Shah Rukh Khan, better known as the King Khan of Bollywood, is sitting pretty on back-to-back 200-crore hits — Chennai Express and Happy New Year. He took some time off after the stellar success of his Diwali release (HNY) and now he is back to facing the camera again. SRK says, “I do one film at a time, which everyone does. But right now I am doing two films. I would have liked to take a break, but Fan and Raees were films I genuinely liked.”
SRK recalls meeting Aditya Chopra, when he gave his consent to Fan. “Adi and I work on a similar wavelength. We don’t start a film keeping gigantic figures in mind. We don’t know if Fan will earn 200 crores. That’s not the focal point. Making a quality film was, is and will always be a priority,” says the actor who believes that actors have to work according to the availability of filmmakers and not the other way round. “Five years ago, one of my films was delayed and I had the bulk dates to allot. I called a few filmmakers like Ashutosh Gowariker and Ramu (Ram Gopal Verma). Unfortunately, none of them had any film for me. I’d rather work when I stumble upon a right script.”
The newer lot of his leading ladies like Ileana D’Cruz and Mahira Khan believe that like Deepika Padukone, they too can benefit from SRK’s Midas touch. Deepika has said more than once how her mentor has played a large role in her success story. But SRK doesn’t agree. “It’d be unfair to take credit for Deepika’s success. Deepika was always a star. I wouldn’t want to play Godfather to her. She is an intelligent and hardworking girl. She has made wonderful choices — whether it’s Cocktail or Finding Fanny.”
No matter how busy he gets, Shah Rukh has always been known to play the doting father to his children. Ask him how the kids deal with his stardom and he says, “When Aryan was born, I was already a movie star. Both Aryan and Suhana (obviously Abram is too young to understand) know the difference between on and off screen. They might be conscious of me in front of their friends and teachers but they are aware that ‘acting’ is only my job.” He continues, “I remember I was doing a show in London, when Aryan’s teachers dropped by to watch the show and meet me.
They respect me not only because I’m a movie star but also because I’ve Chaff’s fellowship from Yale for teaching. Aryan doesn’t drop by on the sets of my films. My children are aware that what I do outside the house; they don’t have to necessarily keep tabs on me. They don’t know about the collections of my films. Only my daughter would ask if my film has worked or no. Most of the time Aryan is cluless. He hasn’t seen HNY and Chennai Express and it’s no big deal.” Sharing more about his daughter, SRK adds, “Suhana would be offended when her friends and teachers in school addressed me as Shah Rukh Khan because others parents were referred to as Niki’s father or Salomi’s mother. But I am Shah Rukh Khan for everyone.”
Coming back to films, SRK doesn’t believe festival releases are a sure-shot way to success even though he has capitalised on that slot several times. He says, “Farah Khan wanted Happy New Year to release on Eid, but I told her that we would decide the release date after we had finished the first two schedules. Every film, actor and filmmaker has their own destiny. I believe that good films will work irrespective of the release dates.”
Fitness being such an important part of the movie business today, Shah Rukh admits that he finds it hard to keep up. “It’s difficult to keep fit. Honestly, I workout for about 25-30 minutes only. I start training at 4.30 am — my poor trainer has no choice but to keep up with my erratic schedule. I feel bad when I see him dozing off on the bench,” he says with a laugh. “With due respect to those who work out for hours, I’d like to say that working out for 30 minutes and eating right is my fitness regime. I don’t use my family time for personal stuff. I workout at night when my family is asleep.
Because of my injuries, it’s a necessity that I workout. Building 6-8 packs aren’t a compulsion — more often than not, it’s the demand of the film. Otherwise I’m happy following the basic regime. Like now, I haven’t been working out regularly. I can feel the pain coming back in my shoulders. I can’t lift more than 25 pounds neither can I do push-ups.” He points out that his films don’t give him much scope to take off his shirt. “Most of my films are romantic, they have no scope for me to flex my biceps. I couldn’t have asked Adi or Yashji to allow me to take my shirt off in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi or Jab Tak Hain Jaan. With Farah, I can ask for it,” he says with a laugh.
But now the doting father is willing to sweat it out for his new gym buddy — his son Aryan. “I wanted to build a physique like my son. We’ve done a photo shoot together. Trust me, it’s a big high and a challenge to match up to his energy,” says SRK.
A few rough patches notwithstanding, SRK is content with his life. “My life has been very positive and full of opportunities. There is no scope for depressing stories in my life and in my films. I’m positive because positive people surround me. Life doesn’t end at films. My equation with my filmmaker friends is not based on whether I’m a part of their next film or not. It’s fine if I don’t work with Adi, Farah and Karan again but that won’t change the love and respect we have for each other.”
