'I don't like romance'
The actor who made some of the most romantic Hindi films says he does not like romance himself.
But then again, Shah Rukh Khan has always been unpredictable.
In this week-long exclusive interview with King Khan, the king of romance spoke to Savera R Someshwar and Saisuresh Sivaswamy about his favourite romantic films, and his views on love.
What are your Valentine's Day plans?
Too old for Valentine's. It was not fashionable when we were young, by the time it became fashionable I am too old. But I will get my wife a gift.
What are your five most romantic films?
I don't like romance.
You will break a lot of hearts with that statement!
No, I don't like romance in terms of watching them because I do so much of it. You do that, and you keep on watching it also, means you got to be really obsessing about this (laughs). This may sound a little strange, but I don't know.
The kind of films I have liked, Padosan was very romantic though it was a comedy about a teacher wanting to be in love with his student. That was very romantic. I can tell you a great heartbreak was in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, where the guy is in love and the woman cheats him and uses them. Among the romantic films I like, let me see, Dilwale is nice. Even though it is a personal film, but it's a nice film, I saw it about three-four months back in Australia, it was nice. Again one of my own, I like Yes Boss, that was very sweet, that's taken from For Love Or For Money.
Among English movies... I thought whackily that There's Something About Mary was good, it was quite sweet, quite romantic, a guy who's in love with his college sweetheart. And there was this book by Graham Greene, A Quiet Affair I think it was, yeah, which Attenborough made it into a film with Julianne Moore, about the woman who says if you bring him back to life, I will give up the thing I love the most, and she has to give him up. That was very romantic. I liked the book a lot, I saw the movie before that, I didn't know it was based on the same book, then I read the book a year ago, and I thought that was very romantic. Is it A Quiet Affair or An Affair to Remember? I will remember...
'Preity, Rani, John, Bipasha want to come on KBC'
Farhan and Zoya Akhtar, Farah Khan, SRK, Malaika and Arbaaz Khan
and Karan Johar at KBC's Valentine Special episode
Tell us your show's plans for Valentine's Day.
We had some fun times with Karan, Farhan-Zoya Akhtar, Arbaaz and Malaika. Different sort of couples, you know, a friend couple, husband-wife couple, brother-sister etc to celebrate the spirit of Valentine's without saying it's just about love. These six people are coming on, sort of standing in for different aspects of loving each other. Friends, brother-sister or husband-wife.
Apart from this they have another three-four celebrity shows, which they will tell me about. They sort of fix it up and request me to extend courtesy and call them, I guess that's the prerogative of the producers whoever they decide on. They make a decision and they tell me to be courteous and call them.
You have absolutely no say in the list?
See, the Valentine's show we had actually decided on 10 people because we wanted it to be like a set of people playing games, and the only say I had was that because it was an hour-long show we extended it a little. If you can get everyone to play, not just two of them to play and the other eight, nine to just sit around... So we broke it down to six, made like Arbaaz-Malaika, it would be good if we had two more couples, That kind of say I have but they create a wish list which they wish to and do the spadework. I guess some of them do not wish to participate for various reasons, dates plus not wanting to. And they only bring to the fore the ones who they feel are wanting to join up.
I have lots of friends like Preity and all who want to go on the show, I tell them look these are my friends who'd like to come on the show. Rani, John wants to come, Bipasha, I tell them these are my friends who wish to come, if it fits into the scheme of things, they are sort of very happy with it.
'My kids ask me, papa what are we, Hindu? Muslim? We are both na?'
A lot of young people hesitate to get into inter-communal marriage, on account of various pressures, family, societal etc. As a Muslim married to a Hindu, what is your advice to young lovers?
Well, just marry. We did a film called KANK, which people were sort of slightly disturbed with. But the message was this: you marry only for the sake of love and friendship. You marry because you think he/she is a good person to wake up with, be with. He is my friend or she is my friend, and you know, religion, discipline, communities, mohallas, relatives, and parents, everybody has a viewpoint, but you got to remember that finally it's about your life with someone, and if you think someone is right for you, you need to go ahead and do it.
I think the educated youth of our country and everywhere else, I think communalism and religion and inter-caste is becoming a thing of the past. It is only left as an agenda for politicians now. And you have to remember as a youngster, that even if you intend being a politician, do not make this as your agenda at least for your marriage. Just go ahead and do it.
When I meet youngsters now, I think nobody is really bothered. Like my kids ask me, papa what are we, Hindu? Muslim? We are both na? They are quite happy about it yaar. They know the difference, and the difference makes them realise that there is really no big difference! Because mom and dad both seem to be quite cool, and we like them each. In my house when kids can grow up like this I am sure youngsters, if they grow up with this belief that religion should only be considered as a discipline, and nothing beyond that.
I am Islamic by birth, I follow that religion, that's a discipline. I should do things because it disciplines your life in a certain way. Somehow the things culturally have changed, and you need to grow out of them and accept that change and know that okay, you don't need to be doing this because this happened only five hundred years ago because there was a need for this kind of discipline then, and is no longer required. So you got to read it and understand religion. And if you understand religion you will understand one thing, that there's no problem in inter-caste, inter-communal marriages.
'I haven't got any comments from Mr and Mrs Bachchan'
To return to Kaun Banega Crorepati, what is the nicest thing you have heard from the film industry about the show? And the worst?
See, I have been getting messages from co-actors and actresses who I have worked with. Like Mr Yash Chopra calls me every night (laughs) to tell me bahut achcha hai beta. Adi (Aditya Chopra) calls me. Karan calls me. These are friends so I meet them every day so, of course, they have a little bias with me. They have a little pro-me extra.
But they love it. They think I have changed the whole methodology of presenting the show. And they are very thrilled with it.
And they are very happy that is something in television, or in the media, that shows how I am personally rather than just acting out things. Maybe now people will stop saying that I act same to same in every film because I am very different in KBC (laughs).
But, apart from that I think you know like... Preity will suddenly call me. They call me quite regularly. Or SMS me after every show. Or Rani will SMS ke that we are rolling on the floor with laughter. So a lot of people who've from the film industry...
But I am working. So I only get network after 7 pm but I do get messages at night from a lot of my friends, a lot of my colleagues. Strangely, I really have not got... one message was very negative. Except for that, I haven't got a negative message in the last 500 or 600 SMSes that I have received.
What was that?
I don't know... Some journalist, somewhere, deep down, deep recesses of some area has sent me a message that I am copying Mr Bachchan which was as far from the truth as it could possibly be so I assume he is seeing the wrong show.
Have you got any comments from Mr or Mrs Bachchan?
No, I haven't got any.
'I've got a lady to speak like my wife'
Whose comment has meant the most to you?
You know, if I were just starting out in this career, you know, these things would be answerable.
Personally speaking?
There are a 140 people working on this show. And they turn around and they tell me, it's great to work with you Mr Khan. And I think that's a nice comment because you know, at your job place, if the people you are working for and working with -- like a Siddharth Basu or a Sameer or a Sharmishta Roy, the ADs or the camera men...
I think the best compliment I have had is that when I start the show, the cameramen need to move their body away from the camera because they start laughing and the camera shakes. Siddharth told them listen, the first directive when he saw the first show and there were a lot of shakes in the camera the first direction we need to have is that the cameramen will not shake when Mr Khan is speaking even if you find it funny, please move your body away from the camera. I thought that was a nice compliment
You always end the show with a call that you get from your wife...
I sometimes end it. You know, sometimes when the guy has just lost a lot of money, I don't feel personally like making a joke at the end of the show. I get a little... we're taping some shows where the guy has sort of lost... had a big crash... what is known as a big crash in our terminology and I'm like, listen, I don't want to be sitting in front of him and cracking a joke about my wife's call. So I try to avoid it that time and just say ghar jane ka waqt aa gaya.
But sometimes, ya... There's one episode where we have, where my wife... You get the voice also...
Oh? Really?
Ya, but you don't really hear her speak. So I got a lady to speak like my wife.
'When you come on this hot seat, we are worried for you'
And computer garu, computer bhau?
See, it depends. You know, it's a show that has been in the psyche of people for some time. And there were some terminologies that were being used. You know, when we started rehearsing, while showing me the rehearsals, a lot of the people who were showing me the rehearsals were using the same terms.
But, to be very honest and frank, I haven't seen the first show so much that it should become a part of my language. And I said, look, can I just say something else if it is all right by you? And they said of course.
And so I used to call it Mr Computer or you know because I find giving a terminology to a computer as it is a little illiterate. You know, I mean, giving it a persona.
I don't think anywhere in the world, on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, they even call a computer even a computer. He is just or she is or it is just a thing there. And you, sort of, need to say, okay, what is the right answer. And that's it. You assume that this machine is meant to give you the right answer.
But when we were doing the first episode, I got a message from the contestant. He was addressing me as Shah Rukh da, with respect I assume, so I said, okay, you are respecting all of this, so what is the thing you respect the most? And he said, right now tho I respect the computerji a lot. So I said then let me call him computer da.
And then, whenever I know the languages, when people speak that, I try to make it that this machine is speaking your language. The whole concept is that. Whether it becomes garu it's like the computer is speaking Tamil.
I wanted to actually remove away two aspects when I was thinking of the creative for this show. I wanted to very clearly remove away a thought that the machine, that is the team, the guys who are putting up these questions, and the host are against you. They are playing this game with you, for you to win.
And I don't know if it is too subtle for me to be trying this or is it too in your face. But the idea is that when you come on this hot seat, we are worried for you. We want you to have a good time -- me and the machine.
So the two guys who you meet here and are a little awesome for you -- this one person who throws random questions and one person who reads them out to you are your friends or, you know, are there to help you out.
So I try to personalise it, make it a little light. They get a little smile when I say computer behn. There was this guy who said why bhai nahin?
Ya, Vishal Malvia.
Vishal. Bhai bolo. Behn mat bolo. Whatever. I've even kissed the computer on one of the shows. We've had a little romantic talk. One guy said be nice to the computer or it'll give it back to you. Just to make them a little comfortable. Whatever it takes.
You liked Vishal, didn't you?
I like all of them. If you were ever to sit down there, with whatever attitude you have come onto the show in the morning, when you see their lips turn dry, their knuckles turning white because they are holding the seat so hard, you know stammering when trying to give an answer, beads of sweat in a cold, cold room, anyone would say oh God!
And when you get to know the background of the people... he's a 21-year-old boy, he's come from some place. I don't know what kind of life he's had, what kind of education he's had. But in his own house he would like to go back to be welcomed as a hero. You know, everybody wants that 15 minutes of fame.
Tomorrow: 'I don't give messages, I try to entertain people'
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