Shah Rukh Khan, The Man, The Myth, The Householder

Shah Rukh Khan Birthday Special: The first time I met Shah Rukh Khan, his son Aryan was 4. Shah Rukh was shooting at Mehboob Studios, where he called me to meet him. “Why don’t we go over to my home so you can meet my wife? Mannat is just a hop away,” he suggested.We hopped into the taxi I had hired for the day. Shah Rukh’s home gleamed with affluence. His wife came, said a polite hello, and left. We chatted a while and parted, hoping to remain connected. Thereafter, our interviews were intermittent, intimate, and filled with unprintable anecdotes. Shah Rukh would often call at unearthly hours (2 am was his ideal speaking time). And if you wanted to speak to him, you had better make yourself available.Once, when I was late for an appointment with SRK after a delay at the Bachchans, SRK quipped, “I can understand... he has all the time in the world now that he is working less. I don’t.” My favourite SRK quote was for an interview we did for a magazine. I advised him to stop chain-smoking, and he said, “It’s okay. Akshay likes to... I like to smoke.”ALSO READ: I asked him if he wanted me to expunge this comment from our interview. He said it was okay to keep it. Later, when Akshay met SRK, he mentioned the comment, saying the writer must have misquoted him.SRK stood his ground. “No, I did say it. Don’t you like to…?”Shah Rukh has one of the sharpest minds and tongues in the movie business. He talks; the world listens. His friends follow his advice unquestioningly. And they never regret it.There was a time when he was shooting four films at the same time. And he loved it. “Nowadays when I leave home in the morning, I am Devdas. In the afternoon, I go over to be Ashoka. Then I shoot in the night for Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. I don’t see them as three unconnected performances. You can select any one of these films and give me the best actor. When I get an award, I see it as covering all the films that I do within a year. No, I don’t see these characters as a chance to excel as an actor. I don’t take too much time getting into character. For me, it’s interesting to play these different people belonging to different periods in time. But otherwise, I don’t work too hard.”SRK never minded being politically incorrect. He once insisted he was “schizophrenic.” “To me, that’s not a disease; it’s my creative impetus. I’m schizophrenic not just in my ability to switch characters, but even from one shot to another. I can start on one note and move to a contrary note. I’m a freestyle dancer. I can move into any rhythm. I’m like a classical singer or at the other extreme, a rock musician. I can be a one-man band. Chances of going wrong are strong. But I enjoy that danger. I enjoy being an actor who can go wrong. I like being a flawed actor. For me, it’s very exciting. I like the jerkiness in my performances. I hate flawlessness. I want people to get uncomfortable watching my performances.”Now, of course, SRK has learned to be a lot more cautious in his pronouncements. He never knows who will jump in with an angry protest.