‘I made it to Hollywood only because of SRK’
As a child, he earned money selling detergent door-to-door. Even then, he knew he’d make it big one day. Once he grew up, he became the Bad Man of Bollywood, and dazzled on Hollywood screens, too. Meet actor Gulshan Grover, whose is the rags-to-riches story. He has recorded his life story in his recently released memoir, Bad Man. However, when we caught up with him, he told us that there is something more he wanted to add in the book. What, you ask? The story that actor Shah Rukh Khan was instrumental in helping Grover realise his Hollywood dream. The 63-year-old actor recalls, “Shah Rukh and I were working in director Aziz Mirza’s movie Yes Boss (1997). That time, I had got selected for a Hollywood movie, The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo (1997), to play the main antagonist. It was the final call for me to come to Hollywood and sign the film. I was in a big
dilemma... Before turning down the offer, I went to Shah Rukh and made him read the script. He insisted I take the first flight to Hollywood.” The actor developed cold feet thinking about the repercussions of leaving the Yes Boss shoot midway, but Khan helped again. “I was so scared thinking the director would sue me for doing this or cut my salary. But Shah Rukh said, ‘Tu jaa, agar tereko kisika phone bhi aaya, you come and catch me. I will handle the situation here. You go, my friend, sign this film and make us proud’,” Gulshan adds, “I owe my Hollywood career to SRK. He gave wings to my dreams. If he hadn’t pushed me that night to take that flight to Hollywood, this would’ve not happened.” After he reached the US to sign the film, the actor had to fight another battle. “I was replaced by another actor but after shooting for two days with him, the director was convinced he wanted an Indian actor with big eyes to play the role. I was called back and there has been no looking back since,” he says. After a month, he returned to India to resume the shoot here. “I thought Aziz sir would be very angry. But to my surprise, he was happy that I was back and asked me to resume the shoot,” says Gulshan, who has starred in Hollywood films such as Beeper (2002), Blind Ambition (2008), Desperate Endeavours (2011) and Prisoners Of The Sun (2013).
I owe my Hollywood career to SRK. He gave wings to my Hollywood dreams.
GULSHAN GROVER ACTOR