Hs name is Khan. But who cares? Shah Rukh by any other name would’ve shone just as brightly.
He’s a natural-born man of the masses. His level of connectivity with his friends and fans is so exceptional because it’s so natural. Shah Rukh doesn’t have to try to be nice to those who reach out to him. His empathy flows naturally. Very few actors have a natural bonding with their surroundings. Some try too hard. Others don’t even try. Shah Rukh gets it just right.
It takes guts and glory to say no to injustice and wrong being done around you. Shah Rukh Khan has always stood up to what he thought to be right. I’ve never seen any actor who invites so much adulation and such staunch loyalty from family, fans and friends — not necessarily in that order. As Karan one of his closest buddies says, Shah Rukh is a healthy nourishing addiction that you simply can’t kick off.
That’s why I find these stories about Farah Khan’s fall-out with SRK so funny. Why on earth would the choreographer-director shrug off her mentor’s patronage support and friendship? Just so that her husband can make a film with another hero? Nah! Forget it. Has Farah forgotten what SRK has done for her? With due respects to Farah’s talents what would her standing as a director be without SRK’s star power to prop up her directorial equity?
No one abandons SRK. Neither is he the kind who would shrug off friends at his convenience even in a dog-eat-dog world of show business. Though lately SRK and I have been interacting less specially after a non-entertainment website quoted him as saying he “hates” me (a comment that he stoutly denies, and I’ve no reason to doubt him, not after last week when he stood by his words without fear of hugely-damaging repercussions) I recall our earlier interactions with much fondness.
He exudes an inherent warmth that melts the most obdurate entity. Most of the time even when under attack he’s supremely composed and articulate. I’ve seldom spoken to a person whose voice can keep such lucid pace with his restless thought processes. But then I’ve seldom seen a star with such a carousal of thoughts to put forward.
Shah Rukh is a man in a hurry. He wants to be the most popular person on this planet. And he’s getting there. He has never felt threatened by any actor male or female. Nor has he allowed himself to get intimidated by goons of any kind political or apolitical. I remember once in our early interactions he told me, “I need to change my number. Because the wrong kind of people (from the underworld) keep calling. I don’t care about such threats. But my wife and sister get scared.”
Even now when Shah Rukh’s home Mannat was under siege his concern was for his near and dear ones... How would his children get to school? Would his wife be able to do her shopping? Would friend Karan be able to release his film without mishap?
SRK has always been more concerned about those around him than about himself. It is no coincidence that my hard-to-please daughter’s favourite actor became her absolute favourite after she met him. In the one hour that SRK spent with her he counselled her on future career prospects, guided her on ethics and found time to make sure we had lunch. Yup, SRK packs in the maximum punch in the minimum space.
He isn’t as great an actor as he’s an entertainer. I’ve been privy to some of his unguarded revelations. Strangely now when my admiration for this man’s conviction has gone up manifold I recall his deliciously tongue-in-cheek comments. There’s an absolutely unpretentious side to SRK that remains immune to the hard knocks of life. A couple of days before he went through intricate back surgery he was on the phone giving me gyaan about a leading lady whom I was close to. “She’ll be good with you as long as you’re useful. I keep telling my friends not to be so self-centred to come out of their small world.”
That’s what SRK did last week. He stood up to say what he believed in and was ready to face the consequences. I don’t think SRK belongs to Maharashtra, Delhi or even to just the whole of India. He is a global possession, as capable of being our representative in foreign countries as being a liaison officer in our own land where, if some politicians had their way, we would needs visas to enter.
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