often take everything back. I cannot live by a set of rules all the time. At least I have the courage to admit that I have messed up. I am ready to make amends.
Yes, I did not share Rakesh Roshan’s vision while making Karan Arjun, but I admired his convictions. That is why I made Koyla. A film I am proud of. Even if Rakeshji or Subhashji were to offer me a film today that appealed to me, I would happily do it."
I tease him further, why he doesn't make films with Urmila Matondkar, Tabu and Mahima Chaudhary instead of his usual favourites Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit and Kajol? He replies dead serious, "I only have a say in the choice of my directors. I choose who I work with. But I have no say in the choice of heroines.
Maybe some of the films I rejected had the heroines you mentioned. But I rejected those films because I didn't like the scripts... and not because of the heroines. Anyway, didn't I do Pardes with Mahima when she was a total newbie? So what's the fuss about it? I'm sure I'll be working with Tabu too, soon."
He keeps shrugging his shoulders, as if shaking off some vermin. Shrugging again, he tells me, "An actor has to learn two kinds of love - love for his art and love for art."
How was that? Sounds strange, I say, almost squinting. Giving me a dry look, he says, "And what if it sounds contradictory? Acting is a solo profession... You have to look within and create something new. And yet you must not alienate yourself from people. You have to reach out to everyone. Only then can you stay rooted in reality.”
Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “You know what? Every time I act, every time I’m in front of the camera, I feel reborn. Acting frees my mind.”
For most actors of his generation, Lee Strasberg might as well be an iceberg in Alaska. Yet our hero is intelligent enough to discuss everything from method acting to Michael Jackson’s gyrating pelvis. “My father used to say that my education should enable me to read and understand everything from the newspaper to the municipal gazette in a government office,” he explains.
We’re back on the road again, talking about lesser-known roles. And he tells me what a film critic once said about himself. Paraphrased, the statement sounds something like, “I know little. But what I do know, I know better than anyone else. I know what I think about acting and actors. Nobody can change that because my opinion is fixed.” Shah Rukh believes he is very similar to that critic. He knows his mind and no one can change his way of thinking.
And what does the man with brains have in mind for the future? Any well-founded plans for posterity? Without pausing, the master of jokes parries, "I only make plans for my success, not posterity. Ha!"