| At 42, his heroines are getting younger, and Shah Rukh Khan is getting bigger and bigger, finds ANUJ KUMAR |
"No, Sonam is not final. Adi is still contemplating. It is the script which decides the actress, not me. For Om Shaanti Om, we needed a fresh face. For Rab Ne…we need a young actress. And then, for Karan Johar's My Name is Khan the script demands a mature actress." The buzz is that it's Kajol, but Shah Rukh refuses to confirm it.
How do his kids address his co-stars…they must have quite a range from Deepika didi to Juhi aunty? "No it's not like that (laughs)…They call them by their first names!"
From dominating the world of films, Shah Rukh has now moved on: to the world of sport. It's as if no stage is too big for the quintessential Delhi boy. But he insists it's the middle class values instilled in Delhi which keep him "rooted and focussed".
With hardly any competition in sight, is there any challenge left for the actor in him? "I feel the struggle will be to play myself one day. The most difficult thing for an actor is to play himself. People tell me that those expressions are mannered… I wish I could play just me one day. Though there have been characters which had a part of me, like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, the closest perhaps was Chak De India! When I play games with my kids they say: 'You are very much like Kabir Khan'."
He pauses for a moment, and then says television shows allow him to be himself. Isn't he acting as Shah Rukh? "No in Panchvi Paas... there is no script…most of the things I say are impromptu."
Do the participants find it difficult to confess in front of the camera that they are no wiser than a fifth grader? "Not really. One should be able to accept where one stands."
The man who once said if he could enact five emotions, others could enact only four has certainly gained in maturity what he's lost in brashness. "I have mellowed down in the last few years."
The man has his hands full: the newly-launched Indian Premier League (IPL) has stretched his already long day to something like 20 hours, but Shah Rukh isn't cribbing. "I have a mantra in life: keep winning or die trying." Coming from a middle class home in Delhi, this has worked for me all these years. Now I want to share my success and the mantra with young Indians, and cricket is one platform to do that."
But, it doesn't seem to have been a prudent business move? He acknowledges, "Yes, there are some problems. What was promised by the authorities hasn't turned out to be totally true. There are entertainment tax issues in Kolkata. Still I have been able to cut costs by bringing in the brands that I endorse." Isn't IPL the height of materialism with cricketers being traded for mind-boggling sums? For once Shah Rukh, the poster boy of the corporate world, loses control. "Dear, this country is yet to see the height of commercialisation. It's just the beginning… And it's not bad. It's all a reflection of our economic prowess and GDP growth."
Regaining composure, he reminds the media not to jump to the conclusion that whatever Shah Rukh touches turns to gold. "I have had my share of failures when I started film production. Remember Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani?"
On the production front, as usual after a biggie, Shah Rukh is making a small budget film with Priyadarshan. Called Billoo Barber, it's a modern day interpretation of the Krishna-Sudama story. "The title caught my imagination. I have been a great fan of Priyanji and finally he is directing a film for my production house." For the first time, Shah Rukh is not playing the lead role in his home production.
"As always it is a matter of script. Scripts choose me, not the other way round. The role suited Irrfan Khan and thankfully he has accepted it. I will do a cameo." He is also working on a big budget film for kids. "There have been lots of rumours about this project. It is not just for kids and it's not an animation film. It is a big budget film which has very high-end special effects, which we haven't seen in Bollywood before."
http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2008/05/10/stories/20080510518308 00.htm
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More than relieved, Shah Rukh plays doting dad to team - Knight Riders owner speaks on how he has won the confidence of the boys and his belief that they will be champions | ||
| LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI | ||
Calcutta: Always a gracious winner, the Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan, headed towards the Bangalore Royal Challengers' dressing room at the Eden. That was around 1.25am on Friday. Shah Rukh knocked to offer much needed commiserations, but only found a couple of rather startled attendants feasting on the leftovers. "Let's chat here," Shah Rukh told The Telegraph and, about an hour after his team had won the battle on the field, he took control of the Royal Challengers' dressing room. A complete victory, really. For the next 20-odd minutes, Shah Rukh (accompanied by son Aryan, who could turn out to be an amazing footballer) spoke about the Knight Riders having put a stop to their losing run in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was past 1.45am when Shah Rukh finished and, on the way out, picked up a banana. Of course, he didn't forget to ask "guys, anybody else interested?" The following are excerpts from the one-on-one: His top emotion after the five-run win over the (Vijay Mallya-owned) Royal Challengers More than feeling relieved, I'm feeling bad that the boys suffered four defeats on the trot.... We could've had four wins instead of three in the first seven matches. I'm feeling bad because we've had our run of ill luck.… Chris Gayle got injured and couldn't play a single match…. Then, we should've had Shoaib Akhtar from the start. These things haven't helped. We're clear about not playing somebody for gains in the short term and getting him injured in the process. It's sad that what was planned by John (Buchanan, coach), Jeet (Banerjee, associate) and Joy (Bhattacharjya, team director), by way of fielding players, didn't work out. It's the run of bad luck which cost us one of the matches…. Probably the one against the Mumbai Indians or the one versus Kings XI Punjab. Whether the four defeats left him depressed Not depressed, I'm never depressed. But, yes, I did feel bad for the boys.… I treat them as my kids and my response had been the way I'd respond if my kids (Aryan, Suhana) didn't win a race or something. Having been rather restrained during the match, except towards the end (Grins) I was indeed very tired, yaar.… I'd been shooting for my TV show till 6.30 in the morning (Thursday)…. I then took one of the earlier flights because I wanted to spend some time with the team. At this point, believe me, I'm absolutely exhausted. The thrust of his interaction with the Sourav Gangulys It wasn't a pep talk…. Don't think I can give that.… I don't have a role in the planning, that's taken care of by John and (assistant coach) Matthew Mott.… The Knight Riders' support staff is just fantastic.… If I said anything to the players in the early days, it would've seemed as if the owner in me was speaking…. Today, that stage has passed and when I say anything now, it's as if I'm talking like a team member…. One needs time to come together.… Initially, they must've been suspicious of me…. Wary of me…. I've won their trust by actually being a part of the team.… I wish I could practise with them as well…. Hopefully, I'll be able to do that next year.… I want the wins as much as the players themselves and, like them, don't want the losses…. An owner of a team would like a win for different reasons, but my reasons are the same as theirs…. I'm happy that I've been able to win the team's confidence.… My wife (Gauri) has been able to win that confidence too…. (Co-owners) Juhi and Jay (Mehta) have been able to win that confidence as well…. The message he gave his team That we should play like our first match and play it like our last match.… To show the world and ourselves that we could take a hit and still get up and hit back…. My father used to say the opposition wants to win as much as you do, so don't think you're the only one fighting…. The opponents, too, fight.… I believe the one who can take the harder hit is the one who is stronger…. We've taken the hardest hit and it's time to come back stronger. His one-on-one with Shoaib I told him to do something to the opposition.… He said he'll do just that! Shoaib also promised me that even if he plays two matches in this year's IPL, everybody would remember those matches…. He needs to acclimatise and needs to be fully fit. Whether he'd been confident about the team defending 129 The experts said it was a good score, but the experts have been saying a lot of things a lot of times…. I don't think this (Twenty20) game has anything to do with the experts, this game is run by passion.… Defending or not defending that score was a different matter, but I liked the body language when the boys started the second session.… I'd seen them the same way in Bangalore (during the April 18 IPL opener)…. Unfortunately, the Royal Challengers had to face the worst times both times! I say unfortunate because I love Rahul (Dravid) and Anil (Kumble) and the others.… I've known them for years, done Pepsi shoots together…. I'm good friends with them and they've come home…. (After a pause) Even if we hadn't won, the body language suggested the coming together of heart and soul…. The mind had been together, we needed the heart and soul to be together (after four defeats on the trot).… MoM Sourav's spell (3-0-7-1) It was awesome.… Players like him need to be given breathing space…. If he doesn't do well in one match then the question is 'what are you doing about Ganguly?'.… You can't write off players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav and some others whose names I've missed out…. Also, we shouldn't be praising one performance of theirs…. After all, they're expected to perform… They're meant to win matches… It's not about winning or losing as much as it is about the desire to play together and trying to get results…. It may not happen this year, but next year…. However, I'd like this team to be remembered for its ideology. That's important. At the half-way stage in the IPL, the marks he'd give the Knight Riders on a scale of 10 We'll win this championship.… I wake up in the morning thinking I'm the best, when I know I'm not.… I'm not the best, but I still believe that I am…. If I don't believe that, then I don't even become good enough.… I think the team wakes up with the thought that it can win the championship…. Inshallah, it will.… If we don't, we may not have been good enough on a particular day…. May not have had the right breaks.… But we've got to wake up with that belief…. Right now, I do believe the Knight Riders will win the championship. Regularly sending text messages to his players (Laughs) I think I've got SMS diarrhoea…. Some probably don't understand the messages, but how else do I explain things to 18 and 19-year-olds…. I've lived life a little more than them.… I've lost in life, but have gained a lot too.… My experience will probably sound a bit alien to an 18-year-old…. So, I send Rudyard Kipling's verses…. I send them Abraham Lincoln's prayer for one of his son's.… I send them some of the things my father used to tell me.… I want to pass on to my kids what my father would tell me.… Having had to scrap the stage performance he'd planned for Thursday Look, I'm through with trying to put up a show (on a match day).… I'll come down to the Eden Gardens one day, after getting everybody's permission, and put up a show…. It won't happen in this IPL because there are restrictions on time for the kind of show I want to put up.… Only between 6.55 and 7.05 pm or only during the break.… Whether the King of Good Times, Mallya, had congratulated him We're friends outside the IPL…. He was a very good host when we played in Bangalore and I'll be speaking to him. Finally, if the Trinamul demonstrators actually had a word with him when they blocked his Eden-headed convoy No…. People can make claims, and they keep doing so, but nobody spoke to me. |
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