I want to be a bigger star than Michael Jackson
Dinesh Raheja
Can Shah Rukh be as big as he wants to be?
Shah Rukh Khan should be heard, not read. Because you can read a lot between the expressions that escape the fine print. Since I had a deadline to meet and he had the flu, the meetings kept getting postponed and we met almost every day for a week.
And on each day I saw a different Shah Rukh Khan. On one occasion I heard him being reprimanded by his house help Chandra for not asking for a plate of noodles right away, on another I saw him on all fours, playfully snapping and growling at his feisty Pekingese Chewbacca, jumping around until Chewbacca almost chewed his hands off. Once again at Mehboob Studio, the moment I walk in I am reminded of Shah Rukh the star, his 'flu' the most hotly discussed topic among the cast and crew of Army. Yet another time, at Filmalaya, he was sitting with Robin Bhatt and Jain from Venus, joking and throwing digs at anyone and everyone, thankfully excluding those in the room, including yours truly. Then one day, sitting on his terrace 100 feet above Carter Road, he looked at his hand and said, "My lifeline is so short. I'm going to die young." And he laughed. But the Shah Rukh Khan I felt most comfortable with was the one who immersed himself in the delightfully comic Dumb and Dumber without the constant need to entertain. Supplying my colleague and me with regular cups of coffee, you only knew he was in the room when he chuckled or offered food ('Chips? Anyone want chips?') or cracked a joke about the film.
There's a lot about Shah Rukh Khan - good, bad, ugly. Ask me - I've just transcribed four tapes and edited 70 typed pages. And the last thing I remember is him saying to me, 'Come back tomorrow if you have any more questions.' I didn't.
An interview with Shah Rukh Khan, well it's not easy to compete with his vibrancy and vitality. And now, a week later, I have the flu!
Do you enjoy success?
I don't know if I enjoy it, but I've gotten used to it and I hope it won't be taken away from me.
Why?
I love it. I love being a star. I love that people love me and I hate it when people tell me I won't be successful forever. An astrologer said in your magazine that I won't always be this successful, so I hate him. If I meet him, I'll spit in his face. I love success and I don't know what I would be like if I wasn't successful. I want to be successful forever and ever. And I'm going to work very hard to make sure I hold on to it.
If you had the choice, what would be your priority in life - to succeed as a good person or a good actor?
First a good person and then a good actor. I have this strong belief that only good people can become good actors. I believe that is true for me.
But power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Have you noticed a decline in values now that you are at the top?
I am absolutely powerless. What is power then? It is completely wrong to think that a star or actor of my status or higher is in a position of power, you couldn't be further from the truth. Whatever time you take, you are practicing ass-kissing. There is no power.
If I were a star the size of Michael Jackson, I might sleep with little children. I hope I don't become like that.
I read in a book recently that once you start compromising in your mind, you are a candidate for mediocrity. Do you feel lately that in your hunger for success you are compromising, either in your choice of films or how you project yourself?
If you don't conform to certain accepted norms here, you are a rebel for no reason. And if you do what you are supposed to do, you are compromising. Personally, I think the film people and the media just don't have proper thought processes. I guess the uncertainty of the whole business makes you suspicious of everyone. So nothing you do is ever considered natural or honest or genuine. They either attribute a motive to you or criticise you for the lack of it.
I mean, sometimes I have not been too happy about making a film at the end, but when I started it, I was very happy. I have never started a film with the mindset that it is a compromise. Maybe I am compromising, but I am not aware of it. Maybe I refuse to recognize it.
Are you affected by 'Aajkal yeh chal raha hain' or 'Akshay ka market garam hai'? Do such thoughts influence your choice of films?
As for me, I have a very specific identity as an actor. I am very... I don't know how to pronounce the word... headstrong. I know that by the end of my film career, there has to be a certain standard, a certain sense of identity. Even my worst films stand out from others.
And yes, not that I am influenced by any other hero, but I want to do a complete run in the film factory. However, I think I am not good enough for it as of now. And if I am not good enough, no one else is.
What attracted you to a Karan Arjun? Doesn't that strengthen Shah Rukh the star more than Shah Rukh the actor?
Karan Arjun opened up a new vista for me. If I do another film which is completely commercial, like say Koyla, which will have the sheen of Rakesh Roshan, Karan Arjun will somehow help me get over the five to ten tenets in Hindi films which I thought I would never be able to say. I think I can say them now. Maybe not with the full conviction of a normal Hindi film hero, but am better prepared.
I really enjoyed this film. I had never worked with dance director Chinni Prakash before. I always felt that I would never be able to do his dances. I would do 'Kaali kaali aankhen' at night and 'Jaati hoon main' during the day, so I was in a big frenzy. Now I feel like abhi toh kuch bhi karega main.
In your earlier interviews, you have proudly stated that you came here to be an actor, not a star. Will the status quo remain?
Now the statement has changed - I am an actor. I have always maintained that I wanted fame so that the actor could flourish. Today, I am in a position where I can do the films I want to do. If I do a Kalpana Lajmi film in which I play a eunuch, I hope that people watch it, also because of my star status. It is important that such a film gets noticed, not just at the film festivals but also by the masses. Somehow, several forces have helped me do that so far - even with offbeat films like Baazigar, Darr, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na.
By the way, my standard for a star is very high. My benchmark of stardom is Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Amitabh Bachchan. I don't think I am a star of that calibre yet. I will consider myself a star when I am as big as or bigger than Michael Jackson. Right now I am not a star, I am still fighting.
So your search is a mix of both - commercial success and artistic aspirations?
I am also lucky that times have changed. A Dharmatma or a Lamhe was ahead of his time. But today with the influence of so much western culture, the music of MTV etc, things have changed. When Javed Jaffrey came into films, he was perhaps the best India had ever seen, but today Prabhu Deva is even more successful as we have now come into contact with an MC Hammer. Javed was ahead of his time. I was lucky that I was in the right place at the right time so that a film in which I killed a woman worked.
But for how long do you see yourself continuing to experiment? Even Amitabh gave up.
The actor in Mr. Bachchan is intimidated by his own image. Once he did Kabhi Kabhie within the release year of Deewar. And I think Kabhi Kabhie is an important experimental film for Amitabh's growth. If asked to list his five favourite films, I am sure Kabhi Kabhie will come up along with Sholay and Deewar. (for me personally, his best performance is in Saudagar with Nutan). Yet somehow Amitabh did not accept the fact that the experiments he did worked wonders. I miss the fact that he never tried things which are different. I hope he does when he makes a comeback. It must be quite disappointing for an actor when his image takes over like that.
Don't you also face a similar problem, considering that your image is that of an intense actor?
Especially, if there is an exciting action film that calls for a machine gun-wielding hero, it will go straight to Sunil Shetty or Akshay Kumar. They may not even give me a chance to try it out.
Would you like to try it?
Absolutely.
How do you plan to continue to avoid the pitfalls of image? The distributors, producers and audience taste dictate so much.
I will not allow that to happen. Similarly, now the music thing has become so big. But I make sure that the number is in my film only when required - like 'Kaali kaali aankhen'. I hate to see a song that doesn't seem to belong to the film. In Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, the music is shaped by the film rather than the period. I insist on that.
You cannot always get your way. There is such a thing as peer pressure. For example, you take commerce in college because your parents don't approve of art. You too have to face the pressure.
My parents never told me what to do. They let me do what I wanted. I was brought up in such a way that I would not listen to anyone. I am very stubborn. So far, it has helped me. I work very hard at whatever I do and people respect me for that. You know ki chalta hai ke nahin chalta, Shah Rukh bahut mehnat karta hai. I think now people have stopped coming to me
ke yeh karo, woh karo. All the distributors come and say to me 'Sir aapki picture sasti hoti hai (Shah Rukh is a star whose price has remained in the balance of 20 for a long time even after the tremendous fame), so we are happy with it'.
Well, would you say you have become more commercial in your mindset?
You know, all my producers and directors tell me that they find me amazingly commercial in my views. I am a show-off and I put myself on display. I am always in a frenzy when I act; I am a real stage actor. As soon as I know that this will make me laugh and some other people laugh too, I will go all out to do it. Even if it is a harebrained scene in a film, I will still go ahead and do it. I am not bound by logic. My director Lekh Tandon once told me, 'When you come to the studio, the moment you step on the set, leave logic at the threshold and act.' And I follow that to this day, unlike some actors who doubt too much. Of course, when I return home after shooting, I am plagued with 'Oh yaar maine aisa kyon kiya, waisa kyon kiya'.
So you take your work home. Do you think creative people shouldn't get married?
I am a very dependent person. You will have to stay in my house for two days to see how desperate I am without Gauri. It is natural to get married, to settle down with a girl, to have children. I think my wife is too good for me but I am not good enough for her. I would be lost without Gauri.
That is also a reason why I don't sign up for too many films. An actor has to stay in touch with people. Whenever she has a problem, she comes to me and I can solve it because I stay in touch with people. I am standing at the entrance of an ivory tower but I will refuse to go inside. I have to stay in touch.
I watched Gauri during the preview of Karan Arjun. She didn't seem very excited about watching the film.
To be honest, she doesn't like my profession or my performances.
Would you be happier if she was more understanding?
Yes. She is not insecure about me but this industry has a very bad reputation. She has seen my plays since she was 14-15 but she doesn't like me as an actor, except for an odd scene here and there. But I love the way she dances. I think maybe I love it because I feel guilty about not giving her enough time. You don't have to tell your mother I love you every two minutes as it is true love. You have to tell your girlfriend and your wife all the time. So to make a better impression I tend to overdo it, I start putting on an act. So I tell her, 'Gauri, dance for me. I love the way you dance.' And I don't even yawn! So it's a pretense. Unlike me, she is so genuine and sincere. That's what I love about her. If she's not interested, she's not going to say, 'So what did you do at work today?' Not like that stops me from telling her anyway. One day I want to convince her that I'm a big star.
You say that at times you feign interest in what Gauri is doing. And when you compliment Madhuri and Govinda, are you sincere?
Do you know why I sound so pompous? When I feel I have done something well, I say, 'Oh f--- I am the best'. So I can take credit for it in another actor too. Madhuri's movements in Nazrein mili are very Saroj Khan, but she is amazing. When I saw Coolie No 1, I was equally in a very happy state. And I thought Govinda was the best entertainer we have.
Govinda entertains on screen. You feel the need to entertain people all the time.
Sometimes I feel I act more when I'm not on camera. I think it's like a joker's excuse, 'Don't go away disappointed as I know you came to see me'. Half the people who come to meet me are looking for the Shah Rukh of the screen. There are days when I don't even want to smile when I meet someone. But I give myself a nudge as I like to be loved and needed. Being nice is basically my way of saying, 'Have a nice day.'
But sometimes you end up making a person unhappy. You talk so much and some of it is nasty.
I could never be completely polite. I don't like saying 'I like you' to everyone straight away. I can be very nasty and sometimes it works in my favor because I can say a lot of things to some people that I wouldn't have been able to because of my status and their seniority. But it also works in my negative way.
Sometimes you talk behind people's backs. And when it's repeated to them, it sounds awful.
I'm like a dog. I may snap sometimes, but you can't hate a dog. They're such lovely creatures. It's a personality trait, maybe because of how I was brought up, maybe because of the death of my parents, or maybe because I'm too busy to think about what I've said.
They are known to have a tense temperament.
My anger is silent and seething, which could be quelled by a Kabira or a Gauri. If I don't talk, it means I am very angry inside, very confused. Since I have become a film hero, I have started misusing anger. I feel bad knowing that everyone is watching me all the time. That is why I also have this need to entertain, to make people laugh, to suddenly show them some action.
After becoming a film star, I show my anger more than I would have if I was not one. That is why sometimes, if I just have to say f---, I would say f--- come back now. I would add that extra line. I will have the last word. I like the audience clapping.
You say you want the audience to clap for you, but who are you clapping for? Who have you learnt from?
It's a very strange collection. I've learnt from Peter Sellers. Dustin Hoffman. From India from Dilip Kumar, Amitabh, Nana Patekar, Govinda. A lot from Kamal Haasan - the whole body movement is totally Kamal Haasan oriented.
Do you refer to any performances stored in your mind while playing difficult roles?
The way I run into the mast in Darr resembles Kamal Haasan in Sadma. If you call that copying, then yes, I copy. My whole climax scene in Darr with Juhi is Nana Patekar. There is this thuk thuk thuk that goes on. I told him that and he wrote somewhere, 'I take it as a compliment when Shah Rukh says he copied me, but I don't believe that as he played it in his own way'. You probably didn't notice, but in Baazigar I copied Naseerbhai. I did a scene with Naseerbhai in Chamatkar and I loved the way he looks. Naseerbhai doesn't blink too much. That's why I slowed down my movements in my performance in Baazigar. There is a lot of stillness in my walk and more importantly in my eyes. If you noticed, the villain's eyes in Terminator are so unmoving. It helps. However, in Trimurti, I tried to do a drunk scene differently from Amitabh. It was very difficult. (By the way, apart from Amitabh, I get inspiration for my drunk scenes from Keshto Mukherjee. I just love him)
Do you feel that, except for a few isolated examples, there is an excess of mediocrity all around?
But as Gauri always tells me, 'You cannot make others live by your standards.' But I am fortunate that there is so much mediocrity all around at this point of time that it makes me stand out as a very good actor. By international standards, I am a zero. Here, we thrive on mediocrity.
Do you feel we have any talent of international calibre?
Yes. Filmmakers like Shekhar Kapur, Mr Ratnam, Satyajit Ray. We have international class dancers like Prabhu Deva, Javed Jaffrey. We have some very good singers, the best in the world. And have you noticed the change in foreign music? They are copying 'Mast-Mast'! When I see a video of Michael Jackson and an Indian girl dancing, it amazes me.
There are no actors on the list. You don't think much of competition, do you?
I'm so pompous, stubborn, obstinate... and honest enough to accept that. I can't see beyond my nose. When I look in the mirror, I have to compete with 'myself'. When I say I'm the best, I believe it.
Does competition give you a boost?
I am like a tennis player who is angry not because his opponent hit a good ball but because he hit a bad ball. Indira Gandhi had once said, 'Woh jeete nahin, hum haar gaye.' (If I don't win, I have lost). I am only competing with myself.
You are only competing with yourself, fine. But I would like to know what you think about Akshay Kumar as an actor.
What do you think I am going to say that he is bad? He is very good at what he does. He is a fantastic dancer and fighter. And I think he is the sexiest man in India.
Thank you for reinforcing MOVIE's opinion.
See, whenever I watch films of a hero of my age, be it Akshay, Saif or Ayub, I learn from them.
What? How?
Certain aspects of their expressions, fighting, dancing, being macho, being masculine.
Are you suggesting that your definition of macho is different from how it is expressed in films?
My definition is totally different. When I have to play a macho in a film, I learn a lot of things from them. On the other hand, I am a macho. I believe being macho means being cool, being nice, being an equal to a woman. A macho is a man who is confident in his masculinity. I am confident in my masculinity, that's why I am a macho. Being macho in a film is different - you have to be physically different and have a lot of things that are obviously masculine. You have to be physically strong and do superhuman stuff.
Are you ready to redefine macho with Kalpana Lajmi's new film, where you play a eunuch?
It's a very macho character. You can use the term for a eunuch... even for a woman. I know it's very strange to say this, but I think the eunuch I play is a macho. Any man who is scared but is not afraid to face the fact that he is scared is a macho. Any weak man who has to fight 10 people but turns around and runs away because he is intelligent enough to realise that he cannot beat 10 men is a macho.
See, my character fights back in his own way - physically and mentally. All this may not be in the story, but that's what I feel about the character. He fights to not just be known as a eunuch - something to laugh at. I only have a physical defect, accept me as normal. Don't pity me, don't laugh at me, don't mock me - that's what he's fighting for.
Coming back to competition, do you learn from other actors what not to do?
From every actor I learn both what to do and what not to do.
What would another actor learn about what not to do after seeing your performances?
You should not bring the extra energy that I bring to my performances. It is wrong. I lack technique. (I was telling Kajol the other day that we both had better learn technique quickly. If we keep 'feeling' every scene, we would both burn out) There is too much movement in my body, too much restlessness in my performance, sometimes too much hysteria in my performance. I put myself on display during comedy. Actually, I am the best person to learn 'what not to do' as I do a lot of things. You cannot learn that from others as they do not do as much. I am very proud to be an exaggerator. I take great pleasure in saying that I exaggerate.
I saw you hyperventilating in Zamana Deewana. Are you disappointed with the result?
I never have any expectations from my films. I work equally hard on every film. But the day I finish dubbing my film, I am completely done with it. When I go to watch the whole film, it is basically just to see how I did in the film. And I try to figure out what I should and shouldn't do in my next film.
Are you saying that you don't feel disappointed when your film fails?
I feel disappointed, that's only natural. Fortunately, I've never had to face many disappointments, so I wouldn't really be able to comment on that. And the way I work, I personally shouldn't feel any disappointments.
You must have seen Zamana Deewana in the cinema. Do you try to assimilate the audience reactions for future references?
I got sick, otherwise I would have seen Zamana Deewana in the cinema ten times by now. But if I were to go by those reactions, I would be doing a strange kind of films because the scenes I didn't like are the ones that the audience loved. For example, in Deewana (I haven't seen the film yet), there is this detail that I did, I make this sound 'Huh huh' at the end of every sentence. I entered the cinema and there was another scene playing but in the cinema I could only hear the 'Huh huh'. It sounded like people were coughing at first but I soon realised that they were imitating me. I never really thought of doing that in the film, it just happened. On the other hand, in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, when I just turn away from the girl disappointed and walk away, I thought people would sigh, 'Oh shit, so sad.' And yet there was no visible reaction. Now, when I see O Darling in the Trials, there are many scenes which I find funny but people don't laugh and vice versa. I think the biggest misconception we have in the industry is that the audience wants 'that'. I think the audience is very mild and intelligent. Filmmakers are the ones with the biggest double standards because on the one hand they say, 'The audience is God' and if you tell them to do an offbeat subject, they say, 'Audience samhjegi nahin' (The audience doesn't understand that). I think the audience understands it completely and the strangest thing is that we filmmakers are so idiotic that we don't understand that they understand it.
Considering that Oh Darling... is a musical, what do you think of its music?
In Oh Darling, I like 'Baap re baap', which I thought was a very good song from the beginning. I don't like 'Oh Darling' so much. I like slightly naughty songs, songs with masti. I never liked 'Jaadu teri nazar'. I like 'Darwaza band kar de'. 'Mast Mast' was originally recorded for Karan Arjun. I loved it.
And what do you think of Guddu's music? Naushad, without doubting his genius, is a risk in 1995.
I think I am nobody to comment on someone like Naushad. I am not really a fan of old-time music directors. I have no musical ear. I am more of the Yankee generation of MTV. I grew up with Michael Jackson and that stuff. I like songs that are old, beautiful and sad, but I would rather listen to Michael Jackson any day. I have heard of the name Naushad saab, he is one of the doyens of music.
You have told me that every film you sign must have something that appeals to you. I want to know what appealed to you about Guddu.
Initially, I didn't want to do Guddu. The producer Prem Lalwani had written a material about a twelve-year-old boy. But he told me, 'I believe you are Guddu and want to tell you the story'. I said, 'Look, I don't know the story but I can't stretch my acting skills to play a twelve-year-old (Laughs)'. He said he would change it to a college boy but insisted that I listen to him. While he was narrating the story, he started crying. This 6'4" rich NRI entrepreneur started crying! Then he said, 'This happened to my son. My son is modern, young and doesn't believe that you can cure a fatal disease by believing in God. I did it and now he is healed!” I would not have made the film if it had been given to me as a written script, but when I saw the faith this man had in what he was about to do, I was weak. I can imagine what he was going through at that time (his son is now completely healthy) as I went through a similar experience with my parents.
Her immediate four films - Zamana Deewana, Guddu, Oh Darling, English Babu Desi Mem, are not giving very great news. But hot on their heels are Mehra's Ram Jaane and Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, both of which are trading at a good chance at the box office. Is this a strategy of Shah Rukh Khan?
Actors don't do that, stars do it. Actors just act. I am an actor, I just act. I can hardly have rigged two film premieres on the same day - Guddu and Oh Darling. I don't know if it is good or bad for me because if you don't get a ticket for one, you could go to the other. I think these are films that have only one thing in common. That they will be box office hits. Yes, I don't do a film which I think will not be successful. These four films have taken too long to complete. Zamana Deewana was supposed to come out when I was not a big star. If a film takes too long in making, it gets a little... Oh Darling doesn't look like that. I haven't seen Guddu. I have seen English Babu Desi Mem and loved it.
See, there is no strategy. I just wanted to finish it. In the whole of '94, I didn't start a new film except Karan Arjun and completed six days of shooting for Chahat. I think no star in the whole film industry has done that, I worked on three four old films the whole year and finished them. They are not awe-inspiring films, they are not (except Oh Darling) fantastically different films. Commercially none of them will be a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun but none of these films will make me lose respect for filmmaking.
OK, let's move on to your heroines. You are not doing films with Mamta Kulkarni and Karisma, it is believed because you don't want to.
(Ironically) Subhash Ghai didn't take Mamta in Shikhar, Yash Chopra didn't take Mamta in Tevar, he took Madhuri instead, I wonder why. Mamta is as good or bad as anyone in the film industry. Personally, she hasn't done anything to me and I too have hopefully never done anything to her. I have heard that she is very popular with the masses and is the top cover girl we have in the industry. Everyone says that your magazine sells when she is on the cover. The only thing is, she finds me very unintelligent. But that's okay.
With Karisma, I have to do a film quickly because her mother, who is very sweet, says that otherwise she will slap me. I keep telling her that it is not like that because I don't want to do a film with her. I think Karisma is a fantastic dancer. I have never seen her in a film where she really performed. But I have seen her first film, Prem Qaidi, in which she was very good. I have seen Coolie No 1 and whatever she has done, she is good. I never suggest the name of a heroine. Actually, Karisma could play the second role in Yashji's film. Talks are on.
In a recent interview, when asked why she signs new films with only Akshay and Sunil, Raveena replied, 'Aren't these two supposed to be the hottest co-stars today?' What does that mean for you?
She's right; I'm not a successful hero at all. I hear the film I did with her - Zamana Deewana - isn't doing too well. She works with the most successful heroes. And I've never claimed that I'm successful.
Come on...
If you mean monetary success, I am very successful. If you ask me am I successful by my own standards, no, I am not. I want to be known across the galaxy. I want people to come down from Mars to see Shah Rukh Khan. When actors say our film was successful domestically, I want people to say Shah Rukh's film in Black Hole was successful: 'Full house in Black Hole!' In 10 years, I will be the most successful actor. I will get so much success that I will just feed off it.
If I become Michael Jackson, I am sure Raveena will work with me then... and anyway, she works with dancers these days.
Do you consider yourself successful - by Indian standards?
Yes, but not like Amitabh. I had gone to meet Mr. Bachchan and when Mr. Bachchan was walking down the road, all the people from all over Juhu started coming out and there was this silence. He was very sweet. When the people standing outside their houses were waving, he said, 'Shah Rukh, please come with me - people are waving to you.'
As an actor, my criteria of success is not the four golden trophies that I have so far. It is to be respected like Mr. Dilip Kumar, to have a name like Balraj Sahni, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Mr. Bachchan, Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. Am I as respected as them? Not yet and maybe I never will. So where is the success?
Do you think there will be roles for you by the time you reach Amitabh's age?
I don't know if I will act until I reach that age. You don't know what else I do - I sit and play video games, play with my dogs. Maybe I will open a daycare center for children.
How many years do you give yourself?
10. Five are over, five are to go. 10 years is a long time. When I see Anil's commitment after 15 years, I can't imagine it at all. I don't think I will last that long, with the feeling I have for films at the moment. I find myself already worn out. After two or three years, I will start acting less. I will become a total star and do complete masala films - with a lot of fighting, dancing and jumping off high-rises.
Do you think success will ever slip from your grasp?
I don't think I'll allow it. I've always been successful. When I played sports, I was the best. I used to get trophies. When I was in school... (Interrupts)
But as time goes by and I get older...
I'll never grow old. Do I look older than I did in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman?
No. But in 10 years.
I'll be 40 then. I'm 30 now. In another 10 years I'll still look good.
How will you manage that?
Right now, intellectually, I'm about 11-12 years old. Ask anyone who works with me, who knows me. I believe that and live that way. I'm a brat - not even a brat, I'm just a little kid. I say what I have to say. I act like a kid. Even my performances are childlike. For me, this industry is like a playhouse.
But I'm sure it's the full-blown materialistic benefits of success that give you a kick - flashy cars, a fancy house, a fat bank balance?
I must be the poorest star. I don't make that much money. And that's the whole truth. I pay my taxes. I think I must be the cheapest star in the country. And you can ask that of anyone. Money hasn't been important, mainly because God has always given me enough.
Don't you have greed for more in the future?
I already have too much. But I really need another bedroom for my child. But it is not because of greed, it is because I grew up in Delhi (even if I was not upper class) and most Delhiites have spacious houses. I want my child to have space. I hate cramped conditions. And I am sure my child will be like me, so I want him or her to have space (more likely). Boys will always be boys, the only thing that will change will be the price of toys. Gauri is the main controlling factor. I am a spendthrift. I have no money. She doesn't give me even a rupee. As Sanjay Kapoor said, 'I have to ask Boney for money'. I have no money either. Look in my wallet - there is no money in it.
Coming to your future films, Yash Chopra's Tevar seems to have run into trouble as nobody wants to do the role of the second heroine. Is the film being rewritten?
If Yashji tells you the story, even you would never do it. I can assure you of that. I tell him not to tell anyone the story as nobody understands him. He only talks about scenes (imitating Yashji). And since Madhuri was already signed, the attitude of the other heroines was 'Madhuri is doing the lead role, toh doosra role achha nahin hoga' (the second role will not be good). I say to the heroines, if I was an applicant, I would rush for the second role, but they rejected it. For me, Rekha is doing all that in Silsila. Mr. Bachchan ultimately goes to Jaya Bachchan, but Rekha... what did she do wrong yaar? So she got drunk and flirted and all that, but in the end you felt sorry for her.
Mahesh Bhatt and Shah Rukh are together for the first time in Chahat. Will it pay off?
Bhatt saab is a fantastic mix of commerce and art. I like his honesty. He says, 'Right now, action is working. That's why we are going to use action in this film.' I think in the last five years, I have not seen a film that is more Mahesh Bhatt than Chahat. There are amazing fights, dances, comic scenes. It works beautifully. He has made some fantastic films and there is nothing wrong with trying to make a commercially fantastic film. And I think he is doing a brilliant job with Chahat. And the other films we have worked out, Duplicate will also be great. We never declared to make Arth.
Do you think Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge will be distinctively different from a Yash Chopra film?
You will think it has more of a Mansoor Khan film, more of a Sooraj Barjatya film.
The other day, during a chance conversation, you mentioned that you think Sooraj and Mansoor are capable of making very violent films. Do you really think so?
I think they can make very violent films too. They should make a violent film and cast me. The kind of films they make - they have so much passion for good. I don't think anyone can be just good and badness is very easy to develop. If you see Ram Aur Shyam, Shyam is always better. Gabbar Singh and Mogambo are always more fascinating. The bad guy somehow always works. We cannot express our badness in any other way, so you have to find an outlet in a film or character. I think the last scene of Sooraj Barjatya's Maine Pyar Kiya with Salman using a belt is very violent. Of course, there has to be the use of Salman as well, as he is very action-oriented. But beyond that, I think they will both make very good brutal films in the style of Deewar.
I think you got tired of being sugary sweet in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Yes, too much goodness bores me. It's not real, I'm not like that. Nobody is like that. Let everyone else be Mother Teresa and Gandhiji. I don't think I'm that good. Actually, the character of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is too nice, you want to shake the guy up and say 'Why not? Hit him, hit him.' The fact that he doesn't hit back makes him a great hero in the film.
So you have a dark side. In a TV interview, Naseer said that Shah Rukh is in danger of becoming like Rajesh Khanna. Did you ask him to explain later?
Maybe he meant that I will lose my hair! (Laughs). He meant that I will get caught in the style trap. Like Naseerbhai keeps telling me that I should develop the technique. He says that it is high time I stopped relying on my energy and just move on because of my status. He believes that at this point in time, everything will work out for me. Anil Kapoor too told me that in the next few films that I do, everything will work out. 'Because you are so much liked by people, but beyond that, you will have to develop the technique'. Rajesh Khanna has become synonymous with romance and Naseer feels and fears that I might become synonymous with the intensity and that might stop me from being a better actor. I don't want that to happen either. How will I get to Mars then?