"Brand is about quality content,"... says SRK whose Knight Riders is the most valued brand in the IPL, despite being the first team out.

My team KKR likes me: SRK.....7thMay'09- BT

Shah Rukh Khan is back in Mumbai, coughing and wheezing, he’s got a congestion — it’s not what you’re thinking! He returned to vote, now he’s shooting for Karan Johar, getting kids Aryan and Suhana ready for school, while watching his IPL team Knight Riders take a beating in South Africa over television like you and me.

Shah Rukh Khan with son Aryan cheer for their IPL team
Knight Riderds in South Africa.

Tuesday night, it was like that again, with the Bollywood

Badshah’s knights losing poorly to Delhi in Durban and thereby becoming the first of the eight teams to bite the dust in the race to the semis. Shah Rukh, however, was not in mourning. “What can I say,” he laughed, “we’ve had a string of losses, but we haven’t lost motivation, what we’ve got to do is see where we take the team from here. Some of the matches were close and almost broke our hearts. But the others were complete losses. We had nothing to prove. So I told the boys, go out and have fun!”


He’s aware that the Knight Riders, despite being written off as the worst-performing team in the IPL, is the most valued brand of the T20 tournament. The Economic Times pegged its brand value at $42.1 million, followed closely by Mumbai Indians at $41.6 million and Team Rajasthan at $39.5 million. “Personally, that doesn’t make me happy,” Shah Rukh regretted. “What is a brand? I, as an actor, am a brand... and that puts pressure on myself to perform better and make sure my films

do well. Brand is all about giving quality content. Our cricket content has to improve if it is to be deserving of the top brand spot. That didn’t happen last year. So we tried harder. It didn’t happen this year. Now we need to build the brand up again from scratch on content... rather than other social aspects. I’m happy, of course, that the business is doing well, we have the maximum sponsors and are making money. But the money needs to be put where the product is.”

The team’s hopes have perished this IPL as well, but he isn’t ready to look at the next season as yet. “I believe when you’re down, you shouldn’t take decisions; and when you’re up, you shouldn’t either. Just step back and relook at the situation. That’s what I’m doing,” said the actor. Did his absence in South Africa affect the morale of the team? “Not really,” replied Shah Rukh. “I had decided at the start to be with them for 15 days. The boys are depressed, they can’t do more, and my being around only makes it worse for them. My presence in the dressing room makes them break down. I’m fond of all of them and they like me. But my goodness comes in the way of losses. The defeat gets highlighted because I own the team. They feel worse because they think Shah Rukh Khan has been let down and is hurt... though I don’t show it. Whereas when I’m away, they’re able to go out and play cricket normally.” Does he have a Chak De! message for his disheartened team? “They are all professional players, they play cricket the whole year, and win or lose... they just get on with the next game. I can’t tell them how to play. But I hang around them. Some players are cynical in defeat. Others raring to go. I meet the two up, sit and chat with them, tell them not to be disturbed. We have lost as a team, we don’t have what it takes to win, and we can’t go on depending on hope. I really can’t find fault with anyone. The idea is we go up and come down together. If I jump up and cheer when somebody hits a six then I must also be prepared to go down with them when they fail. The important thing in sports is that it teaches you how to lose, but not to become a loser. Sports always gives you the chance to come back. It’s a great leveller. The whole success in my life is because I think like a sportsman. There’s always another chance. But I wish I didn’t have to learn this lesson so fast!”

I don't count my prayers: Shah Rukh Khan - 11 Mar 2009, 0800 hrs IST

Let me begin this with a folklore by the famous sufi poet Bulle Shah. He once saw a woman, carefully measuring and counting each cup of milk before giving away to every passerby who happened to ask for it.
After some time, walked in a man to whom she handed a cup of milk without measuring or counting the number of cups. Bulle Shah was a little surprised when he saw this. Bewildered, he asked her the reason for such generosity to a particular man. To which she replied, “The reason I didn’t measure the milk is because I love this man, and in love you don’t count what you give or get.” That’s the philosophy I follow in life and the way I connect with God.

I love God, in my own way. I am a firm believer in Him; my true friend. I don’t count the times I pray to Allah, because I am always praying in my heart...I don’t need to show how I pray or count how many times I pray. I don’t seek God. I find Him in everything and everywhere. The first time I prayed to God was when my mother lay dying. I never prayed earlier, that’s the kind of family we were — a regular Muslim family but one which didn’t have any hard and fast rules about praying. I really prayed hard, but she died all the same. That’s the irony of prayers.

I feel closest to my parents when I close my eyes in prayer. That’s how I connect with God. I count my blessings but I don’t count my prayers. Allah has given me so much love through my fans and the people around me — I couldn’t have asked for bigger blessings! I have no fear, because I believe in God.

(Shah Rukh Khan is an actor)

"Adi wrote Rab Ne... in 12 days & wanted me in it. I agreed" - SRK

By Devansh Patel, December 11, 2008 - 16:34 IST

What's the best thing that can happen to you as a journalist when you fly down from London to Mumbai in the month of December? Attending Page 3 parties? Eating hot and spicy curries? Going to the best ever New Year's bash? Meeting celebrities on the sets? Naah! But imagine you getting a text message one morning which reads - SRK interview tomorrow at 3.15pm at 'Mannat'. You have 15 minutes. I then call the YRF PR to confirm the message. They reply to me in positive. What once was a distant dream becomes a near reality! What happened in the next 24 hours was truly one of my most fulfilling experiences as a Bollywood columnist. Every time you come to Mumbai city and pass by the lovely Bandstand area, you just cannot move your eyes away from Mannat. It could be 'Mannat' to the world, but it is 'Jannat'. I mean, which person wouldn't want to live there? I enter the Mannat Annexe, SRK's new multi storey office behind Mannat. Security check takes place, identification proof and then I enter. All this and I felt like I was in the Heathrow airport, checking in. Off I go to the second floor where three to four journos were waiting for their turn to meet 'Datuk' Shah Rukh Khan. He is no more a King but way beyond that. For me, he is the matinee idol look combined with the sex symbol loveliness. That sums up SRK's pin up appeal since two decades. Whether he plays a lover boy in DDLJ or a music teacher in Mohabbatein, he possesses an all-too-nice guy charm. He's willing to put that charm to test too! In Chak De India, we didn't see SRK, we saw Kabir Khan - no pretty love interest, no wisecracking sidekick, not even a comic genius. And, such is the weight that Shah Rukh carries with a worldwide audience, such is the skill that he has developed over two decades plying his trade...he pulled it off with amazing ease. His Friday release Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi hopefully will take this further. Sitting in his black V-neck T-shirt and jeans, he poses for the photographers, goes to the terrace on the third floor to get some more natural shots, comes down, shakes my hand and humorously asks me, "Are you the same Observer journalist who reported about the terrorist?" I say, "No". He orders a hot cup of coffee for himself, talks about the hot Anushka Sharma, talks about the hot parathas and much more in what should go down as the best ever interview of SRK in ages. As he aptly said, "You are here to interview me and you'll hope that this one is better than your last one".

We don't start with ABC here but with SRK. So tell me what makes an extraordinary SRK ordinary?
I think the reason people become extraordinary is because their roots are ordinary We don't start with ABC here but with SRK. So tell me what makes an extraordinary SRK ordinary? I think the reason people become extraordinary is because their roots are ordinary. I don't think it works the other way round that you happen to be an extraordinary, and then, with humility and modesty talk about your ordinariness. First of all, I don't believe I'm extraordinary. My very good friend and writer of Chak De India, Jaideep Sahni told me yesterday that the irony of your life is that when you tell people the truth, they believe either you're being too humble or honest, which is true. I don't find anything extraordinary in what I do. It's a job like everyone else does. I wake up every morning, apply my make up and try and get my best shot possible. You are here to interview me and you'll hope that this one is better than the last one. That's what I'm doing since last 20 years and our film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is akin to that.

Is that being diplomatic or simplistic?
I always say this; I am an employee of the myth of SRK. For the first time you will see the worker behind this myth and Rab Ne's Surinder Sahni, the character, is that worker who is a little boring, hard worker, may be not good looking but he is actually the engine what drives the myth. It's being simplistic.

What characteristics do you think are most important for having a fulfilling jodi?
If you are talking about my own experience, it's the space. Allowing the space that your partner wants and still occupying it with love is crucial. Besides that, it's very subjective. It's different strokes for different folks. Overall, everybody likes to have that space. When I start making a film, I tell everyone, "Listen guys, we are hundred of us and we are going to formulate a team. There are two of us, a director and an actor. We are trying to make a film but are we making the same film? Are we both doing this film for the same reason? Are we telling this story to earn money from that or just want to tell a story? Whatever the reason, it should be on the same page. Then anything you do, whether it's your personal life or professionally, you become one fulfilling jodi.

What ideas, values or experiences did you and Aditya Chopra bring along with you from 2000 to 2008, from Mohabbatein to Rab Ne...?
What we've realised from DDLJ days is that a lot of faith has been put in our creative ability to entertain. For years, what we've tried to do is cater to what we think people want to see. They've always said that we'd like to see a cool guy singing 'Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam' in Switzerland and we gave that to them. It's not important that we keep giving them what they want to see, but the question is, can we give them what we want to show them and ask them whether they liked what they saw. That is the difference from Rab Ne... to DDLJ. When we made DDLJ we were very anxious. We tried to show the Lamborghini or the Harley Davidson, but now we want to show them the engine that drives these things. We are now challenging the status of faith given to us by the audiences saying, 'You guys told us that you like us, now we will show you what we like and not what you like to see'.

And what is Adi going to show them this time around?
Rab Ne is a big entertaining film and the funniest film Aditya Chopra can make for the simple reason that he is not a funny guy. Even during DDLJ, I had to bring in a lot of humor. We've tried this time to bring this same humor in an ordinary way. People, when they travel abroad eat chicken in KFC or a burger in McDonalds or some grilled food in some restaurant. But when they come home after a month or two and sit down and are being served hot paratha and curd, you feel it's the best you've ever had. Rab Ne... is the best you've ever had.

Extending on what you said that there was a Lamborghini, Harley Davidson etc... all YRF films have seen rich NRIs. Since Chak De, we are now seeing an emerging trend of a middle class Indian in YRF films, more closer to our home. Is it a planned move or what? It's not like that. As time goes, you get attracted to different kind of stories. I am still attracted to a super hero story that I still want to tell, I am still attracted to a fun film like Om Shanti Om. I was never attracted to love stories to be honest. I just do them because my friends really believe in them and I do it for them. Lately, I loved the idea of Don. I think it's really cool. There was an anti establishment time in 70's and 80's when Mr. Bachchan used to act in films. Then come 90s, our economy prospered, people went abroad, they did well for themselves and wanted to achieve their dreams of having a big house, a big car and a big family happily settled in the UK or the US. So, films like DDLJ came and made those dreams come true on celluloid and now the time has come where people don't want a big car. It's fine for them to travel in a bus. What today's people want is their status identity, whoever they are, they are heroes.
But what about today's kids, let's say...Aryan, will he identify with his extraordinary status?
When I am trying to show my son Aryan heroes of today's day and age and even heroes of our mythological era, he is not interested. For kids, a hero is a guy who is normal and ordinarily extraordinary. They don't need their hero to be in flashy clothes. But as long as he performs he is a hero for them. Like the footballer Ronaldo is a hero for kids because his actions are performance based. 'Hero toh woh hota hai jo Shah Rukh Khan hota hai', that's not true. Hero is one who does his job well. For Aryan, I might be his hero too because he knows I do my job well. I've seen that an ordinary man is very secured about his status. The purpose of life and your existence is becoming more important. I tell my kids that I did Om Shanti Om because I believe that if it's not happy, it's not the end.

What's your status then?
It's strange but the people of Malaysia knew what my status was when I went there to receive my knighthood. They were holding these huge banners which said, "The person who likes to see people smile - Datuk Shah Rukh". That's what I am. It's another thing that I get paid crores for doing that now. But I got Rs. 5,000 for my first film to do the same thing and will continue doing that in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Chak De garnered a great deal of attention from fans and critics, especially in the overseas. Do you think Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi will tread the same path?
I don't know but I think that the film is too entertaining for the critics to like it (laughs). It'll make you laugh and cry. Honestly, critics have been really nice to me, they give me much more than I deserve. I'm sure in Rab Ne... too they will think that I've acted well. I truly believe that Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is Aditya Chopra's bravest film. So I hope he gets the feedback. We've made the film, it's our baby now and it's up to the audiences to say whether they like it or not. It's an important film for Adi and me.

It's strange to be working with a stranger. You expect the unexpected from them. How did the debutante Anushka Sharma come across?
All these girls are really wonderful. They are in a world which is very well informed, more informed than my world when I was 20. They have access to information and because they have access to information, I believe that they have access to expressions that I didn't have at that age. I've grown up with some expressions of life. I didn't know what a terrorist was; I didn't know what an internet was. I had to first access it and then learn it. So when you're working with new comers as talented as Anushka what happens is they express themselves in a language that I'm just getting to know. Over the last couple of years, I've learnt not to correct them (new comers) because I need to correct myself. When I said a line in DDLJ which went - 'Zindagi mein do raaste milte hai, ek sahi, ek galat'. Everybody told me how beautifully I had said those lines. I don't think Anushka will say the same lines like I did. But when she says it the way she says it now, it'll be as beautiful. I truly believe that new comers are great actors because they do things completely out of the box. I just thanked Anushka and her parents last night by saying, "Thank you for allowing me to do something different.

So, how different is Rab Ne as a film?
Rab Ne is very believable and different because of Anushka, more than me or Adi.

Apart from your cameo in Bhootnath this year, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is your only full length feature role and film of 2008. Is age catching up haule haule?
No, that's not true. I messed up on dates this year, big time. I was doing two films this year, Robot with Shankar and Three Idiots with Rajkumar Hirani and both didn't kick off due to some problems. Suddenly my dates got free. Now if I get to know just now that I've given up a film, I can't sign a new film next day because the people who make films with me plan their films in advance. So I started a small film with Irrfan Khan called Billo Barber which we are ready with. I postponed it because Rab Ne... was releasing in December. We are releasing it in February now. Plus, IPL was there too. I spent a good couple of months just concentrating on that. Then My Name Is Khan got postponed because of dates in America and times. Next year, I'll still do three films. I am flying to L.A on the 18th December for My Name Is Khan and will be back in February before Billo Barber's release. So if everything goes by the paper, you'll see me in three films in 2009.

Shah Rukh, you go that extra mile, for the different look, for the different style or be it a different film. You bend yourself out of the shape just to get it right. But what difference does it make?
I don't know, I guess the director wants me to do it. Everyone who wants to sign me now says that they don't want "SRK". They want me to look different and act different. Farah Khan came up to me because she wanted a six pack from me for 'Dard E Disco'. So I did it. Shimit Amin wanted me to have a beard in Chak De. I did that too. For Rab Ne... I had to shed a lot of kilos. I didn't like doing it but it was work. Now Karan Johar wants me to have short hair and a bit more weight for My Name Is Khan. I am doing it. You tell me I'll do what people want from me now.

Luck plays a significant part in everyone's life. It has played in your life and mine too. I want to know how luck has affected Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi?
Adi says that this film is made by 'Rab' and not luck. I just called him and told him that should we just postpone the release of our film keeping in mind the situation in Mumbai right now and he said, "This film is made by 'Rab' and we will let it release on time as planned. All what is happening was made to happen. Rab knows what He is doing". I never planned to work with Aditya Chopra and he never planned to make a film. It all just happened. The reason I did Rab Ne... is because Raju Hirani's film got cancelled. So Adi came to me and said that he had written a film in 12 days and wanted me to be a part of it. I agreed and we finished the film in 47 days. Rab Ne is 20% better than what we planned to make. It's all in Rab's hands!

You have people in this profession whom you trust and have made a difference in your career, YRF. What say?
Rab Ne... is the seventh film I've done with them. The last six films with YRF have never failed business wise and keeping in mind audiences reactions. They've all loved it. We started with Darr and ended with Chak De India. Now it's Rab Ne. People keep blaming us that we make similar kind of films. I doubt that. When you look at Veer Zaara, Darr, DDLJ and Chak De, the roles ranged from a 65 year old man to a villain to the romantic hero to the patriotic Kabir Khan. To have these four variations is doing something different and not similar. But the good thing about me and YRF is that we never try and work together. We always try and tell a story together which we love to tell. 90% of my stardom is because of YRF. Hopefully Rab Ne will take it to 100%.

Any parting message for all the beautiful jodis out there?
Love you all, be happy and don't forget to eat some parathas and curd as I said earlier. This goes out especially to my overseas fans (laughs).

I'm a schizo on the loose: Shah Rukh - 11 Nov 2008, 0000 hrs IST, MARK MANUEL ,TNN

It’s close to midnight at Mannat. And Shah Rukh Khan, having put the kids to bed and packed off the last of his visitors, is in conversation with me over coffee and cigarettes. He’s most at home in low-slung jeans from under which his briefs boldly peep, a loose tee and sneakers. But then he is at home! And we are in his living room.

Gauri Khan’s living room, actually, whose size, furniture, colour, lights and other trappings are so amazingly spectacular, they take the breath away. Shah Rukh and the kids are not allowed to run wild in here. “But when Gauri’s not around, we do everything, we even let the dog pee,” he says, eyes crinkling in mischief and the mouth twisting in that famous lop-sided grin.

At this hour, he’s wide awake and sharp as a whip. Somewhere in the house, his trainer Prashant is asleep. When he feels like it, even if it is 2 am, Shah Rukh will wake him up and workout for 35 minutes. “I like to sweat,” he tells me. “I train non-stop, there’s no rest break, no music, this is not rocket science — I just do a circuit of exercises, then have a bath and eat some food.”

But we aren’t talking workouts, nor films, not even Salman Khan. We are talking about Shah Rukh himself. He surprises me by saying, “I’m a schizo on the loose. I’m two people, Shah Rukh 1 and 2. One works for the other. The guy I’m working for is hugely successful — but he’s not me. People say I play Shah Rukh Khan. My roles are a means to an end. Not true. My work defines me. But I have no identity of my own. My identity is that of my employer who is employed by the audience.”

This is the same actor, the story goes, who manipulates people and controls Bollywood. “Control is a strong word,” Shah Rukh protests, “I don’t have power, though I’m listed on the power list along with Mukeshbhai and Laxmi Mittal. Yet, because I’m a giver, I’m able to draw a lot of people on my side. Greatness and goodness lies in giving. I like to believe that a lot of people come on board because they want to do things for me. They’re givers, too. I don’t have to ask people to join me. So if I control Bollywood, it is by giving — not taking, nobody gives to a taker. I’m giving, these people are giving, somewhere there is a symbiotic relationship. But, I think, your idea of ‘control’ is me picking up the phone and saying, ‘Bhai, mera picture ka sab show full jana chahiye,’ right?”

I dodge the question by asking, at 43, how many years of good cinema he’s got left. Poker faced, he replies, “Eighty-seven! I believe that physically, emotionally, and cinematically I’m unbreakable. Time is a measure of frailty. And good cinema is like good thoughts... not bound by anything. Acting can’t be written about, talked, discussed, analysed, because 90 per cent of the words used to describe acting are expressionless. You’ve got to feel acting. That’s what I do. I’ve stopped giving time to myself. The last 20 years have been my best period. I run my own race. If you run long enough, you can beat the rest, because this race is of length... not time. I enjoy making films. But I’m not attached to their success or failure. In fact, I’m detached from my films. Once they’re made — I let go. Films are mini life. By Friday night, I’m already moving on. My directors get disturbed!”

He never even sees his own films, at least not with the thought of enjoying them, nor anybody else’s either... unless it’s important to them. Ditto the family. “Gauri and I have brought up our kids to think their Dad’s films are nothing special,” reveals Shah Rukh. “And that, in life, it’s not special to be special, but it’s special to be ordinary. My films are all about that. I show the inside of a good outside hero. You know, the Clark Kent behind Superman. If he were to fly and save the world would you think less of him because he isn’t cool and doesn’t wear tights? My life’s like that. I may live like a king, but I’m ordinary in my beliefs, I’m simple, ugly and boring... yet I’m happy to be me.”

And, why not, which ordinary man romances the sexiest heroines on screen? “So what,” Shah Rukh asks, “I love them all, I share close relationships with them, but I don’t kiss them on screen, and I don’t have sex with them off screen. I’m somewhat conventional. I don’t think sex outside is bad. But I have a beautiful wife at home. I think real men are those that respect women; those that make no external show of their manhood; those that are gentle and kind... it’s okay to be dandy and look pansy instead of trying to be macho; and, those that open doors for women. If you can be charming, laugh, and don’t let them feel all you want to do is get them in bed... the girls will love you. I’m a ladies man. I’m okay with talk of my being gay and bisexual. I’m man enough to be in touch with my sensitive side. I can be happy and still cry. I don’t need to prove I’m heterosexual. Except to my son... when I show him I still have the six-pack.”

He’s opening up now, but it’s late. He steps outdoors to see me off. “I go to the rooftop and pray to the stars,” he says, surprising me for the second time that night. “Two of the stars are my parents. But I pray for simple things. That my son does well in his tae-kwon-do championship. And that my daughter is happy with her painting. I tell my mom, ‘Where you’ve gone, you can put yourself to some good use.’ There has to be some kind of trade-off for the loss of my parents. But I also read the Quran, I pray in Arabic, English, Hindi hoping that God is multi-lingual and understands at least one of my prayers. Gauri recites the Gayatri Mantra. Our kids do both. This house is amazing. My daughter asks, ‘Are we Pathans or Punjabis?’ I confuse them by saying, ‘We are Christians!’’’

I am a controlled schizophrenic on the loose - Shah Rukh KhanBy IM, 9 November 2008, Filmicafe.com

• You are now 43 years old. Tell me three things you didn't know at 23 and at 33.

At 23, I didn’t know that I would be an important film person, I didn't know that there is so much goodness in the world, that looks at me with such kindness, and I didn't know how bad an actor I was. At 33, I didn't know that I could play a school kid in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, or a college kid actually, and pull it off. I didn't know how beautiful my children would grow up to be and I didn't know that at 43, I would still look like 33.• How have your fears changed from the time you were in your twenties, through your thirties and now in your forties.At 23, I was fearless, I had nothing to lose. At 33, I was very conscious materially about the work that I did, I used to get scared of flops and hits. At 43, I only fear for my kids. If my son is jumping on the trampoline, I'm worried. I again know what fear is.

• Do you ever actually intend to fade out into the sunset?

Sushmita Sen has told me many times that I should sit on my terrace and watch the sunset. I don't know what a sunset is. I have never appreciated its beauty nor have I derided it. I have no essence of sunset unfortunately and I also don't believe in fading away. My father used to say that 'Shama bujhne se pehle, last me flicker hoti hai, glow hoti hai.' I think I'll go off like that. I'd like to make the last century in my retiring test match. I also think actors don't go away, actors are just very courteously shown the door. We are employed, I truly believe, by the people who watch us, not by the producers, distributors and the directors. And for a certain time our employers are very happy with us, and one day, the employers don't throw us out. They just stop giving us important work.They will show me the door very decently.

• Actors often say that competition makes them more responsible. What does it mean to you?

Nothing, nothing at all, very early on in life I had decided that and I have written it in my book too. I will give you an example of sports because I like sports. I call it the race thought. I have told this to Abhishek and Hrithik too and whenever they feel down they message me to tell them about the race. It is quite simple. If someone runs a race in 9.5 seconds and I run it in 10, even if I want to beat the person I have to still beat my own time. I have to go 9.9, 9.8, 9.7, 9.6 and 9.5, all those are my timings, so in the end the competition is with myself. The race is not about running fast enough, the race is not about running hard enough, the race is about running long enough. Also as I have become a better person, calmer, quieter, nicer, mellow, maturer, I have never thought of competition. And so I have no competition.

• When something good happens to you, who do you run to tell it to?

Nobody really. If at all I do, it's to my children because I feel that they are avatars of my parents. I know that's untrue, but I believe that. There's an old song which says that 'when you finally come knocking there's nobody home' and that has happened to me. I have gotten over this desire to tell any one. Now my attitude is 'Ye khatam ho gaya incident, lets move on.' Right now my son, my daughter and I, we count our medals and have fun but they have more than I had when I was their age. But then schools have become more liberal with awards too.

• When you need a bouncing board, who do you go to?

If it's about films I go to Adi (Aditya Chopra), Karan (Johar) and Farah (Khan). Otherwise my thoughts are all here in my laptop. I just put it down there, then read them back as if somebody is telling them to me. I write a lot, just thoughts, now this is going to be a part of my book. Creative thoughts, I tell my team. I don't really discuss my thoughts with anyone. Not even my family. I am quite reclusive about my thoughts.

• You always say you are shy…

I'm very shy. I think 90 per cent of what I do as an actor stems from the fact that I am a shy person. At my own home, at my own parties, I'm out of place. Maybe, being the second child, I just turned out a little more shy. I am shy of women, and I'm shy of new people. If somebody asks me a personal question, I still blush. I have to take my kids if I have to go to a toy store. I can't go anywhere alone, shop or travel alone, but put me on stage, before 10 lakh people and tell me to talk about life, and if I know an audience wants to see me, and know me, I can easily do it because I'm then someone else. I'm just an employee of this fantastic super star, not as talented as some other people, not as good looking as some other people, not as tall as some other people, but he is good, I like working for him.

• When does SRK the star sleep and when does the man wake up?

Whenever I'm by myself. I am a very simple boring type of guy just like Sunder Sahni in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. That space has been given to me by my family and my friends, they allow me to be boring. The star awakens when you put a camera in front of me. We are genuinely two different people. I say one thing and I believe it, and I have another thought about the same point too. Its not that I am dichotomous, or I am hypocritical but I just believe both the points of view. Mahesh Bhatt always told me that "you are schizophrenic" and yeah maybe I am. I am a controlled schizophrenic on the loose. Now as I am getting older I can understand it.

• How do you avoid the ivory tower syndrome? Do you even want to?

When you don't have an ivory tower, you want to build one around yourself, I actually have it, and so I am at peace with it. I just do my work. My work requires me to spend a lot of time with the people that I work with, so I am really a little out of touch with other people. But that does not mean I am out of touch with reality because I know where I have come from, what I am, what humility and education my kids should have. My shadow should never overpower the personalities that they have later on in life.

• Have you ever looked in the mirror and not liked what you saw?

I'm not very vain, once I have worn my make-up, I don't even look in the mirror. I am not extremely in love with myself, neither do I hate myself. I don't even comb my hair if I am not shooting. Once I bathe and shave, I don't comb my hair. People at one time used to think that I am a metrosexual male. I don't even understand that. I'm not given to anything that is vain, in terms of beauty treatment or whatever. I don't even use a soap or shampoo.

• How has the perception of fatherhood changed for you?

Like I just said I fear for them and for me, like I never thought of life ending for me suddenly, but I think of it now. I am like 'I hope these guys get enough of me'. I truly believe the cliché that there is nothing as satisfying as being a parent. I was driving two to three hours every morning for the last few days and one of the thoughts I had was, "Ghar aacha hai, aache picture bhi bana li hai, stardom bhi hai, paisa bhi hai, awards bhi hai, sab kuch hai and phir bhi karta ja raha hoon and never has the thought come to me that I should stop this because with all this is another thought that "mein yeh rokoonga to karoonga kya? The word actor defines me. This is what I am. But then a thought came to me that what if I stop working right now, I just dedicate myself to waking up in the morning, getting my kids ready for school, dropping them to school, wait for them to come back, spend a little while with them, study a little with them, try to put them to sleep, play games with them, I can lead the rest of my life like that. That's what fatherhood means to me. My kids complete me. I love the purity of kids untouched. I like their rudeness and I like their goodness. They are so politically incorrect and they are so pure.

• How do you see the difference between lonely, alone, loner? Which defines you?
Lonely is nothing but a state of mind. You can feel lonely when you wish to, you can call upon lonely whenever you want to feel sorry for yourself. Lonely is your best friend who does not even need a phone call. It's the fastest deliverable commodity as an emotion in the world. You can prolong the period, you can shorten it, and you can bring it back. Some people also use lonely as an artistic expression. I think it is really a tool of self pity with a nice word.I don't know if it's the right way to put it, some people by nature are aloof and listen to a different drum beat, they dance to a different music and they are happy. Loners are happy people. Lonely can be unhappy because you wish it to be. But loner is a guy who is not dancing to the music that you hear. So loner is nice, and when I want to intellectualise it, I can be an intellectual loner. I call it reclusive. Alone is a good space. It is not lonely and it is not dancing to a tune. I think alone is something that you should utilise, as meditation, as self-analysis. I like being alone, a couple of hours a day or an hour a day. I do that in my bathroom. And not necessarily doing the things you do in a bathroom. My family knows about it, it's a joke that Shah Rukh spends lot time in the bathroom. My bathroom is like a living room. My wife has made it like that. She says you are going to sit there hiding from all of us, then you might as well as well sit in a chair. I just relax and read a book. Sometimes I take a telephone, or a video game. I just sit down and I empty my mind which is also known in modern terms as unwinding. Alone is just to be. It is very important for some kind of a creative process also. Its also great to re-energise yourself. Alone is good, lonely is pathetic because it is self-inflicted, and loner is intellectual reclusiveness. Of these three I am mostly 'alone'. And to turn a phrase around, 'At the top it's always like this, not lonely, just alone.’

SRK Early Life

Shah Rukh Khan was born to parents of Pathan origin, Taj Mohammed Khan and Lateef Fatima, and is also the grandson of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan who served in the Indian National Army of Subhash Chandra Bose. His family came to India from the Kissa Kahani Bazaar in Peshawar, before the partition of India. Khan attended St. Columbia school where he excelled in sports, drama and academics. He won the Sword of Honour, an annual award bequeathed to the student who embodies most the spirit of the school. He later attended the Hansraj College (1985-1988) to earn an Honours degree in Economics.
After this, he studied for a Masters degree in Mass Communication at Jamia Millia Islamia University.

SRK in LOVE

Shahrukh’s personal story can never be complete if one were not to talk about his romance and subsequent marriage with Gauri Chhiba. The relationship between the two had been kept under wraps, and understandably so because Gauri’s parents would not have accepted it. Or, so it seemed for quite some time even while the twosome continued to meet up for six long years. The youngest in a Punjabi joint family with around 15 members, that Gauri would marry someone from her community was a foregone conclusion.
As for Shahrukh, he was willing to do anything to get her in his life, and it is said that he had entered Gauri’s household by posing as Abhimanyu during the girl’s birthdayparty. Abhimanyu…. Who? Yes! The character that Shahrukh had just started to play in the television serial Fauji that was being directed by the retired Lieutenant Colonel Raj Kapoor. The serial based on life in the army had made Shahrukh’s character really popular, and people around even said that he looked quite a bit like Dilip Kumar when he attended the birthday party in Gauri’s house that day. The story of Shahrukh and Gauri’s relationship continued to add a new chapter with every passing day, and not all of them were bliss-laden as is the case with all human relationships. He was tremendously, in fact uncomfortably possessive about his lady love, so much that he would pick up a quarrel with her even if she let her hair down… literally. Finally, Gauri lost her cool and realised that she wanted to get away from the emotional bedlam in 1989. Without informing Shahrukh, she came down to Mumbai with her pals just a day after the former had celebrated her birthday in his room by decorating it the best way he could have and giving her lots of presents.
It was when Gauri had left for Mumbai that Cupid shot that one decisive arrow. Shahrukh just had go to the city of dreams where his love had gone, and he ended up telling everything to his mother who was supportive and open-minded as always. Not only did she give her son Rs 10,000, she also advised him to go to Mumbai and get his love back. Shahrukh went there with his friends, and what followed sounds likee a chapter straight out of fictional romantic folklore.
In the huge city, he and his friends kept looking for Gauri, and especially around the beaches because of his awareness that she was attracted to them in a big way. On the last day of his stay in Mumbai, since he had run short of financial fuel obviously, a cab guy advised him to go to a place called the Aksa Beach. From there, they ferried across to a place called Gorai and, after searching frantically, managed to track her down when she was standing in the water! Once the duo saw each other, they embraced each other and started crying. That was the defining moment in their relationship, because it was clear to both of them that they need to be with each other all their lives.