„Sanjay and I cried remembering our mothers.“ Shah Rukh gets sentimental
Sonali V. Kotnis
The avenue leading to the victory stand is paved with landmines and no one should know this better than Shah Rukh Khan. Ever since he grabbed the limelight, it has never turned away from him. Every rung on the ladder of success has been fraught with controversy.
If it is not his performances that are talked about, it is his attempt to step into Bachchan's shoes, his attempt to annoy Anil by challenging him at his own game (this was evident in the clash at the shows recently) and his support of the controversial Sanjay Dutt with a public show of solidarity.
Sitting in the back seat of my car, as I drum on the steering wheel, we steer the conversation from Amitabh to Anil to Sanjay Dutt.
Shah Rukh Khan is the man of the hour. So much so that his success is measured in relation to the proven success called Amitabh Bachchan. What does he have to say about it? "I think if you are constantly compared to Amitabh Bachchan, at a certain point you too start to think in the same way. That is not right because the man has been in the industry for more than 25 years and has tremendous work experience behind him."
This seems to be the only encounter between Shah Rukh Khan and modesty. Arrogance seems to be a birthright. Arrogance that had warmed up the dispute over the shows. A war between two promoters transcended into the royal battle between Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor.
"There are a lot of rumours everywhere. Even in films, they say yeh film chal gayee woh film pit gayee. The same is true in the case of the show too, but the sad thing is that they wasted a lot of energy saying how bad our show was. As far as their show is concerned, I am not in a position to comment on it as I have not seen it. Although I would love to see the performances of Amitabh, Sridevi, Anil Kapoor and Juhi. If they say their show was better than ours, it must be really amazing as our show was breathtaking.
I can't make any claim that my show was the best. However, I can make a claim that I'm the best, knowing that nobody can touch me. I'll tell you an anecdote. There was this street in New York where five burger joints were open. Each of them made high claims -- one of them said there's no one better than me in the city, another said there's no one better than me in the state, the world and the universe. Then there was this little stand. He said the burger he sold was the best in the neighborhood. So you see, a nice way to look at things is to say I'm the best, instead of thinking how bad others did it and how better you did it. It's good to be better, but the best thing is to be the best. Look, I'm not hurting anyone by saying that, and it's a positive way to look at things. That's how I've always been. Earlier, when I started my career and I was working in Circus, I used to make these statements which my friends like Ashutosh Gowariker Makrand Deshpande etc. found very crazy. They are guys who have toiled in the industry. They used to laugh at me, thinking what will this motivated Delhiwala know about the running of the industry. I am sure they had mentally written me off. When they meet me today, they also laugh but this time because they are happy that I have made it on my own terms.
If my attitude is described as arrogant, then I would rather be that than a humble hypocrite.”
On the other hand, what happens when the arrogance creates animosity? He had walked out of a long-standing engagement, Ketan Desai's Dum Dum Diga Diga, rumoured to be because he cannot look Anil in the eyes after the shows.
"Yes, I can't look Anil Kapoor in the eyes, his hair is in the way... and mine too. Look, I didn't leave Dum Dum Diga Diga because of the show controversy. Ketan wanted to start the film very quickly. It's a damn good role, a script I feel close to and I'm sure Ketan will put his whole life into it to make it perfect. I don't have the dates to give them at the moment. But Ketan put pressure on me to accept it, two days, three days at a time. Then he said he would start the rest of the film without me, that's something I don't want to do anymore. I want to complete a film from start to finish. Actually, it was me who suggested Govinda's name and I personally went to him and asked him to take over the film. I am still committed to the company, I have their signing money and may do their next film."
Why have there been rumours that he is looking for a showdown with Anil Kapoor? "Do you think any of us have the courage?"
Agreed. But the argument seems to stubbornly follow its favorite child. The show party had barely unpacked its luggage when disaster struck once again.
On June 5, Sanjay Dutt was arrested after his bail plea was rejected by the court. This time, the entire film industry stood behind its enfant terrible and marched to the Thane jail to show solidarity with the incarcerated star. A gesture that was meant to boost the prisoner's morale but ended up exposing his perpetrators to criticism. Tempers flared at the thought that this was the film industry's battle against the country's justice system. As part of the gang that visited the jail, Shah Rukh was as stubborn as ever.
"First, I will give you my views on the people who were involved in the bombing. I personally believe that if anyone has carried out such a horrific act, they should be punished very, very severely, and I also believe that no punishment is severe enough for them. Public hanging is available to them; public executions, that is the maximum that a democratic country can allow. I firmly believe that the people who killed 300 or more people in cold blood should not go unpunished. The culprit could be anyone, but it should really be proven that he was involved.
I do not claim to know whether Sanju is involved or not. I have full respect for the judiciary and the verdict that released him on bail. According to his own confession, he was in possession of a firearm. This is illegal, so he should be punished for it. If he is involved in the bomb blast, he should be punished severely. Sanjay is absolutely responsible for his act.
But as a human being, I have known Sanju for two and a half years and I want to believe that he is innocent. I pray to God that he has not done anything so barbaric because he is such a nice guy. There may be many people who will tell you so many not so good things about Sanju, it depends on personal experience. I think that he is a nice guy and if someone who is kind to you is locked up for some reason, even if the person has done something wrong, you go and talk to that person, pray for that person. Even if I had done something seriously wrong, my wife would still come to jail and bring me food, I hope, and would hope that I get away scot-free. That is human nature. We are not talking about the law here, we are talking about emotions. I want to pray for him. I don't usually pray.
Whatever jail time, bail sentence or fine he gets is because in his naivety, stupidity, goodness, badness, whatever, he committed a criminal offence and should be punished. It is not a small thing; he did not own a small knife. It is a big thing; one should not own a firearm like that. The AK 56 is the epitome of a weapon."
The foolish act of an individual who is now locked up has brought emotional and, more importantly, financial grief to those who are free. It was very tragic to see the fate of his producer. And they also have to face the misplaced anger from the people who handled his films. "Exactly. They are not hurting Sanjay Dutt, they are hurting his producers. What does Sanjay Dutt have to lose? If Aatish is taken out, it is the producer who made the film with a lot of money who is now sitting on the rubble and in debt. Is that fair? The producer has made no mistake in taking Sanjay Dutt."
One got the feeling that the show of solidarity and the gathering was largely an afterthought because the last time Sanjay was outspoken about his displeasure with the apathy of people in the industry.
"First let me clarify that this was not a rally. This was not a morcha, this was not a nara baazi, this was not at all meant to tell the judiciary to release Sanjay Dutt. This was not meant to say that Sanjay Dutt is right. We are not questioning the law; we were not even commenting on the law. We do not know the judiciary. This would be like a lawyer coming to me and telling me how to act. I will not interfere with the judiciary. We just wanted Sanjay to know that we are there for him. I am a friend and I was there and if someone tells me you can go and see Sanjay Dutt, I would go and meet him.
It was Jackie, Shashi and a few other people who said let's go and see him. Others joined in; they were very nice. It was a damn good gesture and they said we will also go and say 'we stand with you'. It wasn't to say we stand with you in your bad deeds. No, we just let him know that the people who know him feel for him. I am sure if he has done something wrong, I would stop thinking he is a nice guy. I would always think how could he do that, but somewhere in me there is a belief that he could not be so callous."
Why didn't you rally around him one last time? 'For many reasons, first, you are not aware of what has happened. It is not everyday that the whole of Bombay is bombed. Suddenly there is a bomb attack; there are riots and people attacking community A, B or C. So many die. It was not that Hindus were attacked or Muslims, everyone was attacked. I mean, I was afraid for my own safety. I was selfish, so much so that I sent my wife back to Delhi. You get up one day and suddenly the city is in flames. Second, you did not know how much Sanju was involved. Third, I think (I was never told personally), but according to his lawyers and all of them, you were supposed to keep a low profile. You knew nothing, the whole situation was so explosive. Now he has been out for 13 months. The main reason for this show of support was so that those guys who are still undecided about Sanju's involvement might start thinking positively and positive thinking is always welcome.
I know very little about the case. Hopefully the culprits will be found. Somehow Sanju is a public interest person and when the public cannot find anyone else to blame, they go for someone who is there, who is present. The logic here is that too much has been said about one person instead of the 47 others who were also involved."
Do you think if he wasn't Sanjay Dutt, things wouldn't have been so heated?
"There were 47 others who are not Sanjay Dutts, but nobody knows their names. But I wouldn't say Sanjay is being harassed. Actually, the judiciary has been very kind to him, they let him out on bail. I think that was really appreciated."
Would you react in the same way under the circumstances that Sanjay Dutt faced?
"Look, everyone has an individual personality. You ask me the question while I'm sitting in a closed car in the rain. Now, obviously I would say no, but if people call and talk meanly to my wife or me, I'm bothered. If it gets past a certain point, I might ask for police protection and if things get worse, I might want to own a gun, but I would go about it legally (which I did). But I'm not saying the situation is reason enough. I don't know the extent of the problems he had, but that is by no means an excuse to own a gun like that.
He must be very regretful for what he did and I really think he regrets it. I have been with Sanju for the last four or five months on set and I have never seen him take it lightly. He is at his breaking point to say the least and he understands the enormity of the situation and the reasons why he is in it. I know he has done something illegal. But I am sure if you go all over India and search all the houses, you will find many illegal weapons."
It was a hopeless situation. Because after the morcha, the press, be it national or regional, pounced heavily on Shah Rukh.
"I felt very miserable. I think I mess up a lot by thinking from the heart. I think I should only act from the heart on screen. I think in my personal life I should be more diplomatic. I should be a hypocrite, in other words I should suck up. As Gauri says, I should be more of a wimp."
To evoke such passion in Shah Rukh, he must have known Sanjay for some time.
"The friendship between Sanju and me is one that has developed over time. The first time we met was at a CAA meeting. Back then, I wouldn't have dared to call him Sanju, he was Mr. Sanjay Dutt, a guy who had success to his credit. I had a problem with some producers and the man just came to me and said 'Chal main tere saath chalta hoon.' (Don't worry, I'm by your side) I mean, who would do such a thing out of the blue?
The next time we met was when Chunky was throwing a birthday party for Sanju at his Madh Island bungalow and in the midst of all the merrymaking, we both sat down, remembered our mothers and cried. The scene was unusual. Can you imagine two men sitting in the middle of a celebration and crying their hearts out?
After that, we met at the shooting. Do you know that he used to get me cans of Coke even when he came out of court? He came to my house a few times and I went to see him, but since his arrest, I have only been there once to visit Bunty and see if they needed anything.
And yet there are those who will see some dubious intrigue behind this genuine camaraderie, some who will think the whole Sanjay-supporting thing is a front for a usurpation. "Yes, I stomped off to the jail to make sure Sanju was behind bars," he adds sarcastically. "We used to joke around about it. I used to joke, 'Yaar tu jayega saare picture main karoonga.' Let me say one thing, I am not greedy. I just turned down some big banners and a pile of money without giving it a second thought. I am content. I will be 29 this November. What do I lack? I have a beautiful wife, a posh house, a Pajero, prizes, getting paid, everything. I am successful; tell me, what more can I ask for? I pay my taxes and am more than happy with what is left. And if I have this burning desire to make more money, I'll just make a few ads and it doesn't matter if they're bad? It's smarter to make 50 bad ads than one bad movie. And why should I hoard money?"
For your descendants, I suggest. "Nonsense, they'll have to fend for themselves." And what is he looking forward to today in a broader sense?
"I think I have achieved more than what I set out to do, what I have not achieved is the National Award. As Gauri says, it is something to work for, but let me tell you that it is fleeting. When I lived in Delhi, my friends meant everything to me. I thought I could not live without them. But life goes on. Now I am in Bombay and I am still alive without having seen them for months. Today, success is important, but I believe one can live without it. If there is anything I miss in all this, it is my parents. If they were there to see my achievements, it would have been truly sone pesuhaga."
I saw a sentimental side of Shah Rukh when he spoke of his parents earlier. "My parents died really painfully. You know, for people who had never done anything wrong in their lives, I never saw them hurt anyone. In the Bible, it says that Jesus was God's ransom for the sins committed by humanity. Similarly, I think my parents too were God's ransom so I should have that success. Doesn't even Hindu philosophy say that children reap what their parents sow? My father was suffering from throat cancer and in the final stages he had lost his voice. We would play silent charades to decipher what he was trying to tell us. At every word we guessed, we would cheer and the message could be something as serious as, 'I am dying in pain.' It was so ironic that in the midst of the joy of understanding what he had to say, we understood the seriousness, the pathos, and went hunting for the doctor. We had become acquainted with all of his bedmates and every time we entered the hospital room and saw an empty bed, I felt a pang in my stomach. I became paranoid even when my father was only away for his chemotherapy and we just sat in silence until his bed was brought back to the room. I'm depressing you, aren't I?"
I digress to the first thing that comes to mind. How are your kind here, I ask, far removed from that topic.
"Sunil Shetty was the first to see the footage of Deewana and he came and congratulated me, 'I am scared of you, man', he said. Today Mohra is a hit, I am very happy for him. I remember once I visited him on the sets of Mohra because I was shooting in the same studio. Akshay and Sunil were doing a fight scene, I was hiding behind the extras, I didn't want my fight instructor to see me and expect me to do the same things."
Today, Shah Rukh Khan doesn't need to hide behind extras or maintain stoic silence. He has proved one thing to his critics. The same person who organized the Amitabh-Anil show came from New York to sign him. And despite being in the eye of the storm, Shah Rukh Khan is calling the shots.
He may be a flaming comet or a glittering star. A singed cat or a Bengal tiger. A charming Romeo or a dazzling Machiavelli. But never a loser.