We’ve taken interviews of leading pairs together so many times. But never have we felt the kind of friendship, love and just the history that these two share. Then again it’s unfair to compare any other pair with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. An hour after the superhit SRK Dilwale Calcutta Tour show at East Bengal Club, on Tuesday night, t2 sat down with arguably the greatest Bolly screen couple and had a heart-to-heart chat about matters of the heart.

Many congratulations on the box office numbers. Personally, what is the best compliment you have received for Dilwale?
Kajol: It was last night in fact when my uncle called after watching the film. I was really, really touched. My father passed away six years back. And my uncle kind of took his place somewhere. So he saw the film and he said, ‘I’m so proud of you... You’re the first girl who’s been working for 25 years and you’re still here and you’re still doing the big films. Your father would have been so happy and proud. You are still lighting up the screen’.
[To SRK: I started crying. I cried and cried.]
Shah Rukh Khan: That’s so sweet. For me, a friend called me and she said a very sweet thing. She said the whole film felt like a big hug... it was like someone was hugging warmly throughout the film.
K: Awww.
[SRK to K: I’ll tell you who said it. You know her.]

Right from Baazigar to DDLJ to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to K3G to My Name is Khan, you two come together every three-four years but there’s never a sign of rust on the chemistry. It’s as if you guys exist together. How do you do it?
[The two look at each other with smiles stretching from ear to ear and have that beautiful comfortably silent moment.]
K: I love that question. I really love that question.
SRK: (To K) You answer.
K: I don’t know. We don’t even meet each other in between. I think we didn’t meet for as long as two years during a period but when we do meet, we pick up from where we left off. There’s never a period of oh I’m uncomfortable or he’s uncomfortable or what should we say to each other. We have a lot to say to each other when we meet!
[Both laugh out loud]
SRK: Also I think more than us the people around the world, they just like us. I think we have never been special in terms of glamour, in terms of looks or in terms of a dance moves. We are not known for anything special that we do. We are just so ordinary that everyone considers us to be part of their lives. So, we do about 10%, 90% is done by the people who watch the film. I’m being honest. And we have discussed this sometimes. Yeh karte hain... jo bhi karenge log pyaar denge.

There’s a strange sense of confidence... hum log theek hi honge, yaar! People love us. We are part of...
K: ...so many families. They have adopted us. 
SRK: And it’s like even if you are wrong, it’s okay.
K: It’s how you forgive your family for everything. Love them unconditionally.
SRK: When we go up on stage, we are like Kajol khadi ho jaa yaar, they’ll love us anyway. Because we are honest about it. We are really honest. We are not the coolest. We are not the hottest. We are not the best.
K: We are the best!
SRK: Yes, people say that.
K: But we do try the hardest.
SRK: That we do.

[Plates of Mutton Kakori Kebab and Chicken Malai Kebab come in. Politeness personified, Kajol asks: “Can I please eat? I’m very hungry.” SRK quietly puts the napkin on Kajol’s lap.]
In true Rohit Shetty style were there two members from his team as SRK-Kajol dummies for the scene rehearsals?
K: There were two boys.
SRK: There were two boys. 
[Both laugh out loud]
K: They would do our part and then we would come in, change everything and go back. 
SRK: Very sweetly they would do it... 
K:  And we would laugh so much when they were saying our dialogues. 
SRK: And they would never forget any of the lines no matter how much we laughed. 
K: The guy who used to do my part had long hair, by the way.

The one-shot five-minute date scene from Dilwale will make it to the best SRK-Kajol scenes of all time. How many takes did that require?
SRK: Two. The second one was just for safety. I think the first take made it to the film. We rehearsed one evening from 4 to 6 and we reached the location very late.
K:  It was supposed to be a twilight scene.
SRK: So we had to finish in 30-40 minutes. Very difficult logistically... the camera was on a big car and on a crane and hundred people running around during that shot.

Which are your favourite scenes?
K: My favourite scene is the one with him and Varun. When Varun comes home after getting to know of his past and he asks him: ‘You left her?’ And he replies, in one heartbeat... ‘I’ll find many girls like her but I’ll never find another brother like you.’ I had tears in my eyes. I like that one and the scene next to that, when you (to SRK) come charging and hold my throat.
SRK: Yes that was intense.

The vintage SRK-Kajol intensity...
K: No we’ve never really attacked each other!
SRK: We’ve never been so angry at each other. We have usually cried and solved our problems. [Laughs]
K:  We’ve always had problems with others in our films. We’ve never had a problem between us before.

What does it take for you two to come together? You’ve done an Aditya Chopra film and three Karan Johar films. That was among friends. But this one’s a completely different school.... 
SRK: Let me tell you honestly. Rohit had narrated to me the story first and he had suggested Kajol. And I realised for whatever it is worth, this film is not going to move without Meera being played by Kajol. I’m not deriding anybody else but some films are meant for some actors. We were like ‘hope she says yes’. And while we are close friends, proximity only works better when we don’t take each other for granted. She would only do a film if she liked the script. And I would only offer a film which is good enough for her. In fact I go and advise her on other movies, ‘don’t do that one’. And she asks me: ‘Why are you doing this?’ So I told Rohit tum bahut dhyaan se jaake script sunaao. And I am very fortunate, first as an actor and then as a producer, that she liked the script. Because it’s always special to work with Kajol. And I hope we have done something special again.
K: At East Bengal Club earlier in the evening, they had done a mash-up for us. There were bits and pieces of Gerua along with some of the scenes and I told him that we’ve done some really cool work in the film. I’m really happy. Really happy with us!

Kajol, which are the Shah Rukh films you’ve liked in the period you were not working with him?
SRK: Say each and every one. Say it.
K: Each and everyone. I think the one thing I like about him is the fact that for each and every one of his films, he is totally and completely enthusiastic about it. He brings the same passion, the same interest, the same wanting to each and every film. 

OH MY GOD HE KISSED MY FOREHEAD! IT WAS JUST CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY! I WASHED ONLY HALF MY FACE TODAY! — A FANGIRL SURVIVES (BARELY) TO TELL A SPECIAL SRKAJOL TALE

 

Anwesha Mukherjee, actress Swastika’s daughter and a t2 intern, had a queen-sized King Khan experience she will never forget. Not only did she scream herself hoarse at the East Bengal Club grounds as Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol romanced thousands, she also spent quality time with the stars at a private party after. She lived to tell this tale to t2...

I was wearing faded jeans and a tee for the show at East Bengal Club but I made sure I was carrying a change of clothes. I was going to meet Shah Rukh Khan at a party after the show. I was not going to meet him in jeans! How random would that be? I wanted to look my prettiest when I met him. The wait at the East Bengal Club was long and he was there for a very short time, but every minute of was worth it. He made it all worthwhile. How he danced with his fans and made them feel special. He is King Khan and I am sure being that charming runs in his blood. You can just feel his love for his fans. I mean just to be in the same place as him is just something else. If you are a fan you’ll know what I mean. You just feel soooooo happy. Even if it is for a short time, it just lightens up your day.

The best moment I think was when he made Kajol pretend to be him and dance with a fan to Gerua while he pretended to be a bird! How he moved around the stage flapping his arms like a bird! I loooved every single time he made a fan feel special. I don’t know why I was screaming his name along with the other fans hoping to get him to notice me. I completely forgot that I was going to meet him afterwards! At that moment I was caught up with all those thousands of fans. A ground full of Shah Rukh fans… that rush was just something else. You just want to be his fan and yell and scream his name hoping he will notice you. And when he does… OH MY GOD!

By the time I reached the party, Shah Rukh and Kajol had already reached. But I still made it a point to change into my dress. I had to look my prettiest to meet him and oh my gooood, he complimented me on my dimples!!!! Aaaaaaaa! He actually told mom your daughter has lovely dimples and she is very pretty. And I was like ‘Oh my god, he just said that!!!!!' 

My mom introduced me to him and I said nothing. I was just standing there, just staring at his face. And then he hugged me. He hugged my twice! The second time he hugged and kissed my forehead! It was just crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy! I washed only half my face today!
 

He was standing right in front of me and I was obviously freaking. Pabitrada (t2 photographer) was asking for pictures and Shah Rukh had his hand stretched out towards me and saying ‘come, come’ but I just couldn’t move. So Kajol, who was standing in front of me, asked me what happened and I told her ‘I think I’m going to faint’. And she was like ‘Why don’t you do something, why don’t you go and faint in his arms, he can catch you’. I was like, ‘Can I do that?!’ And she replied ‘Absolutely’. And I was like ‘OH MY GOD!’ He was still saying ‘come, come, come’ and when I gave my hand he just pulled me towards him and I was like ‘NOOOOOOOO, oh my god this is happening to MEEE! I don’t want to die so fast.’

Shah Rukh is sooooo nice. I went to take a selfie with Kajol and she said ‘I am terrible at selfies’. I told her that’s okay I’ll make you look pretty. She said ‘If you want a good selfie then tell Shah Rukh, he is the king of selfies’. When I went to get my selfie with him for Snapchat he took the phone and asked if the lighting was okay. Then he told me, ‘Put your chin up, no not so much, yes this perfect’, and then clicked it. Wow! It was 2.30 in the morning (yes, you read that right) and there I was being directed by Shah Rukh for the perfect selfie!!! I was so stoked!

Mom was sitting next to Shah Rukh and I was sitting next to Kajol at dinner and she is reeaallly nice. I asked her how it was working with Varun (Dhawan) as I was a huge Varun fan. She said, Varun’s a sweetheart, a darling. And she said, I’ll tell Varun that there is this really cute girl who is mad about him. I was like oh my god now Varun will know I exist!

Kajol could understand that I was freaking out. So when I wanted an autograph I had the book ready and all but I didn’t have the guts to ask him. So she called him and said ‘Shah Rukh there is this trembling chick sitting next to you who wants your autograph’. Shah Rukh goes ‘trembling chick?’ and looks at me and smiles. And I’m like someone just kill me, kill me now!

So at one point he was talking about something and hitting my hand to demonstrate something and all I could think was oh my god he is hitting my hand, I can’t take it anymore!

When I got back home I just couldn’t sleep. I kept telling Ma the same things over and over and again. And she was like, can you calm down?

I mean I’m still so, so stoked. I’m just in that headspace of oh my god I will never ever forget what happened.

If I was in Anwesha’s place I would have.... Tell t2@abp.in