Shah Rukh Khan is playing with a bow and arrow with AbRam. It’s 8pm on a weekend night at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai’s Bandra and Shah Rukh is busy promoting his next release Raees. The Rahul Dholakia-directed film has the actor playing a man running a bootlegging business in Gujarat. In between media and fan interactions, Shah Rukh is also entertaining his three-year-old son… toys are strewn on the floor of his plush, futuristic vanity van. 

To SRK, being both superstar and superdad comes just as easily as playing Raees and Raj/Rahul. 

Before the release of his first film of the year, The Man sat down with t2 to talk about slaying it, the Loch Ness Monster and son Aryan’s film passions.

In Raees you play a gangster who doesn’t stop at anything to realise the dream to be successful and raees. Is being raees all that it’s cracked up to be?

There are two parts to this. Obviously, I don’t think of business the way he (the character) thinks. The word raees means so much more than just someone who is rich. It actually means someone who need not have a lot of money but is benevolent and giving. Raees is a state of being where you give regardless of your financial state.

In the film, he does bad things but as he carries on, his ideology is that: ‘I need to do this for my people.’ You can convince yourself whether an act is good or bad. Normally, protagonists are more than just simple cardboard characters, so he is someone who doesn’t do things just for himself. If I was to find a parallel to him in real life, I believe that whatever work you do, it should change the lives of people in some positive way. When Steve Jobs decided to make the iPhone, it allowed you to use a phone with just one hand and that changed people’s lives. It’s just as simple as that.

Whenever I’ve done business, that has been my guiding principle — whether it was KidZania (indoor theme park) or KKR. I love children. There was not enough for kids to do, so I launched KidZania. Similarly for cricket, there was a time only 11 or 15 people out of a billion would get a chance to play but now (thanks to IPL) at least 500 boys get a chance to make it. Right now, the Indian cricket team is full of IPL finds.

In the cinema I do, it’s sometimes to make you happy or to leave you with a little thought. All of it is not geared towards a certain standard of business. If I touch your lives enough times, the business will do well. 

You’ve been at the top of your business for quarter of a century. What motivates you?

As an actor, the more I act, the more I realise I need to learn. Maybe all artistes feel that. I don’t understand words like ‘mind-blowing’, ‘I liked it’…

‘I slayed it’….

(Laughs) Yes! The more I work, the more I realise that the bits I love don’t work and some scenes that I do off the cuff turn out to be fantastic. My attempt now is to get back into rediscovering my art that’s gotten shrouded by the craft. My art might not have been as well honed when I was younger but it was raw. Now I have the confidence to come in front of you and say, ‘This is who I am.’ The quest for an actor always is to be as honest as possible in front of the camera. That excites me a lot. 

I have done everything that’s been offered to me to varying degrees of excellence but now I just want to see if I can do things differently. I want to do a love story differently… expose myself a little more. 

What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the industry in 25 years?

I won’t harp on the cliches like cinema is changing and there are newer filmmakers and the audience is changing. This cycle happens every 10 years. I think, people are beginning to realise that if the language of our films change, in terms of story, screenplay, direction… even perhaps the actual language… that is the only way to go international. We are an industry that deserves to make international films. But we need to relook at how we tell our stories and maybe even the music. I know we have a rich tradition of movie making in our country but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t or can’t change. You have to change if you want to conquer new territories. 

With last year’s Fan and Dear Zindagi, Raees or even Aanand L. Rai’s film where you play a dwarf, you seem to be pushing your boundaries. Was there a conscious moment when you decided that this is what you wanted or was it more organic?

No… it’s a coincidence. Raees was supposed to release after Happy New Year. Fan was supposed to release on August 15 last year, followed by Dilwale and then Imtiaz’s film (tentatively titled The Ring) should have been releasing now. Having said that, I have always done a mix of films. Either people don’t realise that or my stardom overshadows the stuff I do. I have done an Asoka and Paheli, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Swades and Chak De! India along with Om Shanti Om, Happy New Year and Dilwale. 

I believe in visual effects and “event films” in a huge way. I love Iron Man, Batman, Superman and I want to do a film like that for us. So, I like doing large-than-life spectacle films and then do something smaller and more intimate. 

Whether it was the salt-and-pepper beard and linen clothes in Dear Zindagi or the kohl-and-Pathan-suit look in Raees, there’s a whole new legion of young girls who find you very hot...

Please, can I have their numbers? (Laughs) Only if they are over 18! I don’t know…these are just characters that people have loved. I never grew a beard until Adi (Aditya Chopra) forced me to grow one for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Before that, even off-screen, I had never seen myself with a beard. 

And there’s all the kohl in Raees…

It’s really, really metrosexual. I have kohl and a beard. I am macho and pretty at the same time. I should tell Lux to do another ad with me sitting in a jacuzzi! I think my character in Dear Zindagi was very endearing. Girls made that film and I guess, they really understand the kind of man others would like. I just went with what they said. I hated the clothes but Gauri (Shinde) said that I had to wear linen. 

I think I should listen to women more. When I grew my beard, for the first time a heroine told me that people would like that look. The beard was so scratchy and I hated it. I was waiting to shave it off. I had thought Imtiaz would want a clean-shaven look but he also wanted me to keep the beard. Anushka (Sharma) also told me: ‘You look nice with a beard… like a man.’ (Laughs) Anushka always says the wrong things to me. (Pauses) I don’t know what else to say… this question makes me shy. 

You recently launched Karan Johar’s autobiography and you’ve been talking about writing your autobiography for some time now. What’s going on with your book?

I am still writing it. I don’t know how these people write it so fast! Someone recently suggested that I should narrate it to someone.

That’s not a bad idea!

But I want to write it. It’s a very personal thing for me, like cooking or photography. I like taking pictures but I don’t show them on social media. I am not a control freak but I want to complete something before I share it with people. 

Also, I write when I am sad. And, I haven’t been sad for some time. Not that my book is sad… it’s a very funny book. It’s more a joke book rather than an autobiography. I think I am nearly there. I think I need to put in stuff from the last few years. I haven’t written much about my work in the book. Maybe I should have some chapters about my films because I don’t know how to do it in an interesting way. I don’t want to do, ‘I made this film and then I went on that set’.... People have seen my films. I have to be able to tell them something more than ‘I went to the set at 7am’.  

My book is like a movie — it has flashbacks and intervals. It even has a section that says: ‘If you are really bored with the book, stop and read these jokes.’ That chapter has all my favourite jokes. (Laughs) I have the longest chapter on a dinosaur for no reason. There is another chapter on the Loch Ness Monster. I don’t know why it’s there. It has nothing to do with my life’s story. 

This is sounding more and more like a book I’d want to read. ASAP!

(Laughs) It’s bizarre. I was sitting alone one evening in Australia when I thought about the Loch Ness Monster. Wrong country, wrong space… so I started writing. When I read it now, I wonder what I was smoking! And it’s a chapter I wrote with a lot of emotion. I was crying while writing that. I was so sad. Now, I don’t know where to put that chapter in the book. Should it be post the chapter on my mother or after Chak De! India? I don’t know what to do with that chapter. 
I know that chapter has something to do with my life. It started with me talking about Sonny Liston.... My book has ‘things I have read, heard, said or collected’. The chapter starts with a line that could have triggered something connected to my life. Sonny Liston wasn’t a very good speaker unlike Mohammed Ali who was quick-witted and charming. After Sonny Liston lost to Mohammed Ali, people were making fun of him. That’s when he said: ‘When so much has happened to you in life that you can’t articulate it and you sound like I sound. He is gifted that his life is so simple that he can talk so well.’ I thought that was really interesting. Except I started there and ended up at the Loch Ness Monster! 

All I can say is finish the book fast! I have to ask you about cooking. When did that start?

There were a few things that I always wanted to do. They are called bucket list, na?

Ya!

Haan... so on my bucket list there was — learn to play the guitar but I couldn’t really do that. Then I wanted to learn 10 songs to sing to any girl, of any nationality, of any age and, in any circumstance. If I am on a plane… I would love to sing a song to you. Except I can’t play the guitar and I don’t know 10 songs. On my bucket list was ‘meet a mermaid’ but that’s not going to happen!  

So, the only thing left on my bucket list was to cook food for my kids and serve people when they come home. Both my father and mother would cook. He was Peshawari and she was Hyderabadi, so they cooked a lot. I always wanted to cook, I am learning to cook Italian food because it seems simpler. On my production (for Imtiaz’s film) there was a couple who cooked for the crew. I used to cook with them when I was in Europe for three months.

Now I have made a proper kitchen for myself and as soon as Raees releases, I will have some time to cook. Food is the best excuse I have to spend time with my kids. When they are in their bedrooms, the best way to get them out is to ask if they want something to eat. (Laughs) I like serving people.  

Any disasters in the kitchen?

So far? I have only made people in the house eat what I have cooked. No one has the courage to complain as yet… I wonder why (laughs).

The Actor

I have always done a mix of films. Either people don’t realise that or my stardom overshadows the stuff I do

The Metrosexual

I have kohl and a beard. I am macho and pretty at the same time. I should tell Lux to do another ad with me sitting in a jacuzzi

The Writer

My book is like a movie — it has flashbacks and intervals. It even has a section that says: ‘If you are really bored with the book, stop and read these jokes’

The Dad and cook

Food is the best excuse I have to spend time with my kids. When they are in their bedrooms, the best way to get them out is to ask if they want something to eat

The beard

When I grew my beard, for the first time a heroine told me that people would like that look. Anushka also told me: ‘You look nice with a beard… like a man.’ 

Karishma Upadhyay 
What is that one thing you hope to read about in SRK’s autobiography? Tell t2@abp.in

When can we see you and your son Aryan in a film together? 
— Harsha Jaluka, St. Stephen’s School

I don’t know! This is the first time anyone has asked me this question. He (left) is studying to be a filmmaker. He has another four years before he graduates. Let him finish that and figure out if he wants to act. For now, he is more interested in direction and VFX. And then he has to be good enough to work with me! He is not some newcomer girl that he can get a break with me (laughs)! 

What made you say ‘yes’ to a grey character, six years after Don 2? 
— Abhikendu Deb Roy, Heritage Institute of Technology

I am one of the few actors who gets as many ‘bad guy’ role offers as the typical Raj-and-Rahul roles (laughs). We had decided not to make Gaurav (from Fan) psychopathic but there was a strange madness to him. I loved playing that. As an actor, you get more attracted to grey characters. Dark clouds and lighting are always more fascinating than a bright blue sky. There’s more drama and there are more layers. There is a majority of good people in the world, so bad characters are few and far between. There is a uniqueness that makes them bad and interesting.

I am quite fortunate that people have accepted me in these negative characters. Even in Don, he is just stylishly, sexily and selfishly bad. He has no justification to why he is bad. I like that. 

I was happy to have gotten Raees. I am glad that I am more than just the good guy Rahul/ Raj… thanks for reminding me that I have played some of the meanest guys on screen. 

Can you give me a mantra to be successful?
— Ittequa Turkan, Shree Shikshayatan College

I have said this often that when you ask this to a successful person, they’ll sound cagey because they don’t know. That’s why the ‘mantra’ can’t be passed on to anyone. I would want to pass it on to my children but it’s not possible. Even if I was to do the exact same things I have done through my career, there is no guarantee that the result would be the same. There are a lot of forces that come into play. You have to be at the right place at the right time. You have to be surrounded by the right kind of people. In my case, I was lucky to have found the right kind of audience.  

The core of success is that you need to work without having a goal or a reason. If you have a goal, you are limiting yourself. When I came into the industry, I needed to earn a certain amount of money. But once I got that, I realised that I need to work for reasons beyond myself. Finally, there is no alternative to hard work. 

SRK: ANTI-HERO TO GRIM BADASS

Thanks for reminding me that I have played some of the meanest guys on screen — SRK to t2. 
Cue for us to remind you about his best bad guy roles!

Baazigar (1993) 
In an era of macho do-gooders, Shah Rukh Khan overturned the concept of the ‘hero’, to become a young man with nothing but revenge — and murder — on his mind. He had a sympathy-inducing backstory, but we watched in shock and awe as SRK went from Ajay to Vicky, pushing the woman in love with him off the roof, and deceiving another. The modern Bolly ‘anti-hero’ was born.

Darr (1993) 
SRK gave a whole new dimension to the obsessed lover, owning the screen as Rahul. Delusional and desperate, Rahul stalked the woman he was obsessed with (who can forget “KKK-Kiran?”) and then orchestrated a bloody climax, and yet made us feel for him. 

Josh (2000) 
SRK slipped on a leather jacket and plonked himself on a bike to play Goa-based ‘tapori’ Max in this Mansoor Khan film in which Aishwarya Rai played his twin sister. Despite the ho-hum plot, the Badshah — killer lines and badass attitude down pat — made Josh a fun ride. 

Shakti (2003) 
He pitched in with a cameo in this Karisma Kapoor film, and SRK — a drifter with a heart of gold — endeared himself to the viewer in no time. Those pelvic thrusts with a smokin’ Ash in Ishq kameena took care of the rest. 

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) 
SRK was not the ideal hero — in fact, far from it — in this Karan Johar film about marriage and infidelity. KJo, in his book, says that he regrets directing Shah Rukh “too angry”, and yet, his Dev Saran — grim and grouchy, but oh-so-sexy — was irresistible. 

Don (2006) 
He slipped into the rather large shoes of Amitabh Bachchan to play Don in Farhan Akhtar’s remake of the 1978 cult classic.  “He is just stylishly, sexily and selfishly bad. He has no justification to why he is bad. I like that,” says SRK. #Epic: LOL-ing over Tom and Jerry cartoons and that laughter at the end. 

Chak De! India (2007) 
Shah Rukh won many more fans as the fallen-from-grace Gunda a team of outsiders out for resurrection than as a wealthy Goodboy out for romance. From that gruff demeanour to that sexy beard to that winner “Sattar minute” speech, this is one SRK act we keep going back to. 

Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2013) 
A man who loses in love and then sneers at life, choosing to walk into his job as a bomb defuser without protecting himself. SRK moved away from the quintessential hero to play a man with faults and foibles. We loved that beard, we loved it even more when he went: “Teri aankhon ki namkeen mastiyan/ Teri hansi ki beparwaah gustakhiyaan/ Teri zulfon ki leharaati angdaiyaan…..”

Dilwale (2015) 
SRK’s Kaali in this Rohit Shetty film was an attractive badass, especially in that car chase sequence through the streets of Bulgaria. That chemistry with Kajol was sizzling. 

Fan (2016) 
King Khan took on two roles very tough — playing an ageing superstar and his super-obsessed fan — in this film, that earned him a lot of praise. “Gaurav... there was a strange madness to him,” says Shah. And there was something very meta watching SRK chasing SRK!

THE MEANEST

Anjaam (1994) 
There was no redeeming factor to SRK’s Vijay Agnihotri who will stop at nothing — even murder — to get the woman (Madhuri Dixit’s Shivani) he’s obsessed with. And when he doesn’t get her, he harms her bad — killing her husband to making her land in prison.