At the launch of author Samar Khan’s book SRK - 25 Years Of Life, the actor paid rich homage to his many directors and spilled the beans on his quarter-century-long journey in Bollywood.
Shah Rukh On His Beginnings
“Who gets an opportunity to sit across the Dreamgirl (Hema Malini) and hear her tell you: ‘I like your nose, it’s very autocratic.’”
“25 years have gone by in a flash. When I was rank newcomer, I was an odd-looking boy, I spoke too fast and I was not from a film background. Yet they gave me an opportunity. Who gets an opportunity to sit across the Dreamgirl (Hema Malini) and hear her tell you: ‘I like your nose, it’s very autocratic; you are in my film (Dil Aashna Hai, 1992).’ I couldn’t believe that the nose which I would try and hide was liked by Hema Malini! Kundan Shah and I worked together in TV and films (Kabhie Haan Kabhie Naa) and I was living in his house -- he had allowed me to stay in the back office. The first time I had Gujarati food was when his wife Bakul served me a meal.
“They all looked after me like their child. Not one of them made me feel: ’I am giving you a break’ and I have learnt this from them.
Shah Rukh On Being A Director’s Actor
“If somebody tells me to do a somersault during an emotional scene I will do it. I will make it believable because I am an actor.”
“It wouldn’t have been possible to be where I am right now without my directors. My life has been defined by my circumstances, my experiences and of course a lot of directors. Kundan will tell you he is an awful actor. But they are like my father figures, mentors and guides. Each criticism, slap, and anger of theirs, I hold very dear to my heart. Whenever I don’t know how to do something, I just fall back upon the people I work with. I do my best, listen to the instructions and I do not analyse.
Shah Rukh On Art And Artiste
“I truly believe the art is important, the artist is not. Rahul, Raj and the other characters will survive ... main toh nahin rahoonga.”
“When I was small, my mother was very social and met everyone ... I noticed that she used to become like the person that she was talking to. That’s what it should be. As an actor I should be like the song from Manoj Kumarji’s film which I take very close to my heart - ‘Pani re pani tera rang kaisa, jis mein mila do lage uss jaisa.’ I truly believe the art is important, the artiste is not. Rahul, Raj and the other characters will survive ... main toh nahin rahoonga.
Lot of people will cast me in their films and say, ‘Why should we make it off-beat, let us make it commercial.’ I am not blaming them; it’s a good thought. Agar main bikta hoon toh bikna laazami hai. But, having said that, I have tried to maintain some kind of balance.
Shah Rukh On The Future
“It’s been 25 years now. Physically, I am still there for another 10-15 years and mentally I am all there. I am a little lost because I have done 60 odd films so far and you feel ‘I have done everything’. But then there are nights when I get up from bed and say Abhi toh kuch bhi nahi kiya’ I don’t know what to do next. I just hope somebody comes up and says, ‘Shah Rukh I don’t think you can do this but let’s get together and push the boundaries. Let’s go on a journey together and see if it succeeds and if it fails at least we tried something new.’ It’s always better to fail while trying something new than succeed with the tried and tested. I do a commercial film once a year to let the company run and if I don’t use the other time to be able to do something new....
“I am in a strange place -- as a movie star when I do a commercially viable film people say ‘Yeh toh bik gaya, ye acting bhul gaya.’ When I do the other kind of film, then a section of people says, Iski stardom khatam ho gayi. I may not believe either of the two but, but it plays on my mind. I am just trying to work on my cinema but I can’t work on it alone. Fortunately, people have faith me.”