Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; December 18, 2018)

Shah Rukh Khan is self-admittedly ‘flawed’. Reminds us of the hand-made fabulous Persian carpet. One where the artisans deliberately leave a flaw, because they believe that perfection only belongs to the ‘Almighty’. The actor says that he’s far from perfect and emphasises, “My flaws make me the star that I am.” Rightly so. He is indeed our ‘flawsome’ superstar (awesome with all his flaws). He’s enjoyed tremendous success, but it’s not like his career graph has been devoid of faults and failure. Yet, he still remains the die-hard romantic on screen, and a bonafide mega star. And a ‘Zero’ only multiplies his power. With his next coming up for release this Friday, he engages us in a chat where he talks about stardom — the conflict, complexity and simplicity of it all, how his fans repeatedly expect an SRK type act from him, and the story about how a simple gesture turned iconic on celluloid. Over to the mighty Khan...

Most directors who have worked with you are always asked about how they look beyond the superstar, your larger-than-life persona and see you from the lens of their character. For Aanand L Rai, it must have been a bigger challenge, as he was working with a version of you that was visually many inches shorter...
I have not worked with any director in any different way than I have worked with the last one, or I will with the next one. Earlier, there must have been some directors who were probably wary of me, thinking that they would have to follow my diktat owing to my stardom. But that feeling was curtailed in the first few days of shoot and later on, I heard them say things like… ‘He’s very sweet and he doesn’t bring the star persona on set’. Why would I do that? I have never done that.

I don’t say this with any modesty, but I truly believe that I am an employee of the film. I do a lot of jobs as an employee and try to do them well. Also, I have never told anyone that let me be who I am. I say, ‘You tell me who you want me to be, and I will do that to the best of my ability’. Sometimes, I am different than me, sometimes I am not. But if the director is okay with it, I am assuming that he is happy. Unless, the director believes that I can’t do anything else and so, he leaves it at that. People keep on saying, ‘He is Shah Rukh Khan!’ Yes, I am and when you cast me you know that (laughs!). The director, writer and the actor create a character who is not bound by any limitations of the character. I am the character, so why do we say that he will not do this or that? The character will do what you tell him to do.

Aanand L Rai told me that there was never any conflict between him and you; it was between you (the character) and Shah Rukh Khan. He said that you have this amazing quality, where you can sit and look at Shah Rukh Khan (as a third person) and talk about him like he is someone else. That sounds extremely interesting and complex, could you elaborate?
People have a different expectation of me, and they have that expectation of me as a star who they believe I am. When I go to a public place, people know that I will come on stage and crack a joke, do a song for them or give a hug. This is what I feel like as a star, and this is what I do as a star, but I am not that star. I am not that person at all. It would be difficult for my wife and children to be living with this persona and it would be difficult for me, too. A few days ago, I was sitting with my team and I asked my stylist, can I just wear this (it was a simple shirt). They started pulling my leg saying, ‘No, no, you are a movie star! Dude, you gotta be like this’. Of course, when I am supposed to perform somewhere, or be in public view, then I leave it to my team. I don’t know how he (star persona) dresses up, they know that. It’s like in movies, generally songs are characterless (it is done more to play to the gallery), but I know that people like seeing me do a song, so then, there is a conflict. I also know that we have commercial parameters to adhere to and songs and dances are part of big movies. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is an SRK type song that needs to be done, and I understand that. If we are doing Jab tak jahaan mein mera naam hai (Zero), I know it is an SRK song. You can try and do it differently, but there are some tropes always. So often, my directors have turned around and said, ‘Sir ek Shah Rukh Khan wala kar do’.

So, there is no conflict between SRK the star, and SRK the real person?
There is no conflict between me and my star persona. As soon as I’m playing the star and being the star, I’m in a zone and I do all that’s expected of the star. I don’t even have to think about it. It’s not a lie or a hypocritical act, there are certain things you expect of me in public — good, bad, sweet, funny, larger-than-life and I do all that. The other day in Dubai, my team told me that I have to go and promote my film at some place. I went dressed casually in a T-shirt and when I reached there, I saw there were about a lakh people. I know that they expected a song and some dialogues from me and I did it. After that, I came back to my room and had a cup of coffee in my zone. Basically, what I am saying is that, I can slip back into my zone just like that, it’s not something that I even have to think about.

You play a vertically challenged character in Zero, but what remains unchanged is that we will see you falling in love and romancing on screen here, too. While talking to Aanand about this, he said, ‘SRK is not the King of Romance, he is romance. I told him that I am going to take away two feet from your height; now the arms that you spread out will be shorter, so let me see how you romance on screen’. Your response to that…
I never put my arms out to romance the heroine; I just did it and then it became a romantic gesture. I never walked in a certain way towards a girl, because I thought it was romantic. I never did romantic films in the beginning, as I didn’t think I was good-looking or sweet enough. I have always told people that it was a gesture to simply avoid dancing. Whenever I couldn’t do any step, I would tell Saroj ji (Saroj Khan), ‘Main aise haath kar loon, mere se yeh step ho nahin raha hai’. She would say, ‘Haan beta kar lo, koi baat nahin’. I could not do a lot of steps, even now I can’t. Sometimes, in these semi-romantic songs like Iss jahaan ki nahin hai tumhari aankhen (King Uncle), or Chaand taare tod laoon (Yes Boss), I found it odd to do steps, so I said, ‘Chalke bol deta hoon, haath aise kar doonga’, and it worked. Even my children tease me about it and I tell them that I didn’t do it for this kind of effect and I didn’t know it would become this thing; suddenly they have silhouettes of me in that pose. It’s happened to me on set, that I am shooting as directed and someone comes to me and says, ‘Sir aap woh ek kar do’. I don’t feel awkward doing it, as I’m aware that I’m doing it as someone else.

The film is about people who are challenged, flawed and they still find beauty in life and the strength to make the most of what they have. Do you acknowledge your flaws and try to work around and with them?
I am completely flawed. To me, that was the appeal of this film. I am no fluke… but I am an extremely flawed star. I think that the reason a lot of people like me to the extent they do is because they see my flaws and accept it. They think… ‘Here is a person who is not the best-looking guy, he doesn’t dance the best, he doesn’t even perhaps act the best, but overall, somewhere, he is celebrating that and he is trying to express a feeling. As long as he is celebrating, let’s celebrate along with him’. I am surrounded by beautiful people, physically and otherwise, and they all look like stars, I hardly look like one. Of course, I am smart, intelligent, educated, I speak well at times, but these are not the qualities that you normally associate with a star. I believe that I am an extremely flawed star and my flaws make me the star that I am. If I wasn’t flawed, I’d probably just be a perfect actor.

Have you ever wanted to or tried fixing you flaws?
No, maybe I should get a nose job done (laughs!). At the age of 42, I was sitting at home and casually chatting with my friends when I told them that I will work towards building the best body this country has ever seen. They turned around and told me, ‘No one likes you with muscles, don’t be silly. You don’t have to do what others do’. I said that I will do it, as it’s a thing in my head. I have never got tough roles to play and the general belief is that, you are tough when your body is tough. Unfortunately, even with my muscles, I looked lean, but I didn’t know it back then. All this body shaming is rubbish; I don’t think you have to be body perfect to express anything or to be the best person. And that’s why when I danced to Dard-E-Disco (Om Shanti Om in 2007) I made a joke out of it. I took off my shirt, flaunted a greased body, posed as a fireman in the song, and did all those things that you expect sexy men to do. And it was funny because my character was so non-macho that I wanted to spoof it. It was important that people don’t take it seriously. I have never tried to correct a flaw. I believe my flaws are me, my incompleteness is me. This is the only me I have got and I have to make the best of life with me. I am not being overconfident, but this is the best I have and there is no changing this. If you think it is less, I will still make the best of the less that I have. This is it. If the correction happens naturally, it’s okay. People tell me that I have started speaking very well now. Good then, it must have happened, but I didn’t sit down and learn to speak better with marbles in my mouth.

There has been a lot of talk about your daughter Suhana stepping into the movies, and someday, probably, Aryan will too. As a father, actor and filmmaker, what are your thoughts and concerns?
My son wants to learn how to make films and he is still doing that, he has two more years to go. I think that this expectation of a movie star’s son becoming a movie star is a little awkward. If an engineer’s son wants to be an engineer, he can’t just become one. He has to study for it, right? So, why do we assume that an actor’s son/daughter does not have to study to become an actor? I may be completely wrong about this and most of my actor and director friends tell me that I am wrong. They tell me that Suhana should be acting right now and that she will learn with me around. I reason with them saying that she hasn’t educated herself totally yet. I did theatre for nine years and I did Mass Communication, which was theatre and film-oriented. Then I got opportunities with shows on television (Fauji and Circus) at a time when the stakes were not so high. TV pe kuch bhi aaye toh logon ko accha lagta tha. Maybe, if my shows were running on TV today, they wouldn’t get as much appreciation. My first film was when I was 26 and soon after, I got a chance to work with some great actors that helped me even further. Of course, I truly appreciate some of the young people working today. My kids took this upon themselves. My daughter told me that she wanted to study to be an actor; similarly, when my son was in the tenth grade, he told me that he wanted to learn how to write and make films. I believe that you should not get into a profession to only ask what this profession will do for you. You have to get into a profession thinking that you can lend something to it. Aryan does not have any intention of being an actor now; I don’t know… it can change. My daughter has all intentions of being an actor, but that could also change. They have three-four years of education to complete and fortunately, genetically our family looks young even when they are older, so they have time on their hands.