#SRK @iamsrk || Work is more fun than fun Sudha Menon catches up with superstar Shah Rukh Khan and imbibes a few life lessons — on a passion for acting, breaking records, fitness regimens, parenting — and the importance of smiles It is almost 10pm, and I’m waiting for Shah Rukh Khan. Sitting in the antechamber of his plush suite at a Pune five star hotel, I’m a bit worried he is not going to turn up for this interview. The superstar has been promoting his latest film, Chennai Express, for a marathon 11 days. On this particular day, he has been on his feet for almost 15 hours. For me, this is no ordinary interview. I have wanted to interview the Bollywood Badshah for a long, long time. At one point, I had a personal deadline for myself: an interview with SRK before I turned 40. Two months from now, I turn 47 and I am beginning to fear if the interview would remain a fond but distant dream. But then, he suddenly emerges from his bedroom without warning, so that there is no time to even catch your breath. In real life, as in reel life, he is impeccably dressed, effortlessly charming and every inch a gentleman. It is impossible to resist the dimpled smile and intense eyes that have managed to melt the collective hearts of a generation of Indian women who, I suspect, have searched in vain for their beloved Rahul or Raj in their husbands. Interviewing Shah Rukh is easy because the man is extraordinarily articulate. We present excerpts from a conversation with the icon who, many say, is the world’s most successful star. What inspires you? I don’t want to be arrogant but, right now, I think I am the Great Indian Dream. I come from a lower middle class family and have achieved all of this; what has helped me on this journey is my education. I can always say my father inspired me or my mother or call out a few other names, but what inspires me every day is education. Every time I am able to learn something more, I am inspired. I want to really tell every young person who I meet that however inappropriate it seems for you to educate yourself — even if you want to be an actor or something else that does not need qualifications — it is necessary to expand your horizons. For me, education is everything. I would like my kids to be as educated as possible. A lot of people ask me why I do only fun films and why I don’t do serious films. They don’t realise that there is intelligence required for everything, knowledge required for everything and education required for everything — even if it is just your own funny take on a role. Are you a role model to your kids? No, their mother is. This is the thing in our house: their mother is always the coolest. They like her more. So do I, in fact. But when it comes to hard work, I am their role model. When my daughter was only 8 or 9, she had to write her first essay and the topic was “My Father”. So she went about it in her child-like manner and, in her last sentence, she wrote: “He is honest, he is very gentle and most importantly, he is very hard-working.” I was very proud when the teacher called to tell me about the essay. My kids have a work ethic they have imbibed from me. I teach them the importance of working hard — when I am on the sports ground with them, when I talk to them about theatre… and, each time, I tell them about the importance of hard work and enjoying it instead of doing it as a chore. What is your definition of success? I am often asked about my journey from my first television serial Fauji to my latest hit Chennai Express and, honestly, for me, the definition of success has not changed at all. Success, to me, is defined by my ability to make people smile. Almost 22 years ago, when Fauji had just happened to me, I was in a three-wheeler at one of Delhi’s traffic signals. A mother and daughter, sitting by the road, looking pensive, suddenly spotted me and said: “Hey, Abhimanyu Rai [SRK’s name in the serial]” and then they smiled. It was the first time I had been recognised in my life. Recently, a little girl hugged me and smiled when I was promoting my film at Maratha Mandir (an iconic theatre in Mumbai) and it gave me the same joy — so for me, success is measured by smiles. Yes, at some point, when I was still new to the industry, I was concerned about the money my films made. Today, I don’t need anything but the smiles. The definition of success today is measured in smiles for me. It has been a smile-to-smile kind of journey for me. A lot of people tell me that when I meet them, even when they have been depressed and morose, they get very happy and I think it is because of the smile. I am very tired sometimes, over worked, very stressed because I have too much work, wake up early and go shoot, but I always make it a point to smile at people because it makes them happy. I try and return what I get from the people who love me. People often ask me where I get my energy for all the things that I do. There are days when I don’t feel like doing anything. But God has been kind to me for a long time. I have had such wonderful days in these 22 years that today, there is hardly a day when it is really a bad day. Some days, if I have had a bad day at a shoot and I am heading back home, a group of kids spot me at a traffic signal and run towards me smiling and waving, and my day changes dramatically. What’s your take on breaking records? I always tell everyone that the negative way of doing things is by breaking records and the positive way of living life is just doing your job — and if a record gets made in the process, that is nice. I tell my friends to neither work for posterity or for prosperity. There is nothing more fun than work. Work is more fun than fun. Just do it like that and you will have fun. There are three ways of looking at things. First, if you start off wanting to break a record, you are going to be limi-ting yourself. If Usain Bolt had decided he would run a race in, say, 10.01 seconds, he could have won the race but he would not have reached the speed he has today or have pushed his own limits. As soon as you start thinking that you are going to be better than someone, you will be working on a limit put on you by someone else. If you start making a film or any work by trying to create a record, you are being untrue to your creativity. Likewise, if you start a project by thinking and looking at the future and say I am going to make a record, you are actually looking at the darker side of life. I read somewhere that you should control your unconscious to become conscious, because otherwise, all your life you will blame fate for what happens to you. If you are unconscious that you want to do well and be happy, that is what you should work towards. Numbers will come, somebody will break them, better films will be made than yours and that is how it should be. Laurels are not to be rested upon. If you rest on your laurels and records, it is the most boring way to live life. What about the astounding record set by Chennai Express? Mashallah, the film is doing very well. I recently saw it with Rohit (Shetty, the director) and I was happy to see that even at the 11pm slot, families were in the theatre with kids. I think what worked for the film is that it is a clean and fun film. You don’t squirm while watching it in a theatre with your family and kids. In a strange way, even though it is not a movie specifically for women, it has some nice thoughts about women, respect and love for them. Though I’m a producer, I’ve never really thought of numbers. I just make the films I want to. When I heard the story of Chennai Express the first time, I thought it was very funny but I was worried about how much of the comedy people would understand. I never thought the second half would develop into a love story — but creativity emerges at all sorts of places. Honestly, it is beyond what I thought it would be. Now that it is making a lot of money, I am happy I can show my face to UTV and Red Chillies (the film’s producers). Otherwise, they are always saying: you make such expensive films! What other kind of roles would you like to do? I have teenagers in the house now — both my son and my daughter are teenagers — and I know what they like to watch. They are into edgy films, act-ion films, films with superheroes. If I am offered those kind of roles, I would like to do them. I like to do roles that are negative. With villain’s roles, you get to experiment a bit. Positive, hero-type Hindi film roles are set and don’t ask for much creativity. I would get to play a lot with negative roles. What is your life philosophy? I believe life is about three simple things: Do unto others as you would have them do to you. This is very important. Do your best and leave the rest. You have to. You can’t keep beating yourself up about stuff. You will never be able to please everyone. So don’t listen to opinions. Hear out criticism and even the praise, but eventually do just what your heart says. And work very hard. What gives you peace? Peace I don’t have. Because if I have peace, I will stop working. If I get satisfied, I will become complacent. I have always said an artist should be driven by the devil — in a good sort of way. If you are driven by goodness and niceness, then you go calm and complacent and then you don’t work. What is your fitness routine? I like to eat good things. But I don’t overeat nor do I eat between meals. I am dying to work out now but I am not allowed to do that for another month because of my shoulder surgery. I normally work out 30 minutes a day, three times a week and I play football… Six-packs and actors? You should work on a six-pack if you like it. Six packs look good when you are naked. I like it when I am having a bath because I feel like Tarzan when I see my six packs. But seriously, I think actors should work on it if a film or a role demands it, like Farhan did for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, or Hrithik did or I did. What matters is that you should be fit… even if you don’t have a six-pack, a four-pack is good. It keeps you in good health. My children are athletes. My son plays football. They run around so much that it makes me feel good to at least be fit. I think the best way to keep fit is to keep up with your children. What remains to be done on your plate? My core competence is acting and I will keep doing that. I really like it. There is no other thing that I know other than acting. It is fun for me. I have been acting from the age of 10. I have done bit roles in street plays in Delhi, at Jama Masjid. I have been in street plays in Kolkata. I have done small parts in Ram Leelas in Delhi — I was once a monkey in the vaanar sena (monkey army) at a Ram Leela play. I have done theatre, television, films. I am 47 now and acting is still what I love doing best. But because so much has been given to me by this small, simple passion of mine, I would like to give back to it in some way by bringing in more technology into the industry. My Red Chillies VFX studio is a step forward for the industry. A few years from now, there will be bigger, better studios, but I will have been the pioneer in the field. Now I am in sports too and I would like to have a stadium, give value for money to people and have good entertainment. If people are coming for a cricket match or any entertainment, I want to give them a great experience, even if it has cost them Rs 200 or Rs 500 for a seat. I want to push the boundaries of excellence in technology and infrastructure in entertainment so that people get a better experience and go “Wow!”. For myself, selfishly, I will continue acting. If I do television tomorrow, I will want it to be a better experience for my viewers. As a creator and a businessperson, I want the consumer to feel his life has changed for the better from using my product. bit.ly/1a9BVuh
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:59:43 +0000