More than two decades ago, while he was stuck in a traffic jam in Delhi, Shah Rukh Khan (left) realised that strangers had started to recognise him.
“I was in a rickshaw near Panchsheel in Delhi. There were two ladies in the next auto. They were slumped over… almost like the weight of the world was on their shoulders. They looked really morose. And, then suddenly their faces lit up. I didn’t even realise that they were shouting Abhi Abhi… (the character Abhimanyu Rai Shah Rukh played in the TV show Fauji).
“It was very awkward. Both the rickshaw drivers were trying to figure out what’s happening and in that moment the traffic lights changed and we drove off. I wasn’t used to being called by a character’s name, so for about 10 minutes after we moved, I didn’t realise they were calling out to me.”
Today, Shah Rukh is one of the most recognisable men in the world. So the challenge for his next film, the very ambitious Fan, was to make sure the two lead characters look different.
Directed by Maneesh Sharma, the film tells the story of Gaurav, a fan who gets obsessed with his idol Aryan Khanna – with both characters played by Shah Rukh.
He is no stranger to double roles but Gaurav’s look stumped everyone. “When we decided that the two characters shouldn’t look similar, we realised that we didn’t know how to achieve it. Maneesh went to LA to meet make-up artists while my team (at Red Chillies) started work on VFX to figure out if it is possible to make someone look so much younger. We then shot a portion of the film and failed miserably. It was so terrible that we almost shelved the film.”
Shah Rukh Khan poses during the trailer launch of his forthcoming Hindi film ‘Fan’, directed by Maneesh Sharma and produced by Aditya Chopra, in Mumbai. Photo: AFP
It was one of those should-we-shouldn’t-we late night meetings at Shah Rukh’s heritage home Mannat, in Mumbai’s tony neighbourhood Bandra, that convinced everyone to take the plunge.
Says Shah Rukh: “I saw the film and I think we’ve got it right. My kids really liked the film and me in it. They gave me a hug at the end. Otherwise they hug me a lot but for a film, they haven’t before. (Smiles) They said, ‘we are very proud of you papa’.
“It was very difficult and challenging. There is always that feeling that we won’t pull it off. Obviously, you never know until the release… When you do a film that you can’t predict the fate of and when you get that right, there’s nothing more exciting.”
The initial plan was to release the film to coincide with Shah Rukh’s 50th birthday on Nov 2 last year. “Adi (Aditya Chopra, the film’s producer) thought that it would be cool for a 50-year-old to be seen playing a 25-year-old. Unfortunately, we weren’t ready for it because it took us a whole year to do the VFX. It took a lot to create Gaurav,” says Shah Rukh.
Apart from the special effects, Shah Rukh lost some weight to play Gaurav. He also changed his body language and his voice. But even after he got Gaurav’s physicality in place, the actor didn’t know what made the character tick.
“He is not based on anyone I have seen in my fans, thankfully. He is a different and strange beast. I don’t know how he got created. There is huge input from everyone from Manu (Anand) the cameraman to the costume designer Niharika (Bhasin-Khan), Greg (Cannom) the make-up guy and my (Red Chillies) VFX team but when I look at him, I don’t know who he is. I don’t understand him or how I did it. I think, I created him in a state that was dichotomous or schizophrenic.”
One would assume that Shah Rukh would bring shades of himself to Aryan Khanna the superstar but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Aryan is a superstar without the trappings or flamboyance. He is not like me at all. It would be wrong of Adi and Maneesh to expect me to play myself in this film.
“Aryan is more practical. He is worried about his status and he is more patient. I think he is a lot more mature than me,” he says with a laugh.
Shah Rukh Khan (L) poses with a wax figure of himself at a photocall at Madame Tussauds to promote his upcoming film ‘Fan’ in London. Photo: AFP
Has he ever been a fan?
“I have liked a lot of people and appreciated their work. I am being asked about being a fan, I don’t want to sound arrogant… I like Milkha Singh, Gavaskar and Muhammad Ali. I have an original Life magazine cover of Muhammad Ali.
“Being a fan is a luxury; loving someone is a luxury. You need to have the time for it. You sit for four hours and cut that person’s photo out of a magazine. Unfortunately, because of my circumstances – my parents died young – I didn’t have time to play. I didn’t have the time to be a fan. I had to start working early.
“From age 15, I worked until I was 25 when my mother died. And, before I knew it, I was a star. So, before I had the luxury of being a fan, I was a star. Being a fan is a full-time job and I had to work for a living. I wish I had a Justin Bieber in my life, or Ed Sheeran…”
There is so much talk about this new phase in Shah Rukh’s career where he is working with different directors like Maneesh, Rahul Dholakia (Raees) and Gauri Shinde (untitled film with Alia Bhatt) but he doesn’t understand the fuss.
“I had never worked with Rohit Shetty before Chennai Express. It’s not my world but I really wanted to experience his world. I found his films funny. After watching Golmaal, I called Kareena (Kapoor). I didn’t think I could carry off a line like ‘Don’t underestimate the power of a common man’.
“For an actor, it’s very important to be able to do all kinds of roles. Before that I did a film with Shimit Amin. He was an editor on Asoka, which is how I knew him. Before that, I worked with a choreographer who turned into a director (Farah Khan). I like working with people who have different ideas.”
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