BizAsia talks to SRK about ‘Chennai Express’
When it comes to being an internationally renowned Bollywood actor, Shah Rukh Khan has got this down to a fine art. He has been in the industry since 20 years and has made a name for himself and a home in the hearts of all his fans worldwide. In between nursing his shoulder injury which he gained in the making of ��Chennai Express�۪ and honouring his other numerous professional commitments, BizAsia met up with Khan to talk about his upcoming release and to find out about how he feels being called the king of romance.
Though you having played so many different characters in previous films, do you ever feel afraid that you might not live up to your own or the audience�۪s expectations?
The thing you have to understand is that when you are an artist you should try and employ that part of your art which you genuinely feel. Maybe commercial cinema is not considered completely artistic by many people but it is still an art so you just have to expose or exploit that part. If you started going by what the audience likes, what the market research says or what you think is going to work or is working at that point of time, you might as well not work in this business I think. For 20 years I have learnt that what I have felt at that point of time as an actor, the story I want to tell, hopefully I get that role and that always works the best.
I remember when ��Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge�۪ (1995) was being made, or when ��Kuch Kuch Hota Hai�۪ (1998) was being made, some really wonderful films but we didn�۪t know we were making such wonderful films. Our hearts were in the right place and at that point of time, it was worth making it.�� I do remember somebody telling me that Karan Johar has never made a film, how is he going to be a director, he is just lucky because he has a big father but he had a nice heart to tell the story. So is Aditya Chopra, ��Chak De! India�۪ (2007) was completely off beat, there were no songs and it was about field hockey which is not the most popular sport but it did well. It is about the director having a different way to tell the story. You just go ahead and do what your heart tells you, in life and in films. Whatever your heart tells you, you must believe in it whether it is basic goodness, thrill, action, comedy. At this point of time, after doing some intense films, I wanted to do a mad cap comedy. I haven�۪t done this in a long time. Some of it when I did it earlier didn�۪t work so well. ��Baadshah�۪ (1999) didn�۪t do as well as I would have liked it to but that doesn�۪t mean that you refrain from doing that kind of film. You give it another shot and hopefully it will work.
��Chennai Express�۪ has comedy, action and romance. Out of these three genres, which is the most you prefer acting out?
As strange as it sounds, I like the action part a lot. I think I could it well when I was young but I never got the opportunity. I haven�۪t played a cop in a film and be the tough guy. If I have to play a tough guy, I think I will have to produce it myself. So I have never played a tough guy but I like doing that because I think that I am not bad at it and as I am guy, boys like doing that.
The one genre I don�۪t like and that I personally feel very awkward doing is romance, in my personal life also. If you ask Deepika Padukone, she will tell you. Doing the scenes that I do, some of them people like a lot like ��Bade bade deshon main��_�۪ but when I was doing it, I felt very shy doing it. I am confident now saying it but when I was doing it, I felt shy. I think like they say in Urdu that when you have ��aankh ki sharam�۪ in romance, it works better. I�۪m not very good with it. I find it more fun doing the action.
How did you prepare for the stunts in this film and what is your fitness routine?
I am mostly fit, I like being fit and with my kids grown up, I find them to be very fit so I play with them. I have always been like that, I have never been an overeater. I�۪ve always liked to exercise and play games with my kids in the garden. I like sports. Rohit Shetty was a fantastic action director and his father used to be one of key people doing action and he has a team of 200 people who take care of everything. If you see pictures of cars flying, they are actually flying on ramps and you just stand on it and they are thrown up. It is very nicely done. You have mattresses and air bags which are placed in the exact place. You also have 30 people standing by just in case they topple or they bounce off so it is very safely done. It was easy and I enjoyed it.
Everybody mentions your generosity and your openness. How do you deal with the attention given to you via social media?
I don�۪t listen to every voice. I hear it but you don�۪t have to pay heed to it. I truly believe that there was a time where you had an opinion and we would have a chat about it because our professional paths crossed but now you go anywhere and for a laugh someone may have sent something to you. You may say ��I like this tree�۪ but this doesn�۪t mean that this is the best tree in the world so everybody has an opinion. Today I am dressed very comfortably, I like the way I dress personally and some site has made a comment about my shoes being dirty. These are my shoes and my feet and I will wear what I want to. I am not going to take their opinions to heart and if I meet them, I will tell them that you keep your shoes clean if you want to. Everybody has an opinion and you have to filter it. I don�۪t read it all, sometimes I do. You just move on, that is the only way to deal with it.
Would you consider working with more debut actresses like you did with Deepika Padukone in ��Om Shanti Om�۪ (2007)?
I don�۪t cast the actresses in my films and I have no say in it. When I came new in films, nobody un-suggested me. I was new with Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi and with Kajol but no one said that I don�۪t want to work with him. I think to be fair, when I am in a position of choice, I should not exercise that choice. I never even talk about the heroines in my own productions. The second part is that some films require a newcomer, some films require somebody who is honed and experienced. It depends on the director also but there is no hard and fast rule. I think over the years if you can count Deepika, Anushka Sharma, Rani Mukherjee she was new, whenever the film requires a newcomer, they cast her. I had no say with any of them. I will work with anyone who fits the role.
We wish Shah Rukh Khan and his team all the best for his upcoming release of ��Chennai Express�۪. It will be released in the UK on Thursday 8th August 2013.
