‘I KEEP THINGS VERY BASIC’
He has been a superstar for over two decades now. So, who better than Shah Rukh Khan to talk about superstardom and perceptions around it
For 25 years, he has been a part of Bollywood. Out of that, except the initial few years, Shah Rukh Khan has always been the true-blue superstar. But what’s interesting is that the actor — who turned 52 last week — is completely unaware about his ascent to superstardom. “I would like to know how I became a star,” he says. In a recent chat with HT Café, SRK spoke about stardom, being “simple” and more.
You are a bona fide superstar. But do you remember your journey towards it?
Honestly, I myself would like to know how I became a star (smiles). The God’s honest truth is that I don’t know [how it all happened]. I feel [to become a star] there are a lot of factors at work. If some other people — who behave like a star — know it, then they must know something [about being a star]. Actually, I would like to sit with them and ask them, ‘bhai, bata do mujhe bhi kuch (tell me also something about being a star; laughs).’
From time to time, we hear film stars complaining about the pitfalls of being a public figure. Do you agree with that?
Anyone who complains about stardom vis-à-vis privacy, and that they are always under limelight or [that] paparazzi [is always around], I tell them, ‘Come on, how many human beings have the good luck that wherever they go, people come and take their pictures with them?’ I know about people who try ki unki ek picture aa jaaye (that one picture of theirs should appear). When
I myself would like to know how I became a star (smiles). The God’s honest truth is that I don’t know [how it all happened]. I feel [to become a star] there are a lot of factors at work. SHAH RUKH KHAN, ACTOR
people take pictures with you, kiss you, scratch or hug you; and don’t give you any right to privacy, it actually means that they love you.
Be it with your colleagues or your fans, you are known to be an extremely warm and endearing person. In fact, you have always been like that…
I keep things very basic. So, there are no trappings but from outside, there might appear many of them. In fact, when a team member of mine or a director starts working with me for the first time, they have a bit of a perception that ‘arrey, yeh toh aisa hoga’ (He must be a certain kind). In fact, half of the time, new directors are extremely wary that yeh aisa dikh raha hai par aisa hoga nahi (he must not be in real life the way he appears).’ But after some time, they realise that I do nothing special.