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The world in his palm!
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At 42, his heroines are getting younger, while Shah Rukh Khan is lording it over the entertainment industry
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CHALLENGE SHAH RUKH: ‘I feel the struggle will be to play myself one day’
At 42, his heroines are getting younger by the day; but Shah Rukh Khan is not complaining. First, it was Deepika Padukone in “Om Shanti Om”, and now we hear 19-year-old Bangalore girl Anushka Sharma has been signed up for “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.”
“It is the script which decides the actress, not me. For ‘Om Shanti Om’, we needed a fresh face. For ‘Rab Ne…’ we need a young actress. And then, for Karan Johar’s ‘My Name is Khan’ the script demands a mature actress.” The buzz is that it’s Kajol, but Shah Rukh refuses to confirm it.
How do his kids address his co-stars…they must have quite a range from Deepika didi to Juhi aunty? “No it’s not like that (laughs)…They call them by their first names!”
From dominating the world of films, Shah Rukh has now moved on: to the world of sport. It’s as if no stage is too big for the quintessential Delhi boy. But he insists it’s the middle class values instilled in Delhi which keep him “rooted and focussed”.
With hardly any competition in sight, is there any challenge left for the actor in him? “I feel the struggle will be to play myself one day. The most difficult thing for an actor is to play himself. People tell me that those expressions are mannered… Though there have been characters which had a part of me, like ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’, the closest perhaps was ‘Chak De India!’ When I play games with my kids they say: ‘You are very much like Kabir Khan’.”
He pauses for a moment, and then says television shows allow him to be himself. Isn’t he acting as Shah Rukh? “No in ‘Panchvi Paas...’ there is no script… most of the things I say are impromptu.”
Do the participants find it difficult to confess in front of the camera they are no wiser than a fifth grader? “Not really. One should be able to accept where one stands.”
The man who once said if he could enact five emotions, others could enact only four has certainly gained in maturity what he’s lost in brashness. “I have mellowed down in the last few years.”
The man has his hands full: the newly-launched Indian Premier League (IPL) has stretched his already long day to something like 20 hours, but Shah Rukh isn’t cribbing. “I have a mantra in life: keep winning or die trying.” Isn’t IPL the height of materialism? For once Shah Rukh, the poster boy of the corporate world, loses control. “This country is yet to see the height of commercialisation. It’s just the beginning… And it’s not bad. It’s all a reflection of our economic prowess and GDP growth.”
Regaining composure, he reminds the media not to jump to the conclusion that whatever Shah Rukh touches turns to gold. “I have had my share of failures when I started film production. Remember ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’?”
On the production front, Shah Rukh is making a small budget film with Priyadarshan. Called “Billoo Barber”, it’s a modern day interpretation of the Krishna-Sudama story. “The title caught my imagination. I have been a great fan of Priyanji and finally he is directing a film for my production house.” For the first time, Shah Rukh is not playing the lead role in his home production.
“As always it is a matter of script. Scripts choose me, not the other way round. The role suited Irrfan Khan and thankfully he has accepted it. I will do a cameo.” He is also working on a big budget film for children. “There have been lots of rumours about this project. It is not just for children and it’s not an animation film. It is a big-budget film which has very high-end special effects, which we haven’t seen in Bollywood before.”
ANUJ KUMAR
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