Superstar tapped into younger notorious-self for inspiration for new role, says unit insider
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; January 18, 2017)

He confesses that romance comes to him naturally, but not many would expect that Shah Rukh Khan could look for inspiration within himself to portray a notorious don on screen. Hitlist has learnt that the actor, who features in the role of a gangster in Rahul Dholakia’s upcoming crime thriller Raees, took inspiration from his younger self while he was a student at Delhi’s St Columba’s School.

A unit hand informs, “Not many are aware that SRK was quite a prankster when he was a student at St Columba’s School, Hansraj College and Jamia Millia Islamia University. He was known to balance his sophistication with a certain kind of ruggedness, the glimpses of which will be seen in the film. The actor, along with four of his close friends, (Bikash Mathur, Vivek Khushalani, Raman Sharma and Ashok Vassan) had formed a special gang at St Columba’s, known as the C-gang, where ‘C’ stood for cool. The actor has taken a leaf out his college days, with respect to the body language and the way he walked, and has incorporated them in the film.”

The unit hand further informs that the gang even made personalised identity cards and t-shirts with a C-gang logo at the back, which was designed by one of the members. At the trailer launch of the film SRK had credited director Rahul Dholkia’s for helping him essay the character successfully. “I am a very urban actor but Rahul could think of me in an earthy role,” he had said.