Shah Rukh Khan spellbound by Kajol's on-screen magic

Mumbai: One of Bollywood’s most loved pairs, Shah Rukh and Kajol recently celebrated 20 years of ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ by recreating the iconic poster on the sets of ‘Dilwale’ and the 49-year-old actor thinks it was a co-incidence that brought them together in the Rohit Shetty-directed action-comedy.

"I miss Kajol in every film. With this film she gave us 150 days. She had to be away from her children and I know it is a huge sacrifice for a parent. We are restless people who want to do more films, earn more money but Kajol is a rested soul. She doesn't care about these things. We are thankful that she took time out for this movie," Shah Rukh said in a interview with a select group of journalists on the sets of the film.

SRK-Kajol have collaborated in ‘Baazigar’, ‘Karan-Arjun’, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham’ and ‘My Name is Khan’. The two may be great friends now but SRK revealed that he did not have a good impression about Kajol when he first met her.

"When I was working with her in 'Baazigar', Aamir asked me about her as he wanted to work with her. I left him a message saying, 'She is very bad, no focus, you will not be able to work with her'. And then I saw the rushes in the evening. I kept calling Aamir to clarify. I told him, 'I don't know what it is but she is magical on the screen'.”

"Kajol is not technical, she is an honest actor and that's a great quality. My daughter (Suhana) wants to become an actress and I would want her to learn that. I hope I learn that from Kajol. I can't explain but she is something else on screen."

Shah Rukh, who is also the producer of the movie, is working round-the-clock to complete shooting ‘Dilwale’ for its scheduled release on December 18. The film also stars Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Johnny Lever, Boman Irani, Varun Sharma, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi among others.

With a generous dose of action, comedy, nostalgia-inducing romance between SRK-Kajol, the movie, judging by the rushes that were screened for the press, seems to be a typical Rohit Shetty entertainer.

Kajol said the biggest reason for her to do the film was the ease that she shared with Shah Rukh and the film's director Rohit Shetty.

"I wanted to do something that would be unpredictable and different, something that I had not done before. I liked my role in 'Dilwale'. With Shah Rukh and Rohit, it was in my comfort zone. I can tell them when something is not working. That communication was there," she said.

The actress, 41, recalled how they ended up becoming friends on ‘Baazigar’ set. She said, “I remember Shah Rukh and other actors had a huge hangover when they came on the sets and I was jabbering away in Marathi to his make-up guy. They were like 'what is that voice. It is going to split open our heads'. He was very grumpy but I kept chatting and finally he said, 'Will you please shut up...'chup ho jao'. I think that's how we became friends."

Shah Rukh interjected with his side of the story, saying Kajol has not changed over the years and he still has to tell her to 'shut up'.

"I am not very talkative in personal life. Kajol will have an upper hand when it comes to talking over all of us. Even now, I have to tell her to 'shut up',” SRK said at the event.

When asked whether they have changed in the last 20 years for better, Kajol said, "I hope we have. I don't talk any less. We have become better actors and better people. I always say he is one of the best actors that we have today. It is a joy to work with him and a learning process."