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The Badshah of Bollywood has a heart that's as big as his global fan base, says Mahesh Bhatt, arguably Bollywood's most cerebral and honest filmmaker.
I have always believed that life comes down to a few key moments and it is the fragrant memories of these moments which hold our relationships together.
My relationship with Shah Rukh Khan has many such moments. Let me share with you some of these intense moments. It may give you an idea of the real Shah Rukh Khan.
Not the Shah Rukh Khan you see clowning around on the screen, soaking in a petal-filled bathtub with a bevy of beautiful women, or even charming us so effortlessly with his sheer warmth and energy in the latest episode of KBC; but the Shah Rukh I know more personally, and whose simplicity and honesty I have had the privilege to witness on a one-to-one level.
A couple of years ago while I was in the throes of my film shooting, Vivek, an old assistant of mine who is now working for Shah Rukh forwarded me an SMS that he had received from SRK who was undergoing medical treatment in London.
It said, "Tell Bhatt saab that I am coming with the first draft of my memoirs very soon. He will be the first person to read it. Also give him a hug and tell him that you very much for pushing me to write my memoirs."
This heartfelt message touched me deeply. Gratitude of any kind in Bollywood is so rare that it only affirmed to me what I had always felt about him. Life for Shah Rukh is no brief, hesitant candle, but a splendid torch, which he makes sure burns as brightly and as unapologetically as possible.
I first met Shah Rukh in the mid-nineties. The film that brought us together was my half-brother Robin's maiden venture Chahat. Those were the days when whatever I touched turned into a wasteland.
My life had lost all sense of purpose and my need to express myself through cinema had sucked itself dry. I felt absolutely no passion for my work and was enveloped with fierce loneliness. Hardly the kind of director Shah Rukh would have needed to work with, at the stage he was in.
His ascent to the top had just begun. But never once did he treat me with the contempt that I deserved at that point. He had perhaps locked in his mind a picture of me from the past – and the Mahesh that he respected and admired was the only one he seemed to see in front of him, despite all evidence to the contrary.
What a strange picture we must have painted – a young, enthusiastic actor, bursting with unrealised dreams and energetic talent, and a has-been, burnt-out director, cynical in the extreme. The only thing that we had in common was our love for painkillers.
I will never get over the earnestness with which he listened to my ramblings and tried to understand why when I said that I was through with directing movies. Shah Rukh still insists that someday I will come back on the set and shout out 'start sound' once again.
Albert Camus once said that 'real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present'. Well, that's exactly what Shah Rukh did and still does. He exhausts the limits of the possible. He is the only actor I have known who has this inexhaustible energy to go on and on, giving one take after another, each one completely different from the first.
In fact when you call for one more take, his face lights up like a greedy child, at the possibilities before him. Like some sort of emotional archaeologist, looking to discover some more hidden treasure within himself. He unashamedly says that he learns acting from children and his pet dog is his most reliable teacher!
I remember one day how he gave me this one-man show of all his dogs' various moods and had me in splits. As I watched him, I re-learnt the age-old maxim that acting is all about doing and not talking or thinking, and has more to do with gratifying the viewers' senses than confusing them with some sort of superior logic.
It is this 'feel, don't think' policy that has hurled him far ahead of his thinking, pondering competitors, and helped him carve out an everlasting niche in the hearts of his audience.
Late one night during the physically demanding shooting of the climax of Chahat, Shah Rukh made a startling admission. He said he found the experience of shooting some films so absorbing and intense that it made no difference to him whether the film was a hit or a flop.
He wondered why people assume that success is the pinnacle and failure the pits. They are not. The real pinnacle according to him is when we are so engaged in what we're doing that this distinction vanishes. Athletes call it being in the zone.
Two more lessons that I have learned from the Khan are that the antidote to exhaustion and fatigue lies in wholeheartedness and not in rest. And the other – that fame is not the antidote for loneliness.
Unlike many stars that fall back upon wealth, awards and talkshow appearances as measures of achievement, his laurels have brought him little sense of self-worth. A couple of years ago when we worked together on Duplicate, I made him see that he was a workaholic like me and work for him was the sole reservoir of his identity; he was addicted to work.
But unfortunately for him, over the years his addiction has been hailed and applauded since it has generated wealth for others. For a long time now the world has overused this money-making machine called Shah Rukh Khan.
"But now things have started to change in my life," he said to me when we ran into one another in a film studio. "Of late, I have begun to realise that it's the work that had me, and not the other way around. Therefore nowadays I spend a lot of time with my kids," he added, knowing very well that this transformation of his from workaholic into a householder would please me immensely.
The manifestation of this change was established to the rest of the world when he dubbed for a Hollywood animation film called Hum Hain Lajawab in Hindi.
"This is the best gift I could give to my child," he proclaimed to the world when he launched the promotional campaign for the film.
I could sense that a new happy phase in Shah Rukh's life had begun but little did I know then that he would come very close to losing it all.
"It was a close escape for me…I'm quite shattered at the thought of people losing their lives…for a really not worth it show. The whole concept of wanting to make people happy has undergone a change…because suddenly the price they paid for my demi-god status is too much for me to return. I am relieved I am alive for my little kids and cannot get the feeling out of my mind that it seems all a bit unfair. I don't feel guilty but I do feel responsible. I hope it just doesn't become a part of the hype around my success in the minds of others. Hopefully the thought of my mortality and the others attached to mine…will make me more conscious. Humble. What I don't know….but something hopefully. Love Shah Rukh Khan."
This SMS which was sent by Shah Rukh to me the day after the grenade attack in Colombo, where he had gone to perform in a show, revealed the fragile state the superstar was in at that time. He had put up a brave front to the Indian media which had swooped down on him upon his arrival in Bombay in the early hours of the morning, but I could see from his smile that all was not well with him.
Seeing this, I had sent him a two-word SMS through which I hoped to communicate the relief that he was unharmed. The message simply read "Blast Mubarak." Used to this black humour, that was his response to me a few hours later.
"The taste of death often ignites a lust for life. Maybe Colombo will play the role of Kalinga in your life and nudge you onto a path of life which needs to be explored," I replied, sensing that the reverberation of the night of December 11 would boom in his heart for a long time to come and change his life forever.
But at the same time I was certain that although sadder, he would emerge wiser from this blood-splattered event which had jolted Bollywood and the rest of the world.
"Everyone wants to use a star to sell something or the other. Product manufacturers use Shah Rukh to sell Pepsi and luxury cars and now this terrorist group which was hoping to sell its revolution was also doing the same," said my Pakistani journalist friend who had called me from Karachi to enquire about Shah Rukh's well-being.
Shah Rukh Khan is a phenomenon in Pakistan. Not many know that his ancestral home in Peshawar, where his father was born, has become a tourist spot and has acquired an almost shrine-like status today. It is bewildering for an Indian to see huge cut-outs in Pakistan of Shah Rukh advertising Tag Heuer watches, when it is supposed to be enemy country!
The iconic status of Shah Rukh Khan in Pakistan proves that he is undoubtedly the king who rules the hearts of billions of South Asians. The reason he rules my heart is for being able to retain the basic human values which make the world a better place.
"We are coming to Bombay only to meet Shah Rukh Khan," said my 'sister' from Pakistan. "We want you to arrange for us to meet him. This is the best gift that you could ever give us." Not used to fulfilling the yearnings of star struck fans who come to Bombay to meet Bollywood's A list, I did for the first time what I have never done in my life. I called Shah Rukh.
"I would be personally grateful if you agree to meet my adopted family from Pakistan, who have come all the way here only to meet you," I told him. Amused by my unconventional request, he graciously fixed up a rendezvous to meet them in his palatial villa.
I was moved by this gesture of his. He was inviting my guests to his personal sanctuary, to which even the mightiest in the film industry do not have access! I could see that by honouring my guests, he was honouring me.
So one rainy evening, my wife and I, along with my Pakistani 'family' snaked our way through the Mumbai traffic to his mansion. I could see that the enthusiasm of my guests had reached a point of concealed excitement bordering on hysteria. But deep down within them I could sense a feeling of dread. What if he was not there?
They must have felt guilty for these doubts because the moment our car drove into the driveway, Shah Rukh himself was standing there to receive them! And thereafter, what unfolded was a dream.
Shah Rukh not only welcomed them into his home, but after having introduced them to his entire family, took us into his recreation room full of Pepsi vending machines and jukeboxes. And he proceeded to make them feel comfortable while he chatted non-stop about his movie making experiences and all that he was up to at the present moment, filling them in on insider gossip that they would not even be able to read in the gossip rags.
They were soon so relaxed that they forgot they were in the home of the biggest superstar of Bollywood and I was getting concerned that they may forget that we had to eventually leave.
In fact the atmosphere was more like we were a family getting together after a long gap, such was the uninhibited and unlimited chatter that we were all engaged in.
When we said goodbye finally, after several hours in his company, I saw him wave out to us with the same enthusiasm with which he had received us as we drove away.
It was through this event that I discovered that his inexhaustible energy comes from his simplicity. The edifice of King Khan is built on the heartbeat of this simple soul who still has reverence and respect for the 'normal' people in this world.
I have always believed that life comes down to a few key moments and it is the fragrant memories of these moments which hold our relationships together.
My relationship with Shah Rukh Khan has many such moments. Let me share with you some of these intense moments. It may give you an idea of the real Shah Rukh Khan.
Not the Shah Rukh Khan you see clowning around on the screen, soaking in a petal-filled bathtub with a bevy of beautiful women, or even charming us so effortlessly with his sheer warmth and energy in the latest episode of KBC; but the Shah Rukh I know more personally, and whose simplicity and honesty I have had the privilege to witness on a one-to-one level.
A couple of years ago while I was in the throes of my film shooting, Vivek, an old assistant of mine who is now working for Shah Rukh forwarded me an SMS that he had received from SRK who was undergoing medical treatment in London.
It said, "Tell Bhatt saab that I am coming with the first draft of my memoirs very soon. He will be the first person to read it. Also give him a hug and tell him that you very much for pushing me to write my memoirs."
This heartfelt message touched me deeply. Gratitude of any kind in Bollywood is so rare that it only affirmed to me what I had always felt about him. Life for Shah Rukh is no brief, hesitant candle, but a splendid torch, which he makes sure burns as brightly and as unapologetically as possible.
I first met Shah Rukh in the mid-nineties. The film that brought us together was my half-brother Robin's maiden venture Chahat. Those were the days when whatever I touched turned into a wasteland.
My life had lost all sense of purpose and my need to express myself through cinema had sucked itself dry. I felt absolutely no passion for my work and was enveloped with fierce loneliness. Hardly the kind of director Shah Rukh would have needed to work with, at the stage he was in.
His ascent to the top had just begun. But never once did he treat me with the contempt that I deserved at that point. He had perhaps locked in his mind a picture of me from the past – and the Mahesh that he respected and admired was the only one he seemed to see in front of him, despite all evidence to the contrary.
What a strange picture we must have painted – a young, enthusiastic actor, bursting with unrealised dreams and energetic talent, and a has-been, burnt-out director, cynical in the extreme. The only thing that we had in common was our love for painkillers.
I will never get over the earnestness with which he listened to my ramblings and tried to understand why when I said that I was through with directing movies. Shah Rukh still insists that someday I will come back on the set and shout out 'start sound' once again.
Albert Camus once said that 'real generosity toward the future consists in giving all to what is present'. Well, that's exactly what Shah Rukh did and still does. He exhausts the limits of the possible. He is the only actor I have known who has this inexhaustible energy to go on and on, giving one take after another, each one completely different from the first.
In fact when you call for one more take, his face lights up like a greedy child, at the possibilities before him. Like some sort of emotional archaeologist, looking to discover some more hidden treasure within himself. He unashamedly says that he learns acting from children and his pet dog is his most reliable teacher!
I remember one day how he gave me this one-man show of all his dogs' various moods and had me in splits. As I watched him, I re-learnt the age-old maxim that acting is all about doing and not talking or thinking, and has more to do with gratifying the viewers' senses than confusing them with some sort of superior logic.
It is this 'feel, don't think' policy that has hurled him far ahead of his thinking, pondering competitors, and helped him carve out an everlasting niche in the hearts of his audience.
Late one night during the physically demanding shooting of the climax of Chahat, Shah Rukh made a startling admission. He said he found the experience of shooting some films so absorbing and intense that it made no difference to him whether the film was a hit or a flop.
He wondered why people assume that success is the pinnacle and failure the pits. They are not. The real pinnacle according to him is when we are so engaged in what we're doing that this distinction vanishes. Athletes call it being in the zone.
Two more lessons that I have learned from the Khan are that the antidote to exhaustion and fatigue lies in wholeheartedness and not in rest. And the other – that fame is not the antidote for loneliness.
Unlike many stars that fall back upon wealth, awards and talkshow appearances as measures of achievement, his laurels have brought him little sense of self-worth. A couple of years ago when we worked together on Duplicate, I made him see that he was a workaholic like me and work for him was the sole reservoir of his identity; he was addicted to work.
But unfortunately for him, over the years his addiction has been hailed and applauded since it has generated wealth for others. For a long time now the world has overused this money-making machine called Shah Rukh Khan.
"But now things have started to change in my life," he said to me when we ran into one another in a film studio. "Of late, I have begun to realise that it's the work that had me, and not the other way around. Therefore nowadays I spend a lot of time with my kids," he added, knowing very well that this transformation of his from workaholic into a householder would please me immensely.
The manifestation of this change was established to the rest of the world when he dubbed for a Hollywood animation film called Hum Hain Lajawab in Hindi.
"This is the best gift I could give to my child," he proclaimed to the world when he launched the promotional campaign for the film.
I could sense that a new happy phase in Shah Rukh's life had begun but little did I know then that he would come very close to losing it all.
"It was a close escape for me…I'm quite shattered at the thought of people losing their lives…for a really not worth it show. The whole concept of wanting to make people happy has undergone a change…because suddenly the price they paid for my demi-god status is too much for me to return. I am relieved I am alive for my little kids and cannot get the feeling out of my mind that it seems all a bit unfair. I don't feel guilty but I do feel responsible. I hope it just doesn't become a part of the hype around my success in the minds of others. Hopefully the thought of my mortality and the others attached to mine…will make me more conscious. Humble. What I don't know….but something hopefully. Love Shah Rukh Khan."
This SMS which was sent by Shah Rukh to me the day after the grenade attack in Colombo, where he had gone to perform in a show, revealed the fragile state the superstar was in at that time. He had put up a brave front to the Indian media which had swooped down on him upon his arrival in Bombay in the early hours of the morning, but I could see from his smile that all was not well with him.
Seeing this, I had sent him a two-word SMS through which I hoped to communicate the relief that he was unharmed. The message simply read "Blast Mubarak." Used to this black humour, that was his response to me a few hours later.
"The taste of death often ignites a lust for life. Maybe Colombo will play the role of Kalinga in your life and nudge you onto a path of life which needs to be explored," I replied, sensing that the reverberation of the night of December 11 would boom in his heart for a long time to come and change his life forever.
But at the same time I was certain that although sadder, he would emerge wiser from this blood-splattered event which had jolted Bollywood and the rest of the world.
"Everyone wants to use a star to sell something or the other. Product manufacturers use Shah Rukh to sell Pepsi and luxury cars and now this terrorist group which was hoping to sell its revolution was also doing the same," said my Pakistani journalist friend who had called me from Karachi to enquire about Shah Rukh's well-being.
Shah Rukh Khan is a phenomenon in Pakistan. Not many know that his ancestral home in Peshawar, where his father was born, has become a tourist spot and has acquired an almost shrine-like status today. It is bewildering for an Indian to see huge cut-outs in Pakistan of Shah Rukh advertising Tag Heuer watches, when it is supposed to be enemy country!
The iconic status of Shah Rukh Khan in Pakistan proves that he is undoubtedly the king who rules the hearts of billions of South Asians. The reason he rules my heart is for being able to retain the basic human values which make the world a better place.
"We are coming to Bombay only to meet Shah Rukh Khan," said my 'sister' from Pakistan. "We want you to arrange for us to meet him. This is the best gift that you could ever give us." Not used to fulfilling the yearnings of star struck fans who come to Bombay to meet Bollywood's A list, I did for the first time what I have never done in my life. I called Shah Rukh.
"I would be personally grateful if you agree to meet my adopted family from Pakistan, who have come all the way here only to meet you," I told him. Amused by my unconventional request, he graciously fixed up a rendezvous to meet them in his palatial villa.
I was moved by this gesture of his. He was inviting my guests to his personal sanctuary, to which even the mightiest in the film industry do not have access! I could see that by honouring my guests, he was honouring me.
So one rainy evening, my wife and I, along with my Pakistani 'family' snaked our way through the Mumbai traffic to his mansion. I could see that the enthusiasm of my guests had reached a point of concealed excitement bordering on hysteria. But deep down within them I could sense a feeling of dread. What if he was not there?
They must have felt guilty for these doubts because the moment our car drove into the driveway, Shah Rukh himself was standing there to receive them! And thereafter, what unfolded was a dream.
Shah Rukh not only welcomed them into his home, but after having introduced them to his entire family, took us into his recreation room full of Pepsi vending machines and jukeboxes. And he proceeded to make them feel comfortable while he chatted non-stop about his movie making experiences and all that he was up to at the present moment, filling them in on insider gossip that they would not even be able to read in the gossip rags.
They were soon so relaxed that they forgot they were in the home of the biggest superstar of Bollywood and I was getting concerned that they may forget that we had to eventually leave.
In fact the atmosphere was more like we were a family getting together after a long gap, such was the uninhibited and unlimited chatter that we were all engaged in.
When we said goodbye finally, after several hours in his company, I saw him wave out to us with the same enthusiasm with which he had received us as we drove away.
It was through this event that I discovered that his inexhaustible energy comes from his simplicity. The edifice of King Khan is built on the heartbeat of this simple soul who still has reverence and respect for the 'normal' people in this world.
CID
57