The Real Shah Rukh Khan-Vir Sanghvi
I still remember the first time I met
Shah Rukh Khan. It was around a decade ago and he was shooting for Karan
Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. I anchored a show called Cover Story
on Star World and we were filming an interview with Amitabh Bachchan.
Because Bachchan and the rest of the cast were picturising the Shava
Shava song, he suggested that Star might want to set up on a sound stage
in the same studio. That way, it would be easy for him to give the
interview.It was while waiting for Amit to finish doing the trademark
toilet-flush action that came to characterise that song that a member of
my crew had an idea. Why not ask Shah Rukh, who was already on the
sets, to also give us an interview?
Dancing star: The first time I
met Shah Rukh Khan was around a decade ago and he was shooting for
Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.By then, Shah Rukh was Bombay's
biggest star and the industry had begun to be corporatised. You did not
simply go up to a major star and say something like, "Listen, we are
waiting for Amitabh to be free. So why not come to the sets and shoot
with us?" You went through legions of PR people, set up the dates in
advance and never ever suggested that the set had actually been prepared
for somebody else.
To my astonishment, Shah Rukh agreed. "Give
me a few minutes," he said. And then, while the crew chatted among
ourselves, we suddenly looked up to find that Shah Rukh had arrived
unannounced on the sets and slid into the guest chair on the other side
of the anchor's table.We shot the interview in real time. I asked him
about Hrithik Roshan, who everybody suggested would usurp his crown.
Shah Rukh was respectful of Hrithik but insisted that he faced no threat
from him. Then, considering that I did not know Shah Rukh at all and
had nothing to lose, I hurled a grenade into the interview.
At
that stage, Bollywood insiders speculated that he was gay or, at the
very least, bisexual. But of course nobody had asked him this to his
face. I broke that rule and asked how he reacted to the rumours. He was
momentarily surprised but then recovered and handled the question with
aplomb.Later, when film journalists asked him about my question and my
nerve in daring to ask it, he laughed about the incident. "I don't know
why Vir Sanghvi asked me that," was a typical response. "Perhaps if I
had said yes, he would have asked me out on a date."
Star power:
Shah Rukh Khan gives a hug to his Jab Tak Hai Jaan co-star Katrina Kaif
at the HT Leadership Summit.Of course Shah Rukh was right about Hrithik.
The film industry is big enough for both of them and for Salman and
Aamir and many others. And over the years, as I have interviewed Shah
Rukh again and again, I have always been struck by his confidence and
his refusal to even entertain the possibility that things could go wrong
for him.Last week, at the HT Summit, when I hosted a session with Shah
Rukh and Katrina Kaif, I noticed that none of the confidence had
evaporated. Nor had the accessibility. He is the one star I know who
treats everyone in the same way and has no time for nakhras or attitude.
Throughout our session, he was the Shah Rukh of old: easily
approachable; willing to answer questions about anything; and
well-mannered and chivalrous (he was extremely protective of Katrina
Kaif who, he reckoned, did not have his experience at handling live
sessions).
And yet, I think Shah Rukh Khan has changed. I told
him that he had matured beyond the days when he kept insisting that he
was the best at everything he did. ("Even when I shave, I have to
believe that I am the best shaver in the world," he had once told me.)
"Maybe," he said. "But I am still the best." And perhaps he is. But he
seems older and wiser now. I asked him on stage about the public
meltdowns, the assault on a film director, the fight at a cricket
stadium, and the public quarrel with Salman Khan. On his own, without my
having to use the phrase, he insisted that he was not going through a
mid-life crisis. Nor was he under the influence of alcohol or any other
substance when he had these altercations.So, why does he do it? And does
he regret it? Short answer: he has no regrets. His assault was
justified with a joke: "Three fights in five years is not so bad, yaar."
On Salman, he was uncompromising. Perhaps they will make up. Perhaps
they won't. But it's something that will happen on its own when the time
is right. He gave no indication that he had any interest in hastening
the process. As for the incident at the cricket stadium, he left no one
in any doubt that he believed he was justified in his anger. But, he
said, it is not necessarily a good thing to show anger in front of kids.
Charmed!
Many years ago, when I interviewed Shah Rukh for Brunch, I compared him
to Tony Blair (above) who could charm or win over anybody.Even in the
one area where I thought he would offer some soft words of apology – the
shameful way in which his franchise treated Sourav Ganguly – he was
completely uncompromising. He had not a single regret about the decision
to first sideline and then drop Sourav.Many years ago, when I
interviewed Shah Rukh for Brunch, I compared him to Tony Blair. It is
said about Blair that he has never met anybody who he could not charm or
win over. That's true of Shah Rukh too. When he turns on the charm, he
can usually get around pretty much anyone.But the Shah Rukh we saw at
the HT Summit seemed to be the kind of guy who did not particularly care
whether he could win over anyone at all. And he seemed to have lost
interest in being seen as charming and likeable. His attitude was: this
is me. This is who I am. Take it or leave it.I asked him about the
transformation both on stage and later. His answer suggested that after
21 years at the top, he is wearied of trying to be all things to all
people. He has got tired of seeming likeable. And the controversies have
now exhausted him to the extent that after a point, he doesn't really
give a damn.Obviously, Shah Rukh's fans will have their own views on the
metamorphosis. And there will be people who know him much better than I
do (we journalists tend to make broad generalisations on the basis of
interviews even though we often don't see the private person when we
talk to the public persona) who may dispute my assessment of the change
in his personality.But frankly, I think it is long overdue. He is now in
his mid 40s. He can no longer be every mother's darling son and every
teenager's heartthrob.
As he complained on stage, audiences
still expect him to play the romantic hero even though he is past that
stage. (At one point, he spread out his arms in that famous romantic
gesture and said that people even expect him to brush his teeth in that
position.)It's not easy to be as omnipresent as Shah Rukh Khan is: in
the movies; on TV; at live events; at cricket matches; and in every
second ad campaign. Obviously, there will be a backlash. People will get
fed up of seeing him everywhere. And critics may feel that the cute
persona that made him famous has now begun to jar a little.So, I'm glad
that Shah Rukh has decided to be his own man. If he is angry, he shows
it. If he is upset, he talks about it. And if he's insulted, he lashes
out. He has always been honest in his interviews but all of us who heard
him at the HT Summit were struck by his candour. As he said, "I decided
on the plane to Delhi that I am not going to continue being
diplomatic."I much prefer him this way. He seems real and genuine. He is
no longer a prisoner of our expectations or of the image cultivated
over the decades. This is the real Shah Rukh: flesh, blood, anger,
humour, and as always, that engaging intelligence.
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