MUMBAI MIRROR (November 19, 2018)

Sidharth Malhotra says he can never stop being a fanboy when it comes to Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan because of their “brilliant” and “inspiring” portfolio of work.

Talking about how Shah Rukh inspired him to become an actor, Sidharth said that it started with him being from Delhi. “All Delhi boys want to be heroes and Shah Rukh Khan is a major reason. I used to find him really funny and I still do. Shah Rukh is extremely good with comedy,” he pointed out, confiding that at one point he had a hair parting like SRK’s. Back then, the ‘student’ never thought he will become an actor himself. “I didn’t know what it took to go on the other side and be on screen. But there was so much admiration and concentration when I would watch his scenes that there is big impression of Shah Rukh Khan and his cinema on me,” Sidharth said.

He came face-to-face with his idol when he was working as an assistant director on Karan Johar’s directorial My Name Is Khan (pictured above) which featured SRK. “I was too scared and nervous to walk up to him and chat. I think the first thing I told him was, ‘Sir, aap biscuit khayenge?’ He was waiting for a shot and we were in Los Angeles. I was the AD with the walkie talkie in my ear waiting to tell him when to go for that shot. There was this awkward moment so I said the first thing that came to my head. He looked at me, smiled and said, ‘Nahin nahin.’ He eventually realised I wanted to be an actor and started talking to me about different things,” he flashbacked.

Talking about his first meeting with Big B on the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati during the Student of the Year promotions, he recounted, “We met him backstage and he was very sweet. He shook my hand and patted me on the back. I am still a big Bachchan fan, even when I meet him now and have an immense amount of love for him.”